Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson have opened up about the pressure of stepping into the shoes of the masters of psychological suspense for the new streaming version of Cape Fear. The 1962 original, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, masterfully combined impending doom with intense sexual menace. The 1991 remake, featuring Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte, earned over $100 million at the box office and famously saw Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese trade projects—Scorsese swapped directing Schindler's List with Spielberg, who gave him the director's chair for Cape Fear.
Apple TV+ Series Brings New Depth
Now Apple TV+ has released a 10-part series of Cape Fear, starring Javier Bardem as violent ex-con Max Cady, alongside Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson as married attorneys Anna and Tom Bowden. Raising expectations, showrunner Nick Antosca brought in both Spielberg and Scorsese as executive producers. Six-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams, 49, recalls: “I sweat a lot! It really drives you knowing that they're sort of watching at all times and seeing the rushes and giving their feedback. Then we also had this great experience during the table read, where they wheeled in what can only be described as the largest, huge television, and on it was Martin Scorsese's face, and he was there to cheer us on and listen to us.”
Patrick Wilson on Working with Titans
Patrick Wilson, 53, who made his name on Broadway in shows like The Full Monty and Oklahoma! before becoming a household name in HBO's Angels in America, is blown away by Scorsese and Spielberg. “They're both super. They're both just such massive supporters of the project too, because it [Cape Fear] was one of the few where they collaborated together. It obviously meant so much to them, and it means so much to us, because they're the two titans of the industry.”
Adding to the Legacy
Amy's sharp, cunning portrayal of Anna Bowden has been highly praised by critics, while Patrick has been similarly lauded for his performance as her husband Tom, who gradually unravels under terror from Bardem's character. Patrick sees no danger of the series being seen as a simple pastiche: “We really felt like we were adding to the legacy, versus feeling like we were trying to recreate something. The characters are much different. And what you can tell over 10 episodes of the story is, you really get to go into different family members, different friends, different storylines, different tensions.”
Tom Hanks Inspired Wilson’s Career
Patrick, born in Norfolk, Virginia, to a voice teacher mother and a singer and news anchor father, now lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife, Polish-American actress Dagmara Domińczyk, and their two children. He says Tom Hanks inspired him to act: “I was two weeks in, living in New York, just graduated from acting school, and I ran into Tom Hanks—well, ran in, I pursued him, let's be honest, at the theatre. He was very kind to me and my friends, and he had just won his second Oscar. He said, ‘persevere.’ And I took that to heart. Then, 10 years later, I was starring in a show on Broadway. I heard he was in the audience and I got word to him. I had this photo of him … and he signed a picture and said, ‘to Patrick, who persevered.’ And I still have it.”
Amy Adams Praises Co-Star Javier Bardem
Amy readily gives praise to co-star Javier Bardem for his portrayal of Max Cady, described in reviews as a “combo platter of sexually charged charisma.” She says: “He's amazing. He's terrifying on screen when you're watching him, and yet charming and gregarious and joyful off screen. He gets to bring all of that sort of charm and attractiveness to Max Cady, which I think makes it really fun to watch.”
Amy’s Journey to the Top
Featured three times in annual rankings of the world’s highest-paid actresses, Amy was born in Aviano, Italy, where her father was serving in the U.S. Army. She moved around frequently before settling in Castle Rock, Colorado. After her parents divorced, her mother became a semi-professional bodybuilder. Amy moved from dancing into acting, working at GAP and Hooters before landing movie roles. Now married to actor and painter Darren Le Gallo, with a daughter Aviana, 16, she lives in Beverly Hills, California, and has won two Best Actress Golden Globe awards for American Hustle (2014) and Big Eyes (2015). She cites an encounter with Susan Sarandon: “Early on I was working on Enchanted (2007), and Susan Sarandon said, ‘You can have it all, but you can't have it all at the same time.’”
