Heavenly Creatures cast and character guide: Who plays whom in the 1994 crime thriller movie?

The 1994 crime thriller Heavenly Creatures has a spectacular cast, including Kate Winslet, Melanie Lynskey, Sarah Peirse, Diana Kent, and Clive Merrison.

Derived from a real-life crime scene of the 1950s, involving two teens, Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker, who end up murdering Honorah Mary Rieper, the mother of Pauline. The girls had developed a fierce form of friendship that made their parents worried, as they were anxious that the duo was involved in a homosexual relationship.

Pauline had a difficult relationship with her mother, Honorah, whereas Juliet's parents set up a divorce and sent Juliet off to South Africa. Since Honorah did not allow Pauline to join Juliet in South Africa, they hatched a plan to annihilate Honorah.

The film is helmed by Peter Jackson and also received rave reviews upon its release. It has also garnered a nomination for the Academy Award under the category of Best Original Screenplay.

Let us find out more about the cast and the characters that they portray in Heavenly Creatures.

Who are all in the cast of Heavenly Creatures?

1) Clive Merrison as Dr. Henry Hulme

A still from 'Heavenly Creatures' | Image via @Youtube/RottenTomatoesClassicTrailers

Welsh actor Clive Merrison essays the role of Dr. Henry Hulme, Juliet's father in the film. In real life, Dr. Henry Hulme is considered to be an important figure in the world of science, as he is recognized for his role in the British Hydrogen Bomb program.

It was he who suspected the girls to be in a homosexual relationship, as he informed Pauline's parents about it. Later, he and his wife get divorced, which eventually becomes the catalyst for the murder of Honora.

Apart from Clive Merrison's role in Heavenly Creatures, his screen appearances include Riddles of the Sphinx (1977), Firefox (1982), The Sign of Four (1983), The English Patient (1996), The History Boys (2006), and many more. He is well known for his work in radio, portraying Sherlock Holmes in the BBC Radio 4 shows (1989-1998).

2) Diana Kent as Hilda Hulme

English actor Diana Kent portrays the role of Juliet's mother, Hilda Hulme.

Apart from Kent's role in this film, her other acting credits include Runaway Bride (1999), How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008), Margaret (2009), One Day (2011), Casualty (2011), Undeniable (2014), Belgravia (2020), and many more.

3) Sarah Peirse as Honora Parker

Sarah Peirse plays the role of Pauline's mother Honora, who gets killed by the end of the film. Honora is abusive towards her daughter, and they share a difficult relationship throughout the whole course of the film.

When Juliet's parents decide to part ways and send her off to South Africa, Pauline asks Honora if she too could go along with Juliet. When Pauline denies it, it threatens their friendship's future. As a result, the teens decide to kill Honora.

The New Zealand actor Sarah Peirse is also known for her work in Rain (2001), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014), Sweet Tooth (2021), A Mistake (2024), etc.

4) Melanie Lynskey as Pauline Parker

The Emmy-nominated actor Melanie Lynskey embodies the role of Pauline Parker in Heavenly Creatures, her debut film. A 14-year-old teen belonging to a middle-class family, she shares a hostile relationship with her mother Honora, whom she eventually kills.

At the beginning of the film, Pauline develops a striking friendship with Juliet, and they find comfort and escape in each other's company. Together, they imagine a utopian world together named 'the Fourth World', where they find safety and possibilities in the fantastical characters that they create.

They find more agency in their imaginary world, as they could reject the norms of Christianity and several other constraints society puts on them.

Apart from Lynskey's role in this film, she has worked in films and series including Coyote Ugly (2000), Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Shattered Glass (2003), Two and a Half Men (2003-2015), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Happy Christmas (2014), Yellowjackets (2021-present), The Last of Us (2023), and many more.

5) Kate Winslet as Juliet Hulme

Distinguished actor Kate Winslet portrays the role of the 15-year-old Juliet Hulme in the film. She is a straightforward person, a quality that Pauline reveres. Together, they develop an unlikely friendship where they enter an imaginary spiritual realm as they together create stories born of fantasy. They live their wildest dreams through the 'Fourth World', where they exercise their agency and power in a way that seems impossible to do in their real-life circumstances.

However, as Juliet's parents get divorced, her parents decide to send her to South Africa with a relative, owing to Juliet's poor health. By the end of the film, as both the teens commit murder, they face jail time for a particular amount of time.

After a span of half a decade, both Juliet and Pauline are released, provided they never ever see each other again for the rest of their lives.

Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet is best known for her work in Sense and Sensibility (1995), Titanic (1997), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Little Children (2006), The Holiday (2006), The Reader (2008), Steve Jobs (2015), The Dressmaker (2015), Mare of Easttown (2021), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), and many more.