Julia Stiles performs iconic movie dance on DWTS: 'I've been wanting to do that for 25 years!', scores first 8's & 9 of the season
It was Super Bowl Night last night on Dancing with the Stars and TV and film star Julia Stiles brought "all the feels" to the season 35 ballroom as she paid homage to her iconic role as Sara Johnson in the 2001 classic, Save the Last Dance.
Stiles and her partner Ezra Sosa performed a jazz routine to "Jenny from the Block" by Jennifer Lopez, which mimicked Stiles' groundbreaking performance during her character's final audition.
"This one is for the millennials," said Sosa during their rehearsal.
About 45 seconds into their one-minute-15-second routine, Sosa left Stiles on the floor to perform ballet and hip hop choreography that she originated two and a half decades before.
And while judge Derek Hough was visibly ecstatic in the background, fans also got another taste of nostalgia when the camera panned over to Sosa and none other than Sean Patrick Thomas, Stiles' co-star, who played Derek, her dance mentor and love interest, as they each held a coat thrown over their shoulders and bopped their heads to the beat.
Judge Bruno Tonioli dubbed the performance Stiles' "best one so far".
"Julia from the Block gets into the groove brilliantly," said Tonioli. "...the whole routine - not just the dancing - the interpretation, the construction, the way you play the character. Your best one so far."
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba referenced fellow dance flick, You Got Served, telling Stiles, "I know this is the wrong movie, but I think we just got served!"
Hough, who is the millennial of the panel, called Stiles over for a hug.
I feel like we all were waiting for that, were we not?
"And you did not disappoint. Your charisma, your performance, your swag, all of it. Wonderful!"
Sports commentator and guest judge Joe Buck said Stiles "could have been up on the stage" with Lopez during the singer's Super Bowl Half-Time performance. Buck also gave Stiles her first nine of the season.
When asked by co-host Julianne Hough what she was feeling after her performance, Stiles exclaimed, "I've been wanting to do that for 25 years!"
The other three judges gave the pair eight's for a total of 33 out of 40, marking a first for both eight's and nine's.
But while Stiles and Ezra were rejoicing as they advanced to the next round, fan favorites Witney Carson and Guillermo Rodriguez, who salsa danced to "Tití Me Preguntó" by Bad Bunny, failed to make the cut after four weeks of escaping elimination, despite continuously landing in the bottom three.
"I want to say thank you to all the audience, thank you to everyone. And Dancing with the Stars, thank you very much. I had a lot of fun and it was great," said Rodriguez. "Witney, I love you for teaching me how to dance. Thank you so much."
Carson, who has been performing all season while visibly pregnant, thanked her Jimmy Kimmel Live! dance partner for taking such good care of her and her "little baby".
"Thank you so much for making this season just so fun and so enjoyable," she said. "It's felt like an empowering season."
Ten couples will be back next week, Tuesday, October 20, for Emotional Dedication Night with guest judge and DWTS alum Kym Johnson.
