In 1993, Winslet attended a casting call for Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures in London. Auditioning for the part of Juliet Hulme, a vivacious and imaginative teen who assists in the murder of her best friend's mother, she won the role over 175 other girls. The film was released to favorable reviews in 1994 and won Jackson and partner Fran Walsh an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Winslet was awarded an Empire Award and a London Critics Circle Film Award for her performance; Washington Post writer Desson Thomson commented: As Juliet, Winslet is a bright-eyed ball of fire, lighting up every scene she’s in. Speaking about her experience on a film set as an absolute beginner, 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 and not knowing a bloody thing. The following year, Winslet auditioned for the adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, featuring Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, intending to get the small but pivotal role of Lucy Steele. She was instead cast in the second leading role of Marianne Dashwood. Director Ang Lee admitted he was initially worried about the way Winslet had attacked her role in Heavenly Creatures and thus required her to exercise tai chi, read Austen-era Gothic novels and poetry, and work with a piano teacher to fit the grace of the role. Budgeted at $16,500,000, the film became a financial and critical success, resulting in a worldwide box office total of $135 million and various awards for Winslet including winning a both BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. (*)