Javier Bardem and Amy Adams are both critically acclaimed performers with stellar filmographies. But that doesn’t mean they can’t still get star-struck, especially when it involves Martin Scorsese.
Bardem and Adams are the headliners in Apple TV’s Cape Fear limited series, a 10-episode reimagining of Scorsese’s 1991 thriller starring Robert De Niro, Jessica Lange, and Nick Nolte, itself a remake of J. Lee Thompson’s 1962 film with Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck based on the novel The Executioners. Scorsese serves as an executive producer of the new project alongside fellow Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg, Alex Hedlund, and creator-showrunner Nick Antosca.
The two stars joined cast mates and creators for the world premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday and told Gold Derby about the challenge of working with Scorsese and Spielberg.
“They were hands-on,” Bardem told us, with an enthusiastic clap on each word. “Steven was shooting Disclosure Day when we were doing it, but he would see [the work] every day, and he would have lots of opinions, great input. And Marty was really hands-on, and everything that he would say, it was such a great idea.”
“So be sure that this show is very well-driven by them,” Bardem added. “I mean, they were not just a name on it. They were, until the very last moment, on top of it, which is amazing. The amount of work that these guys have. And they were responding fast.”
Though the overall experience went smoothly for the Oscar winner, Bardem, who plays the dangerous antagonist Max Cady (previously played by De Niro and Mitchum), explained the pressure he felt at the first table reading.
“They brought this huge television. And we were like, ‘What is that?’ And then — boom! — Martin Scorsese shows up, just to hear the reading.”
“Oh my God, the silence in the room. That was scary,” Bardem recalled. “To have to say my first line, as Max Cady, in front of Martin Scorsese. I was shaking. Like, how can I say anything in front of this master who [directed] the most amazing Max Cady?!”
Later on the carpet at the DGA Theater, Adams gave Gold Derby her take on the intense moment:
“The biggest screen you ever saw gets wheeled in and it has Martin Scorsese’s face on it and he’s like, ‘Hi guys.’ We’re like, ‘Oh… my… God.’”
Six-time Oscar nominee Adams, a master at psychological thrillers (The Woman in the Window, Sharp Objects), plays defense attorney Anna Bowden. She and her husband (played by Patrick Wilson) and their kids are targeted by Max Cady, recently released from prison and holding a big grudge.
Joe Anders, the son of Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes, plays the Bowdens’ son, Zack; Lily Collias plays his sister, Natalie (portrayed by a young Juliette Lewis in 1991, who earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination at age 18, and who appears in a small role in the series).
Adams said she immediately responded to the material. “Well, I always love playing suspense and thriller because it allows for so much reaction and discoveries, and I always love being in a character that’s in a state of discovery,” she told us. “So, these really allow for that. And also, something they all have in common is this idea of secrets — and the secrets we keep from ourselves.”
For his role, Bardem named three things that he employed to give his spin to the character.
“I would say technology is one of them. He’s aware of technology and the use of that, you know, to manipulate people’s will, which was not existing in the 1991 film,” he explained. “Then joy, a lot of joy in doing what he’s doing.”
“Patience,” he concluded. “Lots of patience, a lot of time to do what he wants to do and nothing to lose. Which gets into the freedom of not caring about anything except his desire, his will, to get what he needs. So the timing, for me, was important to create a body, a man who has all the time in the world.
“And that makes the other characters very nervous.”
When asked if he was open to tweaks or notes on his character throughout the process, Bardem replied passionately: “Absolutely. I love it.”
Bardem also revealed that he had yet to discuss the role with De Niro. “No no, not yet, I’ve met him a couple of times and he’s always been very nice, but I would have never dared to…”
Cape Fear premieres on Apple TV on June 5.
