The restaurant where Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) awkwardly tries to impress Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) while Kat and Patrick have their first real conversation is The Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland’s Lloyd District. The building’s antique trolley car dining area and exposed brick provide a nostalgic, slightly kitsch setting that suits the film’s ironic tone.
Released in 1999, 10 Things I Hate About You is a quintessential teen comedy that adapts Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew to a late-1990s American high school setting. While the film is set in the fictional Padua High School in Seattle, Washington, the actual production took place almost entirely in and around Portland, Oregon, as well as in Tacoma, Washington. This paper documents the primary physical locations used in the film, analyzing how each site contributes to the film’s thematic tension between social performance and authentic identity.
While Stadium High provided the exterior and the auditorium (used for the prom and the “10 Things” poem recitation), the majority of interior classroom and hallway scenes were filmed at John Marshall High School in Portland, Oregon. Marshall’s interior layout, with its long corridors and tiered classroom windows, offered production more practical lighting and sound control. This split location (exterior in Tacoma, interiors in Portland) is common in filmmaking to achieve both aesthetic and logistical goals. 10 things i hate about you filmed
The scenes where the Stratford sisters visit the fictional “Sarah Lawrence” (implied to be a liberal East Coast college) were filmed at two Seattle landmarks. The exterior of the library and the manicured lawn are the University of Washington’s Suzzallo Library and the Liberal Arts Quadrangle . The quirky, industrial park where they eat lunch is Gas Works Park on the north shore of Lake Union. The park’s abandoned coal gasification plant provides a stark, post-industrial contrast to the film’s otherwise polished aesthetic, symbolizing Kat’s non-conformity.
The most iconic visual of the film is the imposing, castle-like facade of Padua High School. This is actually Stadium High School, located in Tacoma’s Sixth Avenue neighborhood. Built in 1891 as a luxury hotel before being converted into a high school in 1906, its Gothic Revival architecture and waterfront setting create a theatrical, almost privileged backdrop. The film uses the school’s exterior, including the grand staircase and courtyard, to emphasize the social hierarchy that Kat (Julia Stiles) rebels against. While the film is set in the fictional
The two-story, modern-style house belonging to the Stratford family is a private residence located at 1831 NW 195th Street in Shoreline, Washington (a northern suburb of Seattle). The house’s clean lines, large windows, and manicured lawn reflect the family’s upper-middle-class status and the father’s controlling, clinical approach to parenting. The famous driveway basketball hoop and the garage where Kat practices guitar are still present at this location.
The paintball sequence where Patrick “tames” Kat by letting her win was filmed at Oaks Amusement Park in Southeast Portland. The park’s historic roller rink, midway, and wooded perimeter were used. Oaks Park was chosen for its vintage, slightly faded charm, which contrasts with the immaculate settings elsewhere and allows the characters to get messy and physically free. Marshall’s interior layout, with its long corridors and
Locating Identity: The Filming Geography of 10 Things I Hate About You