Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets, Natural Born Killers) has opened up to Deadline about returning to the world of Cape Fear and what the first season’s finale could mean for the Apple TV series. Lewis plays Crystal Cady, the sister of convicted killer Max Cady, played by Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Dune).

The role brought Lewis back to a property that helped launch her career 35 years ago, when she appeared as Danielle Bowden in Martin Scorsese’s (Goodfellas, Taxi Driver) 1991 film. Speaking with Deadline, Lewis said series creator Nick Antosca (The Act, A Friend of the Family) gave her a detailed backstory for Crystal before filming began.

That preparation helped her build the character without revealing too much about the major twist waiting in the season finale. The finale reveals that Crystal killed Max’s pregnant wife, Melissa, and took her unborn child to raise as her own. Lewis said she knew about the twist from the start and used that information to shape her performance.

“I knew how savage she was from the very beginning,” Lewis said to Deadline. “We wanna really make a real kind of psychopath. It’s like who’s more psychopathic, her or Max Cady? You decide.”

Lewis also discussed Crystal’s tense relationship with Max, saying the two characters constantly shift between predator and prey. She praised Bardem’s performance, describing his version of Max as seductive, dangerous and charismatic.

The season ends with Max shooting Crystal and Luke, played by Max Mattern, before throwing them into the hull of a burning boat. However, Lewis suggested that the story may not be finished.

“I hope to have a second season, because I know a little stuff about the second season,” she said. Lewis added that Antosca’s writing is built around unexpected turns and that the finale may not be as final as it appears.

The series also gave Lewis a chance to reconnect with Scorsese, who serves as an executive producer alongside Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Disclosure Day). Lewis called the original Cape Fear an important part of her creative history and described Scorsese as one of her earliest and most important teachers.