Heather Langenkamp was attending high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, near the location filming for the movie The Outsiders.
While hanging around the location, she was offered the chance to be an extra, and then a small speaking role.
From there she went on to full-time performing, including the tv series Just the 10 of Us and three of the Nightmare on Elm Street films.
Recently, she's gone behind the camera doing film production and directing, including sfx work on Evan Almighty, Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Cabin in the Woods (2011) as well as directing the segment "Jessica" in the new horror anthology film Prank.
Trivia: Much of the plot for the film Wes Craven's New Nightmare is based on Heather's experiences with an Elm Street-obsessed stalker.
She runs an environmentally-friendly candy company!
Genre appearances include...
Perversions of Science "Ultimate Weapon"
Never Sleep Again: the Nightmare Legacy (as self)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (as Heather Langenkamp playing Nancy Thompson)
Shocker (Victim)
Nightmare on Elm Street / Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Nancy Thompson)
Check out...
Heather's MySpace Page
Heather's candy company: the Malibu Gum Company
Other actresses to play Nancy Thompson include...Perversions of Science "Ultimate Weapon"
Never Sleep Again: the Nightmare Legacy (as self)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (as Heather Langenkamp playing Nancy Thompson)
Shocker (Victim)
Nightmare on Elm Street / Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (Nancy Thompson)
Check out...
Heather's MySpace Page
Heather's candy company: the Malibu Gum Company
Rooney Mara in Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)