Walking in the shoes of masters of psychological suspense was no mean feat for Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson, when they signed up for the new streaming version of Cape Fear. Impending doom and intense sexual menace were masterfully combined in the riveting 1962 Cape Fear movie, starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum.Then came the superb 1991 remake, with Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte - which earned more than $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, while his company continued to produce it.Now Apple TV+ has released a 10 part series of Cape Fear, starring Javier Bardem as violent ex-con Max Cady, alongside Amy and Patrick, who play married attorneys Anna and Tom Bowden. Raising expectations even further, showrunner Nick Antosca ramped up the pressure by bringing in both Spielberg and Scorsese as executive producers.‌Six time Academy Award nominee Amy, 49, the star of movies including Catch Me If You Can - on which she worked with Spielberg - and American Hustle, looks back on filming and admits: “I sweat a lot!” Speaking to The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service, Amy says: “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 like cheer us on and and listen to us.”Patrick, 53, who made his name on Broadway in the late 1990s and early 2000s, in shows like The Full Monty and Oklahoma, before becoming a household name after appearing in HBO’s Angels in America (2003) is blown away by Scorsese and Spielberg.He says: “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.”‌Amy’s sharp, cunning portrayal of Anna Bowden has been highly praised by critics, while Patrick has been similarly lauded for giving an excellent performance as her husband Tom. The couple are terrorised by Javier Bardem's character and viewers see the seemingly normal Tom gradually unravel. Clearly proud of the new production, Patrick sees no danger of the Apple series being seen as a simple pastiche of the established movies.He says: “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. “Married to Polish-American actress Dagmara Domińczyk, since 2005, with whom he has two children, Kassian and Kalin, Patrick, who was born in Norfolk, Virginia, is the son of voice teacher Mary and singer John, also a news anchor.‌Now living in Montclair, New Jersey, Patrick - who made his directorial debut with the 2023 horror film Insidious: The Red Door - says it was Tom Hanks who inspired him to act. He recalls an early encounter with the Saving Private Ryan actor, saying: “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. I was like, ‘okay, thank you, I appreciate it.’ 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 also readily gives praise - especially to Cape Fear co-star Javier Bardem, for his portrayal of Max Cady, which has been 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.”‌Featured three times in annual rankings of the world’s highest paid actresses, Amy was born in Aviano, Italy, where her dad, Richard, was serving in the United States Army. She, her mum, Kathryn, her four brothers and two sisters, moved around a lot because of his career, before settling in Castle Rock, Colorado. And, after leaving the Army, her dad became a nightclub and restaurant singer.A Mormon until her parents divorced in 1985 and left the church, her dad moved to Arizona and remarried after the split, while the children stayed with her mum, who became a semi-professional body builder. Amy, meanwhile, moved from dancing into acting, also working everywhere from GAP to Hooters, before moving into ‘dinner theatre’ and finally landing more regular movie roles. But her journey to the top has required considerable graft.Now established as a highly acclaimed actress, she is also happily married to actor and painter Darren Le Gallo and they have a daughter, Aviana, 16. Like Patrick, Amy - who lives in Beverly Hills, California, and has won two best actress Golden Globe awards for American Hustle (2014) and Big Eyes (2015) - is grateful to stars whose support has helped her. She cites an encounter with Susan Sarandon, saying it helped her to be “a little bit more gentle on myself.”‌She says: “I've been lucky enough to work with a lot of really amazing people, but 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." Looking at Amy’s life now, many people would disagree.*This interview can be heard in full on The Arts Hour on BBC Sounds.