Julia Stiles may finally be getting the chance to turn years of Dancing With the Stars fandom into a run for the Mirrorball Trophy.
The Save the Last Dance actress and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star Tatyana Ali have both been tapped for Season 35, production sources told TMZ. ABC has not yet officially announced either actress as part of the cast.
Stiles would arrive in the ballroom with one of the season’s most obvious connections to dance. Twenty-five years ago, she played aspiring Juilliard dancer Sara Johnson in Save the Last Dance, a role that required intensive ballet and hip-hop preparation even though Stiles was not a professional dancer.
The reported casting also would not represent a sudden change of heart. Stiles revealed in early 2025 that she was already an enthusiastic viewer of the competition and had discussed appearing on it, although living in New York made the logistics difficult.
Stiles Had Already Talked About Joining ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Stiles made her interest unusually clear while promoting her directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, in early 2025. The actress told PEOPLE that Dancing With the Stars “is my Monday Night Football” and admitted she could disappear into YouTube rabbit holes watching old routines and favorite choreographers.
“We’ve talked about me doing it,” Stiles said. There was one major obstacle at the time. Stiles lives in New York City with husband Preston Cook and their three children, while DWTS is produced in Los Angeles.
“It would be hard,” she said, before joking, “Maybe they could do an East Coast version.” If the new reports are accurate, that logistical problem has apparently been solved. TMZ says production sources have placed Stiles on the Season 35 roster, while Page Six separately reported on Aug. 20 that she is expected to compete.
‘Save the Last Dance’ Required Months of Dance Preparation
Stiles’ best-known dance role did not come from years of professional-level training. She had studied ballet while growing up but was no longer seriously training when she landed the role of Sara Johnson in 2001’s Save the Last Dance. The movie required her to move convincingly between classical ballet and hip-hop while playing a teenager determined to earn a place at Juilliard.
Stiles has recalled undergoing roughly two months of intensive preparation before production and continuing choreography work on weekends during filming. Choreographer Fatima Robinson handled the movie’s hip-hop sequences, including the climactic Juilliard audition that has remained one of the film’s most discussed scenes.
That finale has occasionally been mocked in the years since, but Stiles has consistently spoken positively about the experience. She has described the dance training as one of her favorite parts of making the movie and even joined in on the joke when Saturday Night Live revisited the famous routine in 2023.
Her reported DWTS casting would therefore present a different challenge. Stiles would have to learn multiple ballroom and Latin styles week by week in front of judges and a live audience.
Tatyana Ali Would Bring Her Own Dance-Nostalgia Connection
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TMZ’s report also names Tatyana Ali as another actress tapped for Season 35. Ali became a television favorite playing Ashley Banks throughout all six seasons of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. More than three decades later, one of Ashley’s earliest dance scenes unexpectedly found an entirely new audience.
A moment from the show’s 1990 pilot in which Ashley dances in her bedroom while wearing headphones as Will Smith’s character imitates her from behind, became the basis of a viral TikTok trend in early 2025.
Creators paired the scene’s choreography with Doechii’s “Anxiety,” and the trend grew large enough that Smith and Ali eventually recreated the moment themselves.
In March 2025, the former costars released a new video performing the dance together, with Doechii joining them. “Waited 35 years for this dance to trend,” Smith joked in the caption. PEOPLE reported that the trend had become one of TikTok’s biggest at the time. Ali also posted her own version of the dance, while Smith resurfaced the original Fresh Prince clip for fans.
Stiles and Ali Have Been Reported, Not Officially Announced by ABC
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TMZ says production sources told the outlet that Stiles and Ali have been “tapped” for the season. The outlet said it contacted ABC but had not received a response when its story was published.
Several contestants, by contrast, have already been formally announced by ABC. The confirmed celebrity lineup so far includes Summer House star Ciara Miller, Love Island and The Traitors personality Maura Higgins, Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson and Jimmy Kimmel Live! personality Guillermo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez’s pairing has also been revealed. Two-time Mirrorball champion Witney Carson announced on Good Morning America that she will dance with him this season. Other names have surfaced through media reports, but ABC is saving the complete celebrity cast and professional dancer pairings for Sept. 2 on Good Morning America.
Season 35 Begins With a Two-Night Premiere in September
ABC has already locked in the season’s schedule even though the full cast remains under wraps. The network’s fall schedule confirms that Dancing With the Stars will begin its two-night Season 35 premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m., followed by a special second night on Wednesday, Sept. 16. The competition will simulcast live on ABC and Disney+, with episodes available to stream the following day on Hulu.