Published May 15, 2026, 8:00 a.m. ET

A bold new version of the film and stage classic Amadeus hit Starz last week, introducing us to ghoulishly evil Salieri ( Paul Bettany ), a hilariously out-of-touch Mozart ( Will Sharpe ), and a more formidable Constanze ( Gabrielle Creevy ) than audiences have ever seen before. The five-part limited series created by Black Doves and Giri/Haji writer Joe Barton pulls elements from Peter Shaffer’s beloved stage play as well as real historic events to create a modern interpretation of the classic rivalry.

When Amadeus stars Paul Bettany and Will Sharpe visited DECIDER’s studio last week, they gushed about what a fun opportunity the show offered up to them as actors.

“It’s an iconic bad guy,” Bettany said. “I love him.”

“I think he is very relatable as a bad guy. I think it’s a sort of wish-fulfillment thing for audiences in that we all have venal, terrible thoughts, but hopefully don’t act out on them.…