Julia Stiles has delighted fans by serving up a healthy dose of nostalgia as she recreated her iconic final dance sequence from 2001’s Save the Last Dance.
The 42-year-old actress popped up as a surprise guest on Saturday Night Live last night, dressed in a recreation of her costume of a black leotard and shiny tracksuit bottoms from the movie, which she starred in alongside Sean Patrick Thomas as a ballet dancer who has given it all up after her mother is killed in a car crash.
During the Weekend Update segment, hosted by Colin Jost and Michael Che, cast member Chloe Fineman was on hand to suggest ‘intimate gift ideas for that special someone’.
However, it turned out Fineman’s one idea was a recreation of Stiles’ last dance when she’s auditioning for Julliard in the film, accompanied by the original song on the soundtrack, Athena Cage’s All or Nothing.
While busting out her interpretation of the actual ‘street ballet’ steps to the routine, Fineman tells the story of Save the Last Dance – with a little help from Che – while Jost shares his bafflement.
This also includes a great nod to everyone’s favourite part of the dance, the literal ‘hop’ of ‘hip hop’ Stiles does as Sara: attention to detail at its finest.
Save the Last Dance star Julia Stiles made a surprise guest appearance on Saturday Night Live to recreate the iconic dance (Picture: NBC/Backgrid)
She starred as aspiring ballet dancer Sara in the 2001 film, opposite Sean Patrick Thomas (Picture: Moviestore/Rex/Shutterstock)
However, the sketch reached its peak when Stiles herself jumped on to set, wearing a matching costume, to confirm that Sara finally got into Julliard, to huge screams and cheers from the audience.
She and Fineman then finished off the dance together, performing that part of the routine that everyone remembers occurring on a chair.
‘Would’ve never expected that cameo. Love her,’ commented Kathleen Feliciano on YouTube, while @MichelleLyn84 gushed: ‘Omg that was EPIC!!!!!!!!! So nostalgic I freakin’ love Julia Stiles!!!’
‘This entire segment made me smile so hard I think I pulled a muscle,’ chimed in @allisontangorra1823, while @batguurl called it ‘one of those totally unexpected surprises that turned into a beautiful thing’.
‘Julia THEEE Stiles! An absolute Queen and good sport. We all love this movie even as ridiculous as it was. Thank you for participating in the sketch,’ praised @mione134, adding: ‘Gotta love when an actress isn’t afraid to be in on the joke.’
‘Dear Hollywood, we love nostalgia and Julia Stiles. Cast her more. Thanks,’ wrote @MrCanceleo underneath the video.
‘No notes. Also I LOVED the massive applause Julia Stiles got,’ tweeted Shannon O’Connor on X (formerly known as Twitter), while @WaynieTDot labelled it ‘a great dose of nostalgia’.
Stiles nabbed the lead role in Save the Last Dance, which grossed over $131million (£104m) worldwide on a $13m (£10m) budget, after director Thomas Carter saw her dance scene in 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You.
It’s not the first time this week that the Emmy-nominated actress, who has also appeared in Hustlers, Dexter and Sky Atlantic series Riviera, threw it back to one of her iconic films from the late nineties and early noughties.
She also recently treated audience members at the Mash-Up Americans Book Festival in New York City to a reading of her character Kat Verona’s ‘hateful’ poem to Patrick Verona in 10 Things, portrayed by the late Heath Ledger.
The poem includes the lines: ‘I hate the way you’re always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.’
One of Stiles’ other hugely popular films is 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You (Picture: Touchstone/Kobal/Rex)
Towards the end of her reading, Stiles got a little choked with emotion, as she warned she might ahead of starting the reading.
Ledger died at the age of 28 in January 2009, with his and Julia’s movie together remaining one of the most popular from his back catalogue, alongside Brokeback Mountain, A Knight’s Tale and The Dark Knight – for which he received a posthumous Oscar for best supporting actor.
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‘This entire segment made me smile so hard I think I pulled a muscle,’ shared one fan.