‘Dancing With the Stars’: Get to Know Julia Stiles’ Husband & Their Family
Twenty-five years after Julia Stiles starred in Save the Last Dance, she’s back on the dance floor for Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars. The actress is partnered with Ezra Sosa for the ballroom competition.
The actress has been inching closer and closer to the finale with her pro partner, conquering Dedication Night, Horror Night, and more. Throughout her DWTS journey so far, she’s had the support of her husband in the audience.
Stiles has been married since 2017, but before tying the knot, she dated two famous actors. Scroll down for everything to know about her family and relationship history.
Who is Julia Stiles’ husband?
Stiles’ husband is Preston J. Cook. He works as a camera assistant, with credits including Love It or List It Vancouver, Step Up All In, The Revenant, Deadpool, War for the Planet of the Apes, and more.
How did Julia Stiles meet her husband?
Stiles and Cook met in 2014 on the set of Blackway. She starred in the thriller movie, and he was the second camera assistant. The following year, he was the camera assistant for Jason Bourne, another film Stiles starred in.
On Christmas Eve 2015, Cook proposed to Stiles during a holiday trip to Colombia. They tied the knot in September 2017 while she was pregnant with their first child.
“Who doesn’t love a shotgun wedding?” Stiles captioned a photo from the wedding. The officiant and two witnesses were the only people in attendance.
Does Julia Stiles have kids?
Yes, Stiles and Cook are parents to three children. Their first child, son Strummer, was born in October 2017. Another son, Arlo, followed in January 2022, and then a third baby was born in 2023.
News of the third child’s birth was kept hush-hush until April 2024, when Stiles revealed the news in an interview with The New York Times.
Did Julia Stiles date Heath Ledger?
No, although Stiles and Heath Ledger played love interests in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You, they did not date in real life.
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During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live in 2025, Stiles reflected on working with Ledger, who died in 2008. “He walked into a room and just lit it up and had so much energy and passion, and it’s really sad that he’s gone,” she told Andy Cohen.
On the same press tour, she said in an interview with E!, “He was amazing. He was such a bright light.”
Who else has Julia Stiles dated?
One romantic relationship that did come out of 10 Things I Hate About You for Stiles was with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film’s director, Gil Junger, spilled the beans about their secret relationship in a 2021 interview.
“The chemistry between [Stiles and Ledger] was amazing, but she, for a minute or 10, went out with Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” he revealed. “They were very, very attracted to each other, which was cool. She’s, like, professing her love for Heath [in the movie], but she’s in love with the guy who’s waiting in his trailer to do the next scene.”
By 2001, Stiles and Gordon-Levitt were broken up, as he was referred to as her ex-boyfriend in a Rolling Stone profile. At the time, they were living on the same floor at Columbia University. “We’re friends,” Stiles said. “We say hello to each other.”
Gordon-Levitt and the rest of their 10 Things I Hate About You castmates showed up to support Stiles on Dedication Night. Stiles and Sosa danced a stunning routine in honor of Ledger.
From 2011 to 2015, Stiles dated David Harbour. They met on the set of their film Between Us.
Dancing With the Stars, Season 35, Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+
