Kate Winslet was awarded an Empire Award and a London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for her performance. The Washington Post writer Desson Thomson commented: "As Juliet, Winslet is a bright-eyed ball of fire, lighting up every scene she’s in. She's offset perfectly by Lynskey, whose quietly smoldering Pauline completes the delicate, dangerous partnership." Speaking about her experience on a film set as an absolute beginner, Kate Winslet noted: "With Heavenly Creatures, all I knew I had to do was completely become that person. In a way it was quite nice doing [the film] and not knowing a bloody thing."
In 1997, Matt Damon was the lead in the critically-acclaimed drama The Rainmaker, where he was recognized by The Los Angeles Times as "a talented young actor on the brink of stardom." After meeting Matt Damon on the set of Good Will Hunting, director Steven Spielberg cast Matt Damon as the titular character in the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan.
