Cape Fear Star Patrick Wilson Reveals His Biggest Horror Movie Lesson [exclusive]

Apple TV

Horror is having a huge moment on both the big and small screen, and each successive film and show is engaging in a silent game of one-upmanship in terms of content. Between things like "Obsession," "Backrooms," and (Guillermo del Toro-approved) "Widows Bay," the genre is pushing boundaries in new and exciting ways. The main way Apple TV's "Cape Fear" is making itself known in this busy genre space is through sheer intensity. Right from the first episode, the exonerated convict Max Cady (Javier Bardem) is making moves to manipulate the lives and the psyches of the attorneys who helped put him in jail, Anna and Tom Bowden (Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson). While the show's tone is certainly varied, even intentionally humorous at times, it's generally a very harrowing experience, made even more so by the actors' commitment.

While most people might assume that making a show like "Cape Fear" would require an on-set environment conducive to crafting such intense performances, that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, it's far easier for the cast to reach such levels of tension if they're able to drop it in between takes. That's the biggest lesson that Patrick Wilson learned from his years of appearing in horror movies, specifically the "Insidious" and "The Conjuring" franchises. As he explained to me in a recent chat, he applied this lesson to "Cape Fear," and though it may sound perverse, it resulted in a very fun working experience for himself and his fellow actors.

Apple TV

It's important to note that making quality art is hard work, no matter the genre. However, every type of project has different needs, and creating something as emotionally draining as "Cape Fear" meant the actors needed a release valve when the cameras stopped rolling. As Patrick Wilson confessed:

"We screw around a lot ... I think that ends up just being the balance. Maybe that's just how we're used to working, but we had a lot of fun for sure."

Wilson went on to say that fostering this environment of lighthearted looseness off-camera wasn't just for kicks, but actually helped keep the work focused on the feeling of encroaching terror that showrunner Nick Antosca and others wanted to establish on-camera:

"When you got to dive in and really go for it, it's definitely very heavy and weighted and the stakes are high, but I don't know how you would operate on that kind of level throughout an entire workday. That would be really exhausting. And I actually think that would affect the work. I mean, I think being able to turn it off and try to shake it off and run around and joke about something else or sing musical theater songs or something ... I mean, I think that's important. So there was a lot of that."

Again, having that philosophy toward crafting a terrifying show may seem antithetical. But when someone like Wilson has successes like "Insidious," "The Conjuring: Last Rites," and now "Cape Fear" to point to, it's hard to argue with. Might as well relax!

"Cape Fear" is now streaming on Apple TV.