NEED TO KNOW
Juliette Lewis is in the Cape Fear TV show, 35 years after starring in the 1991 movie version
There’s another secret throwback cameo, though, that fans likely missed
Showrunner Nick Antosca tells PEOPLE that the cameo happened because the person “turns out to be my neighbor in L.A.”
Juliette Lewis has a surprise role in the new Cape Fear series 35 years after starring in the film version. But there’s another throwback cameo that even die-hard fans likely missed.
Early in episode 2 of the Apple TV series, Javier Bardem’s Max Cady is shown in an emergency room having his injured hand examined. Amy Adams’ Anna Bowden — who has a complicated history with Max as his former lawyer — peeks through the curtain to spy on him, flinching as Max insists on snapping his own broken finger into place.
The doctor shown in the quick scene, showrunner Nick Antosca reveals to PEOPLE, is Wesley Strick, the screenwriter behind 1991’s Cape Fear movie.
Antosca explains that the hidden Easter egg happened because Strick “turns out to be my neighbor in L.A.”
Wesley Strick with Javier Bardem in ‘Cape Fear’ (2026)
Credit: Apple TV
Strick wrote about his onscreen moment on Instagram in June, reflecting on how he’d made space for Robert Mitchum, Martin Balsam and Gregory Peck — stars of the 1962 Cape Fear movie — to have cameos in the 1991 film.
“Now, in Episode 2, it’s my turn,” he said. In another post, Strick gave the new show his stamp of approval, writing, “Nick and his team have done a brilliant job of bringing the Max Cady legend to life for a new generation.”
Lewis, 53, earned an Oscar nomination for the 1991 film, and she pops up throughout the new Cape Fear series adaptation in more than a quick cameo capacity. Still, the creative team didn’t want to overdue it with callbacks to the old movie, says Antosca.
Juliette Lewis in ‘Cape Fear’ (2026)
Credit: Apple TV
“We didn’t want to make it a distracting thing. You don’t want to do just a cameo for one scene and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s so-and-so.’ We wanted it to be meaningful and also not take too much attention away,” he explains.
Adds Antosca, “I was on set with Juliette on another show [The Act] years ago when we first started talking about Cape Fear. And I always knew that I wanted her to play a meaningful role in the series.”
Nick Antosca on June 2, 2026
Credit: Maya Dehlin Spach/FilmMagic
Martin Scorsese, director of the 1991 film, and Steven Spielberg, its producer, teamed up to support the new series, both serving as executive producers on it.
“At the table read, [Scorsese] came on at the very beginning and said to everybody, ‘Much love. Go forth. Have an amazing time. Make something new and cool,’ ” says Antosca. “Throughout, both of them were reading scripts, sending us thoughts. They watched the cuts. They’ve been extraordinary partners.”
Antosca says this iteration of Cape Fear, inspired by the 1957 novel The Executioners, is a “surprising new version of the story that is so intense and scarier than past versions.”
“This is a timeless story. It’s a timeless nightmare,” he says. “Every version of Cape Fear reflects the time in which it was made and speaks to the fears of the society in which it was made. That was why I was excited to make a new version. In this version of Cape Fear, you’re going to see a very contemporary nightmare and you’re going to see a cast of incredible actors going head to head.”
New episodes of Cape Fear drop Fridays on Apple TV.
Read the original article on People
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