Peter Jackson Reveals He Was Kate Winslet’s First On-Screen Kiss: “I Set the Bar Pretty High”

Peter Jackson looked back on a surprising moment from his early filmmaking career while attending the Cannes Film Festival, where he received an honorary Palme d’Or on May 13. The Oscar-winning director used the occasion to reflect on his 1994 film Heavenly Creatures and a small cameo that unexpectedly made film history for Kate Winslet.

While clips from his work were shown during the ceremony, Jackson pointed out a brief scene from Heavenly Creatures, where he appears in a small role opposite a young Winslet, who was 17 at the time.

He said, “So looking at those clips, I realized Heavenly Creatures was Kate Winslet’s first film and my cameo was playing that tramp in the street. So, I realized that I actually gave Kate Winslet her first on-screen kiss.”

The moment happens in a short scene outside a cinema, where Winslet’s character kisses Jackson’s character in a burst of excitement. The film itself was based on a real-life New Zealand murder case and focused on the intense friendship between two teenage girls, played by Winslet and Melanie Lynskey.

Jackson also spoke about how meaningful it was to see the early impact of the film on Winslet’s career. He said, “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. I’m very proud [of that].”

Although Heavenly Creatures was a darker psychological drama, it helped launch Winslet into major Hollywood roles. She later became a globally recognized actress, starring in films like Titanic, The Reader, and The Holiday.

Jackson went on to direct major blockbuster franchises such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit films, becoming one of the most influential directors in modern cinema.

Looking back at that early scene with Winslet, Jackson joked that he may have set an unexpectedly high standard for her on-screen romances, saying he must have “set the bar pretty high” at the time.

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