'Howards End' cast: Actors and the characters they play in the 1992 romantic drama film

Howards End is a 1992 romantic drama film directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter James Ivory (Call Me By Your Name). It is based on the 1910 novel of the same name by E.M Forster. The film is written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and produced by Ismail Merchant. The cast of Howards End includes Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Redgrave.

Howards End follows the story of Helen Schlegel (Helena Bonham Carter) who falls for Paul Wilcox (Joseph Bennett) but is rebuffed by members of his family. Her sister Margaret (Dame Emma Thompson) becomes friends with his mother, who promises her the family house, Howards End. Unfortunately, after her death, the will disappears threatening Margaret's inheritance of the house, until the widower, Henry Wilcox (Sir Anthony Hopkins), becomes attracted to Margaret. The film received critical acclaim particularly for Emma Thompson's performance for which she won several accolades including the Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Read more to find about Howards End cast and the characters they play in this Oscar-winning romantic drama.

About Howards End cast and characters

Emma Thompson

Dame Emma Thompson plays Margaret Schlegel in Howards End, who is the primary protagonist of the film. She is the chief representative of the Schlegel family, which represents the idealistic, intellectual aspect of the English upper classes. Dame Emma Thompson won her first Oscar for Best Actress in this film followed by the 1995 period drama Sense and Sensibility, for which she became the only actor to date to win Oscars for both acting and writing. Her other distinguished film and television credits include the Harry Potter film series (2004–2011), Wit (2001), Love Actually (2003), Angels in America (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), Last Chance Harvey (2008), Men in Black 3 (2012) and the spin-off Men in Black: International (2019), Brave (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Late Night (2019) and the BBC/HBO series Years and Years (2019). She will next star in Disney's live-action crime comedy Cruella (2021).

Anthony Hopkins

Sir Anthony Hopkins plays Henry Wilcox, a widower who falls in love with Helena Bonham's character Helen Schlegel. Anthony Hopkins is well known for starring in diverse film and television roles, most notably for his Oscar-winning performance as Hannibal Lecter in the psychological horror film The Silence of the Lambs (1991). His other notable films include The Elephant Man (1980), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Shadowlands (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), Meet Joe Black (1998), The Mask of Zorro (1998) and the Thor films. Hopkins has earned five other Oscar nominations for the films The Remains of the Day (1993), Nixon (1995), Amistad (1997), The Two Popes (2019) and The Father (2020), the latter in which he became the oldest actor to be nominated for an Oscar at 83 years old.

Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter plays Margaret Schlegel a member of the upper-class Schlegel family who falls in love with a widower named Henry Wilcox. Helena Bonham Carter is well known in the Harry Potter films (2007-11) as the witch Bellatrix Lestrange. She has starred in a series of acclaimed films which include  A Room with a View (1985), The Wings of the Dove (1997) and the Oscar-winning film The Kings Speech (2010). She most recently starred as Princess Margaret in the acclaimed royal drama series The Crown, for seasons three and four.

Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave plays Ruth Wilcox, Henry's wife who leaves the inheritance of the Howards End mansion to Margaret Schlegel after she dies. Vanessa Redgrave is one of the few actors who has achieved the "Triple Crown of Acting", winning an Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award for her performances in films, television shows and plays, respectively. Her most notable films include  A Man for All Seasons (1966), Blowup (1966), Camelot (1967), The Devils (1971), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Mission: Impossible (1996), Atonement (2007), Letters to Juliet (2010), Coriolanus (2011), and The Butler (2013).