Cast
Heather Langenkamp as herself and Nancy Thompson. Following her initial success in both the original Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Warriors, Langenkamp took on the role of Marie Lubbock in the ABC sitcom Just the Ten of Us. She was later stalked by an obsessed fan who was unhappy the series was cancelled, leading to her temporarily moving to England. In the film, Langenkamp's character is also stalked through harassing phone calls.
Robert Englund as himself and The Entity / "Freddy Krueger". Englund's performance as Freddy is notably toned down in this film compared to its predecessors, with less focus on comedic quips and more on the sinister aspect of his character. The Krueger costume was also altered to become darker with more "organic" makeup and a revised glove. In the film, Englund also plays himself as both an actor and painter. According to the 2010 documentary Never Sleep Again, a scripted but ultimately unfilmed sequence would have seen Englund transformed into a fly and trapped in the web of a giant "Freddy-spider" in an homage to the 1958 film The Fly. The sequence was not shot due to time and budgetary constraints.
Miko Hughes as Dylan Porter. Hughes plays the son of Heather Langenkamp and Chase Porter whose mental health begins to deteriorate after his encounters with Freddy.
John Saxon as himself and Donald Thompson. Since his previous appearances in the Elm Street films, Saxon had kept himself busy primarily with lower budget movies and TV work; he was keen to appear in New Nightmare as he thought it likely to be the last film in the Elm Street saga. In the film, Saxon plays himself and gives onscreen daughter Langenkamp some advice about how to best treat her son Dylan.
Tracy Middendorf as Julie, Dylan's babysitter and Heather's best friend. According to Middendorf in the Never Sleep Again documentary, she was created in part to act as a red herring regarding Heather's stalker. Film editor Patrick Lussier revealed in the same documentary that Julie was originally scripted to be working as an avatar for Freddy but this was ultimately changed to her being killed by him. Julie's death mimics that of Tina Grey from the original film, with a rotating room again being used to simulate Freddy dragging her across the ceiling.
David Newsom as Chase Porter, Heather's husband and a special effects artist working for New Line Cinema. The role of Chase was originally offered to Heather Langenkamp's real life husband David LeRoy Anderson but he declined as it would be "too close to the bone". Newsom recalled in 2010 how he looked nothing like a typical special effects artist, who tended to be bigger than him with longer hair.
Fran Bennett as Dr. Christine Heffner, who initially suspects that Heather may be inadvertently harming her child herself. Wes Craven named Bennett's character after former MPAA ratings chief Richard Heffner, with whom he had clashed many times over the content of his films.
Wes Craven as himself. Director Craven initially scripted himself as a man driven insane by nightmares, who had cut off his own eyelids to stay awake and was being driven by Michael Berryman's character from The Hills Have Eyes. Craven decided to opt for a more comforting setting of being in an opulent house in the Hollywood Hills.
Robert Shaye as himself. Shaye appears as himself in order to convince Heather Langenkamp to take part in the new Nightmare on Elm Street film. Shaye would later remark in the Never Sleep Again documentary, "I don't think I did a particularly good job, but I was okay". Shaye had previously appeared as a bartender at an S&M themed bar in Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge, as a teacher in Nightmare on Elm Street 4, as a ticket seller in Freddy's Dead and a funeral minister in the Freddy's Nightmares episode "Killer Instinct" (credited as L.E Moko).
Marianne Maddalena as herself
Sam Rubin as himself
Sara Risher as herself
Claudia Haro as a New Line Cinema receptionist
Matt Winston and Rob LaBelle as Charles "Chuck" Wilson and Terrance "Terry" Feinstein, two special effects workers
W. Earl Brown as Morgue attendant
Lin Shaye as Nurse with pill. Shaye played the teacher in the original film and, according to Never Sleep Again, was pleased to return as another "generic public servant".
Nick Corri as himself. Corri played Rod in the original film and is silently present during the funeral scene.
Tuesday Knight as herself. Knight played Kristen Parker in the fourth film and is silently present during the funeral scene.
