Julia Stiles had her Save the Last Dance moment on Dancing with the Stars

Julia Stiles joining Dancing with the Stars came with one very obvious question: Would she bring Save The Last Dance to the ballroom?

The answer is yes and it happened in Week 5 — her former co-star even joined Stiles for a literal nod to the 2001 film.

During Tuesday’s live show — themed Super Bowl night — the actor and her partner, Ezra Sosa, performed a hip-hop ballet combo to Jennifer Lopez’s Jenny from the Block.

It was a clear homage to the 2001 hit film, when Stiles played Sara Johnson, a ballet dancer who dreamed of getting into Juilliard and fell in love with hip-hop dancer Derek Reynolds, played by Sean Patrick Thomas.

Here’s how it went down

Roughly halfway through the routine, Sosa stepped aside to give Stiles a solo moment to perform her iconic choreography straight from the film.

As Stiles took centre stage, the camera panned over to reveal Thomas on the sidelines re-enacting another classic film moment: nodding along to the performance with his jacket slung over his shoulder, alongside Sosa.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for 25 years,” Stiles told co-host Julianne Hough after the performance.

And as you can imagine, the crowd erupted in cheers. 

WATCH | Julia Stiles recreates Save the Last Dance moments on DWTS:

In the rehearsal video that played ahead of the performance, Sosa told the audience: “This one is for the millennials.”

“This is my chance for the do-over I’ve always wanted, so I have to just go out there and own it. I have no other choice,” Stiles said. 

And it paid off. The routine won over the judges, scoring the duo their first 8s and 9s of the season. They were also safe from elimination.

Sean Patrick Thomas and Sosa recreate a moment from the 2001 film Save the Last Dance on Dancing with the Stars, cheering on Stiles. (YouTube/Dancing with the Stars/Disney)

Social media is filled with fans and fellow stars reacting to the moment, even J.Lo herself.

“Crushed it!!” she wrote on the show’s Instagram post, alongside a comment from Jersey Shore star Snooki, who wrote, “Anyone else cry????”

“I wouldn’t call this jazz… BUTTTTT IT WAS DEFINITELY AN AMAZING PERFORMANCE BY JULIA & EZRA!!!! This is Julia Stiles fully letting loose,” one fan wrote on X.

“She has fun energy and she wants it. Falling for the Juillard propaganda,” wrote another.

But some fans are calling out what they deem favouritism for Stiles and Sosa, noting that other contestants — like Harry Shum Jr. and his partner, Jenna Johnson — took some flak or received stricter critiques from judges for mixing up styles or lacking traditional dance content.

“Kinda crazy that the judges just don’t care that it wasn’t a jazz routine…. They need to stop picking and choosing what to be mad at,” a third wrote on Instagram.