Where Are They Now? : Heather Langenkamp

The first of many young women to battle Freddy Krueger.

Before she was famous, Heather Langenkamp was a normal teen who attended school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After graduating from an all girls, Catholic high school, Heather started attending Stanford University. She ended up trading text books for Hollywood scripts when she beat out over 200 girls to land the role of Nancy Thompson in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street. In her first lead role, she starred alongside the up and coming Johnny Depp and the soon-to-be horror icon, Robert Englund. As you all know, Heather’s character Nancy survived the first movie and would go on to appear in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

So, what happened to Heather Langenkamp after fighting Freddy Krueger and where is she now?

Between shooting the Elm Street movies, Heather appeared in two after school specials. After that she appeared in two television shows – “The New Adventures of Beans Baxter” and “Hotel” – before she returned to another Wes Craven film, Shocker, in which she had a cameo. It was then that she went on to cement a real career in television, playing a lead role in “Just The Ten of Us” and “Growing Pains.” Despite appearing on other television shows such as “Perversions of Science” and “Partners,” horror was never out of Heather’s sights. She returned to the genre again with a starring role in 1995’s The Demolitionist.

Inevitably, the last decade or so has been a little slower for Heather. She appeared in an episode of “Jag,” but ended up getting most of her work by appearing in horror themed/Elm Street documentaries such as “The 100 Scariest Movie Moments,” Never Sleep Again, and The House That Freddy Built. Although, in a career highlight in 2008, Heather made her directorial debut as one of the directors behind horror film Prank.

Even though she wasn’t in the limelight, Heather was still able to work on two amazing horror films – the Dawn of The Dead remake and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin In The Woods – as the production cordinator.Most importantly, Heather was the narrator and producer behind the hit documentary I Am Nancy. The feature-length documentary is solely based on Heather Langenkamp’s experience with the Elm Street franchise. It is currently available on DVD.

Heather Langenkamp still makes the occasional horror convention appearance. And while she may not be a huge celebrity like Jamie Lee Curtis or Linda Blair, you won’t hear Heather complaining. She has been quoted as saying, “I do like acting, but it is just something that I do on the side. Being rich and famous is not a priority for me. I have my husband, my kids, my parents, my brothers and sisters, my home and enough money. I don’t need to be this rich and famous millionaire actress. I am quite happy with what I have and I can’t think of anything that might be lacking from my life.”