Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Stiles began acting at age 15. Her first film role was in I Love You, I Love You Not (1996), followed by a leading role in the thriller Wicked (1998), for which she was awarded the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She went on to gain prominence for her lead roles in teen films such as 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) for which she won MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and was nominated for two Teen Choice Awards, Down to You (2000), for which she was nominated for another two Teen Choice Awards, and Save the Last Dance (2001), winning the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress and was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance.