Peter Jackson Reflects on Being Kate Winslet's First On-Screen Kiss: 'I Set the Bar Pretty High'

On May 13, director and producer Peter Jackson received an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival

NEED TO KNOW

• During the event, the Oscar-winning filmmaker reflected on his surprising cameo alongside Kate Winslet in his film Heavenly Creatures

• Jackson revealed that the often-overlooked scene actually marked Winslet's first on-screen kiss

DirectorPeter Jacksonrecently reflected on an unexpected piece of movie trivia while receiving an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

As clips of his filmography were played on screen, Jackson pointed out a brief cameo from his 1994 filmHeavenly Creatures— opposite then-17-year-oldKate Winslet— that still stands out to him today.

“So looking at those clips, I realizedHeavenly Creatureswas Kate Winslet's first film and my cameo was playing that tramp in the street,” Jackson told the audience on May 13. “So, I realized that I actually gave Kate Winslet her first on-screen kiss.”

Directed by Jackson over three decades ago,Heavenly Creatureswas based on New Zealand's infamous Parker–Hulme murder case and followed the obsessive friendship between Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker, played byMelanie Lynskey.

The kiss in question came during a scene outside a movie theater, where Winslet's character, Hulme, kisses Jackson's unnamed character in excitement.

The psychological drama ended up becoming a breakout project for Winslet and helped establish Jackson as a filmmaker capable of balancing dark subject matter with emotional storytelling.

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“It's a lot of fun when you make movies and it's even more fun when you get to start the career of somebody else in the film industry,” Jackson added, according toMetro. “I'm very proud [of that].”

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Jackson went on to direct the hugely successfulThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, along withKing KongandThe Hobbitfilms.

Winslet later became one of Hollywood's most celebrated actresses through films likeTitanic,The ReaderandThe Holiday. In those roles, she locked lips with actors likeLeonardo DiCaprio, David Cross andJack Black.

Still, Jackson joked that he must have “set the bar pretty high” back then.

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