Before filming, De Niro spent upwards of three hours a day in the gym to get shredded, only for him to up this to five hours once production commenced. But even that gruesome, painful process was nothing compared to De Niro’s muscle gains for the part, which rival even his time playing Jake La Motta. To play Cape Fear's Cady, De Niro had his teeth filed down by a dentist, a process which cost $5000 (and a further $20,000 to reverse once production wrapped).
The wiry, terrifyingly intense antagonist of the 1990 psychological thriller is a demented criminal out to hunt down Nick Nolte’s attorney for getting him thrown behind bars, and De Niro’s commitment to the part rivals the work he put into his earlier roles. Easily the scariest of De Niro’s many intimidating roles, Cape Fear’s Max Cady remains an all-time great movie monster.