There’s a new Max Cady in town.
The iconic villain, portrayed by Robert Mitchum in 1962’s Cape Fear and by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s 1991 version, is back on screen in the new Apple TV adaptation. The 10-episode series sees Javier Bardem stepping into the role of convict Max Cady, who is released from prison after 17 years and out for revenge on the happily married attorneys (Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson) who put him behind bars.
At the show’s Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday, Bardem admitted that he “would not have dared to touch” the role — which landed De Niro an Oscar nomination — if it was another straight remake, but was drawn in by the appeal of a new interpretation explored over 10 hours instead of two.
The star said he didn’t speak to De Niro while working on the project (teasing, “I talked to him in my mind like, ‘Please forgive me!'”) and is not one to stay in the killer’s mindset off camera, musing “What’s the point? I don’t find it even interesting to do it otherwise. I’m not that guy.”
That ease in shaking off a character was particularly useful for this project, as Bardem had to leave to shoot his scenes for Dune: Part Three in the middle of working on Cape Fear.
