Javier Bardem & Amy Adams React to Robert De Niro’s ‘Cape Fear’ Parenting Hack (Exclusive)

Javier Bardem, Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson are dishing with "Extra" on the new “Cape Fear” series.

The stars shared how the show builds from the book and previous movie versions of the story.

Patrick commented, “You can see threads from the book to the '62 version to the Scorsese version and then telling it over 10 episodes, we really get time to go into all these characters, backstories, and different lives. You’ve got a family and trust and vengeance and tension and all those juicy words to lock into, so you don’t need to have seen any iteration of this… That’s what I think a lot of us are excited to just welcome to this new generation… I’m excited for this audience to find out their ‘Cape Fear’ through us and then go back and watch the other versions.”

Javier talked about the Max Cady role, which was played by Robert De Niro in the 1991 film.

He noted, "It's a new take and he's more complex than in the feature film because we have more time."

Javier added, “We have the chance to see and understand him more, where he’s coming from, what his background is and where’s his backstory. So that gives you more times to play with, and it’s a joy to have those elements in a character that is not afraid to lose anything because he has lost it all, and that gives you the freedom to portray a character like that with joy.”

Amy chimed in, “The characters that we represent are so different than past iterations, so we get to honor that in a way but also then go deeper, so just really exploring their story, exploring their relationship, all of that."

She added, "But really at the end of the day, it's about what we create on set...This really required a lot of presence because our characters are so reactive and then trying to switch strategies to get ahead of Max but ending up of the backfoot constantly... We really did have to prepare, like, 'Okay, where are we in the thing.'"

They also reacted to De Niro joking to “Extra” about his “Cape Fear” parenting hack!

When they heard that Robert used to jokingly threaten his kids with watching “Cape Fear” if they misbehaved, Amy laughed, "Oh, my gosh! I love it."

Javier quipped, “I’ve done that with ‘No Country for Old Men’ with my 10-year-old... No, I'm joking."

Amy shared, “I threatened my daughter when she was younger that if she didn’t behave at a restaurant, she was there with her Girl Scout troop, that I would start singing ‘Enchanted’ full voice. She was like, not another peep."