A Nightmare on Elm Street - actors, characters and roles

All actors and their roles in the film "A Nightmare on Elm Street"
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Timing: 1:31 (91 min)
A Nightmare on Elm Street - TMDB rating
7.344/10
5666
A Nightmare on Elm Street - Kinopoisk rating
7.673/10
122172
A Nightmare on Elm Street - IMDB rating
7.4/10
289000

Actors and characters

Photo John Saxon #63136Photo John Saxon #63137Photo John Saxon #63138Photo John Saxon #63139

John Saxon

John Saxon
Character Lt. Donald Thompson
Photo Ronee Blakley #108528Photo Ronee Blakley #108529

Ronee Blakley

Ronee Blakley
Character Marge Thompson
Photo Heather Langenkamp #56406Photo Heather Langenkamp #56407Photo Heather Langenkamp #56408Photo Heather Langenkamp #56409

Heather Langenkamp

Heather Langenkamp
Character Nancy Thompson
Photo Amanda Wyss #77077

Amanda Wyss

Amanda Wyss
Character Tina Gray
Photo Jsu Garcia #56176

Jsu Garcia

Jsu Garcia
Character Rod Lane
Photo Johnny Depp #17701Photo Johnny Depp #17702Photo Johnny Depp #17703Photo Johnny Depp #17704

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp
Character Glen Lantz
Photo Joseph Whipp #41508Photo Joseph Whipp #41509Photo Joseph Whipp #41510Photo Joseph Whipp #41511

Joseph Whipp

Joseph Whipp
Character Sergeant Parker
Photo Robert Englund #48192Photo Robert Englund #48193Photo Robert Englund #48194

Robert Englund

Robert Englund
Character Fred Krueger
Photo Lin Shaye #13089Photo Lin Shaye #13090

Lin Shaye

Lin Shaye
Character Teacher
Photo Joe Unger #46543

Joe Unger

Joe Unger
Character Sergeant Garcia
Photo Mimi Craven #125926
Mimi Craven
Character Nurse
Photo Jack Shea #123634
Jack Shea
Character Minister
Ed Call
Character Mr. Lantz
Sandy Lipton
Character Mrs. Lantz
Photo David Andrews #14487

David Andrews

David Andrews
Character Foreman
Jeff Levine
Character Coroner
Donna Woodrum
Character Mrs. Gray
Carol Pritikin
Character Cop #2
Brian Reise
Character Cop #3
Ash Adams
Character Surfer #1
Don Hannah
Character Surfer #2
Leslie Hoffman
Character Hallguard
Photo Paul Grenier #145639
Paul Grenier
Character Mrs. Gray's Boyfriend
Photo Chris Tashima #76943

Chris Tashima

Chris Tashima
Character Boy in Nancy's English Class (uncredited)
Antonia Yannouli
Character Kid (uncredited)
Photo John Richard Petersen #90589
John Richard Petersen
Character Kid in Classroom (uncredited)
Photo Robert Shaye #15886

Robert Shaye

Robert Shaye
Character Newsreader / KRGR Radio Announcer (voice, uncredited)

What's left behind the scenes

  • According to Wes Craven, he named Freddy Krueger after a boy who bullied him in school. Wes created Freddy's appearance based on a disfigured homeless man who frightened him as a child.
  • To stay awake, Nancy watches "The Evil Dead" (1981). However, she isn't watching the film itself, but rather, most likely, a theatrical trailer.
  • A torn poster for "The Evil Dead" (1981) can be spotted in the film.
  • Initially, Freddy Krueger's appearance was intended to be even more gruesome and repulsive. For example, his teeth could be seen through the thin skin of his jaw, and the bones of his skull were supposed to be visible… However, the filmmakers had to abandon this concept because such an appearance could not be created with makeup, and the technology of the time did not allow for the use of believable special effects.
  • Johnny Depp stumbled into the film's audition completely by chance, accompanying a friend. Seeing Johnny, Craven offered him to read for the role of Glen.
  • Joseph Wipp, who played Sergeant Parker, later portrayed Sheriff Burke in Wes Craven's 'Scream' (1996).
  • Nancy's bathtub was hermetically sealed on top of a special tank built into the floor, with a section cut out for the tub.
  • Filming the scene where Nancy takes a bath lasted twelve hours.
  • ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ was the first film shot at New Line Cinema. Before that, New Line was a distributor of films from other studios.
  • During filming, the film's distributor terminated its contract with New Line. As a result, the crew worked for two weeks without pay until a new distributor was found. Throughout this period of financial uncertainty, no one left the project.
  • Wes Craven originally envisioned Freddy Krueger as a "silent" serial killer similar to Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. However, during the development of the project, and thanks to numerous sequels, Freddy evolved into a maniac with a rather dark sense of humor, who loves to chat.
  • The original Freddy glove was also used in the second film, but was then lost. According to DVD commentary, the original glove can be spotted in "Evil Dead 2" (1987).
  • This film saved New Line Cinema from bankruptcy. Subsequently, the studio was jokingly referred to as "the house that Freddy built."
  • Approximately 500 gallons of fake blood were used during the filming of the movie.
  • Viewers may notice the words "Elm Street" only in the opening and closing credits. The phrase is never spoken throughout the film.
  • "A Nightmare on Elm Street" was Johnny Depp's film debut.
  • A deleted scene reveals that Nancy and her other friends were not the only children in their families; they had siblings who also died at the hands of Freddy.
  • Wes Craven helped Sean S. Cunningham shoot some footage for "Friday the 13th" (1980). In turn, Sean shot some footage for Wes's film.
  • Around 200 actresses auditioned for the role of Nancy Thompson, including Jennifer Grey, Demi Moore, Courteney Cox, and Tracy Gold.
  • When Freddy Krueger pursues Nancy, she tries to escape him up the stairs, but steps into some viscous substance. According to Wes Craven, it was oatmeal; according to Jacques Etkin – whipped pancake batter; according to Heather Langenkamp, it was something rubbery.
  • In the series “Just the Ten of Us” (1988-1990), Heather Langenkamp speaks about a rusty knife on a cutting board: “It looks like something out of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.’”
  • According to Wes Craven, the idea for the film came to him after he read several newspaper articles about a group of young Cambodians who died from terrible nightmares. The young people suffered from nightmares and refused to sleep for as long as possible. When they finally fell asleep from exhaustion, they woke up with wild screams and died of a heart attack.
  • Wes Craven specifically chose a red and green striped sweater for Freddy because he had read somewhere that the human eye finds it difficult to perceive these colors together.
  • According to Englund, he was inspired by the performances of actors such as Klaus Kinski and James Cagney when creating the image of Freddy.
  • The actor credited as Rod Lane in the film's credits is named Nick Corri. However, this actor is widely known as Hsu Garcia.
  • On April 4, 2007, a British man, Jason Moore, was sentenced to prison after attacking his friend with a clawed glove very similar to the one worn by Freddy. According to psychiatrists, the thirty-seven-year-old Moore was simply obsessed with Freddy and his bloody deeds. He had watched the film many times, even immediately before the attack. The detective investigating the case stated that Moore's weapon was "the most terrifying weapon he had ever seen."
  • The film's script was ready as early as 1981, but no film studio was interested in producing it.
  • In the scene where Glen (Johnny Depp) dies, a poster of the band "Rush's" album "Grace Under Pressure" hangs above his bed.
  • In the final scene, the car's sunroof fell too quickly and unexpectedly for the actors, so the reaction on their faces is genuine.
  • In her room, after nearly being killed in the bathroom, Nancy looks at her reflection in the mirror and exclaims, "Oh my God, I look twenty years old." Many critics found this line quite amusing, noting that Heather Langenkamp was twenty at the time of filming. However, according to commentary on the DVD, Heather says she was 18 or 19 years old then.
  • To film the scene with the geyser of blood, filmmakers used the same rotating set that had been used for Tina's death. The room was flipped upside down, as was the camera, creating the effect of a normally positioned room. Then, several gallons of red-dyed water were poured into the room. Regular fake blood wasn't suitable for this scene, as it was impossible to create a blood geyser with it. During the filming of this scene, the room began to be flipped in the wrong direction, causing fake blood to splatter all over the set and general chaos. In addition, the electricity went out in the pavilion, and, according to Craven, the crew, covered head-to-toe in blood, spent some time in complete darkness.
  • Wes Craven's wife, Mimi Craven, played the nurse who is present during the "examination" of Nancy's dreams.
  • The film sequence where Nancy Thompson fights Freddy Krueger in the real world ranked third in Play.com's Japanese edition's "Scariest Moments in Cinema" ranking.
  • Over 2000 liters of fake blood were used during the filming of the movie.
  • Wes Craven originally conceived Freddy Krueger as a 'silent' serial killer similar to Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. However, during the development of the project, and thanks to numerous sequels, Freddy transformed into a maniac with a very dark sense of humor who loves to chat.
Did you like the film?

© ACMODASI, 2010-2026

All rights reserved.
The materials (trademarks, videos, images and text) contained on this site are the property of their respective owners. It is forbidden to use any materials from this site without prior agreement with their owner.
When copying text and graphic materials (videos, images, text, screenshots of pages) from this site, an active link to the site www.acmodasi.in must necessarily accompany such material.
We are not responsible for any information posted on this site by third parties.