What did Julia Stiles play in Down to You? Actress reveals she felt "slimy" and "cheap" filming pool table dance scene for Harvey Weinstein

Earlier this week, Julia Stiles appeared on an episode of Brett Goldstein's Films to Be Buried With podcast. During the episode, the actress recalled her experience of filming Down to You after Harvey Weinstein took control of the movie's production.

Down to You is a 2000 romantic comedy movie directed and written by Kris Isacsson, starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles. Stiles played Imogen, a freshman in a New York college who falls in love shortly after enrollment. The plot of the movie focuses on her navigating the ups and downs of her relationship with Al (played by Prinze Jr.).

Describing how she felt about filming a scene in the movie in which she dances on a pool table, the Carolina actress expressed:

"I felt so slimy doing it the whole time ... It was annoying because it was like, 'Well, this is so cheap, and it's not adding to the story.'"

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Julia Stiles called her dance scene from Down to You "dumb"

Reflecting on her filming experience of Down to You, Julia Stiles called her co-star, Prinze Jr. a "wonderful actor." She also said that Kris Isacsson was an "intelligent, capable guy," with Weinstein being the only one she had an issue with on the sets.

Recalling the film as one that was "executed very poorly," Julia Stiles expressed:

"[Kris Isacsson] was a first-time director and he was a very, very intelligent, capable guy... The script was very good, and then Harvey Weinstein got his hands on it and decided to capitalize on this trend."

The trend Stiles was referring to was her dance scene on the pool table in the film, which was inspired by the Mona Lisa Smile actress's previous movies, 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Save the Last Dance (2001). In the scene, Imogen plays Al Green's Let's Stay Together in her dorm, dancing around her room as well as on the pool table.

Elaborating on the dance scene from Down to You, Stiles stated:

"I love to dance but it was dumb. It was like, let's get her on a pool table... it wasn't even imaginative. I'm told that, [Weinstein] — because of the success of Save the Last Dance, or the success of 10 Things I Hate About You, with me dancing on the pool table — he, like needed to have me dancing in the film."

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Julia Stiles discussed the film in a previous interview

According to the NY Post, this is not the first time Stiles has brought up the movie in an interview. In 2019, Stiles talked to Entertainment Weekly about it, claiming that the film "changed a lot" from the development process to the finished product. The Blackway actress added:

"Kris Isacsson had a vision for it that was a lot darker, so I remember thinking it was really mature. Then Harvey Weinstein and Miramax ended up producing it and turned it into a movie that was much more of a commercial, upbeat romantic comedy, for better or worse."

The career of Harvey Weinstein, who was once a prominent figure in Hollywood, started going south in 2017, as reported by Lawyer Monthly. In October 2017, his wife and fashion designer, Georgina Chapman, filed for a divorce from Weinstein. Meanwhile, other companies and studios distanced themselves from the producer.

Through a spokesperson Weinstein told People Magazine about Julia Stiles:

"Julia Stiles is a talented and charismatic actress who naturally connects with audiences. Beyond her acting skills, she's also a fantastic dancer, which was something fans really wanted at the time. I included that scene in Down to You to enhance the film's appeal, and her chemistry with Freddie Prinze Jr. made it work seamlessly."