Cape Fear star Lily Collias has revealed how Juliette Lewis helped her feel less overwhelmed about taking on a role connected to the classic 1991 film.
The new 10-part Apple TV psychological thriller reimagines the Cape Fear story for 2026, with Javier Bardem playing Max Cady, a part previously taken on by Robert Mitchum in the 1962 film and Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake.
Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson star as married attorneys Anna and Tom Bowden, whose family finds itself targeted by Cady following his release from prison, while Collias plays their daughter Natalie.
The role has a clear connection to the previous screen versions of the story, with Lori Martin playing the Bowdens’ daughter Nancy in 1962 and Lewis earning an Oscar nomination for her performance as Danielle Bowden in the 1991 film.
Speaking exclusively to Radio Times, Collias said she initially found the legacy of Lewis’s performance difficult to shake.
“At the beginning, it was a little bit consuming for me, because Juliette, in the ’91 version, her naivety and her youth is just something so organic that I knew there were things I wanted to take from her – this sort of secrecy, and all these things,” she said.
Collias also revealed that part of Natalie’s look was inspired by that sense of a young character hiding something from the world.
“I added bangs, because I felt like she was always just hiding in such youthful ways,” she explained.
Collias revealed that she was eventually able to speak with Lewis herself – and that the encounter helped her feel free to make Natalie her own.
“I had the pleasure of being able to connect with her, and she was honestly very, very much a guiding light about all of that, because she was like, ‘This is entirely your own, and you’re gonna make it amazing.’
“Her making those stepping stones for me made it not overwhelming.”
The new series makes significant changes to the Bowden family, with Adams and Wilson playing newly invented characters Anna and Tom, while Collias and Joe Anders play their children Natalie and Zack.
Showrunner Nick Antosca has previously told Radio Times that expanding the family unit to include a son was a key part of updating Cape Fear, allowing the series to explore “more aspects of a modern family” and the different ways Cady can exploit their fears, secrets and vulnerabilities.
Cape Fear episodes 1-2 are out now on Apple TV, with new episodes releasing every Friday. Start your seven-day free Apple TV trial here.
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