Billy Zane got his start in one of the most beloved science fiction movies of the 80’s. He gained popularity on one of the quirkiest TV shows of the 90s. And he played the least-loved character in what was at the time the highest-grossing movie ever. His list of credits include several popular films. But when the handsome actor tried to transition into leading man roles, something didn’t click. Zane has worked steadily since 1985, but somehow he never became a household name.
What the hell happened?
Zane made his debut with a bit part in Robert Zemeckis’ sci-fi comedy, Back to the Future.
He played Match, one of bully Biff Tannen’s goons. According to Zane, he auditioned for the role of Biff which ultimately went to Thomas F. Wilson. Biff’s goon squad was cast from actors who auditioned for Biff but didn’t get the role.
According to Zane, hanging out on the Universal set was a lot of fun:
“What was amazing about that was I had a crash course in Hollywood, being on the back lot of Universal for about six months. It was the best playground on the planet. Michael J. Fox was very funny. He would play dead on a New York street, lie dead in the middle of the road, where the trams would come by, and they would have to stop and we’d come running out of the buildings and try to pilfer everyone for their Polaroid cameras and watches, like a highway robbery. Or we’d go up to the Psycho house at dusk with Maglites and shine them into the windows. We were kids and having a hoot!”
Back to the Future was a critical and commercial hit and one heck of a lucky break for a film debut. It was successful enough to spawn two sequels.
In 1986, Zane appeared in a less-beloved science fiction movie, Critters.
Critter’s was basically a Gremlins rip-off. Alien creatures who are furrier and have more teeth than the gremlin invade a rural Kansas town. A young boy and his family have to deal with the alien invasion. Dee Wallace Stone, best known for playing the mom in E.T. and Cujo, played – what else – the mom. Zane played the older daughter’s boy friend who sneaks off for some barnyard hanky panky. Probably not a good idea.
Reviews were mixed with many critics giving the movie points for having a sense of humor. It was a modest hit at the box office and three sequels followed.
Zane also appeared opposite Keanu Reeves, Kiefer Sutherland and Lori Loughlin in the TV movie, The Brotherhood of Justice.
The movie was based on a true story about a group of teens who decided to form a vigilante group to prevent violence. Reeves played the leader of the pack. Zane played a bad boy who smoked and brought guns to a knife fight.
Meanwhile, Zane was making guest appearances on TV shows like Heart of the City in 1986 and Matlock (pictured above) in 1987. On Matlock, Zane played a shifty garage mechanic testifying against his soon to be ex-wife. Only a country lawyer like the one played by Andy Griffith can get to the bottom of this in 46 minutes!
In 1988, Zane appeared on another crime show for senior citizens, Murder She Wrote. He also appeared on both Crime Story and the TV movie, Police Story: Monster Manor.
Zane had a big year in 1989. First he starred in a TV movie based on the infamous L.A. murders, The Case of the Hillside Stranglers.
Zane and Dennis Farina played the cousins who went on a serial killing spree. Richard Crenna played the police officer who investigated the case.
Less than a week later, Zane played another psychopath on the big screen in Phillip Noyce’s thriller, Dead Calm.
Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman played a young couple who go on a sailing trip to recover from a car crash that killed their son. Zane played a stranger whom they rescue from a sinking ship. Zane repays his rescuers by terrorizing them.
Dead Calm was produced by Australian director George Miller. It was based on the novel of the same name. The great Orson Welles had attempted to adapt the book in the 60’s. Welles never finished filming his version which was named The Deep. After Welles’ death in 1985, Miller convinced his ex-girlfriend to sell him the rights to adapt Dead Calm himself.
Test audiences did not like the film’s original ending which they considered too ambiguous. The studio asked Noyce to reshoot the ending to give Zane’s character the definitive ending audiences thought he deserved.
The movie received mostly positive reviews. It was a hit in its home country and was released in the US.
Zane also had a cameo appearance in Adam Sandler’s first movie, Going Overboard.
Sandler played an aspiring stand-up comic who takes a job as a waiter on a cruise ship hoping it will advance his career. The cruise ship is headed to a beauty pageant and is loaded with beautiful women. For some reason, the ship is raided by terrorists. Zane played King Neptune.
Sandler was not remotely a star at this point. Going Overboard had a budget of just $200,000 which it has certainly recouped many times over by now. It was such an amateur production that the movie was filmed with the wrong lens because the camera crew forgot to pack the right ones for the boat.
Finally, Zane reprised his debut role as Match in Back to the Future 2.
Following the first film’s success, Universal was eager to make a sequel. But Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale hadn’t planned for one. Eventually, they agree to film two sequels back-to-back rather than let someone else ruin their franchise.
Most of the original cast came back for the sequels. Crispin Glover did not return after his salary demands were not met. Claudia Welles was unable to return so she was replaced by Elisabeth Shue. Marty’s siblings, played by Marc McClure and Wendie Jo Sperber were supposed to appear in a cameo. But the scene was cut due to Sperber’s pregnancy. Fortunately for Zane, Biff’s entire gang was brought back for scenes in the past and an alternate 1985 in which Zane was rocking the cowboy look.
The sequel received mostly positive reviews. But it was not as well-received as the original film. It was a hit at the box office, but also lagged behind the first film commercially. The final film in the series was released six months later to diminished returns. Sadly Zane did not play a cowboy in the Western-themed Back to the Future 3.
In 1990, Zane appeared as part of the ensemble cast of young actors in the World War 2 drama, Memphis Belle.
Memphis Belle was loosely based on the true story of the crew of an American B-17 bomber that was stationed in England during the war. The movie tells the story of the crew’s 25th and final mission. If they survive, they get to return home as heroes and tour the US selling War Bonds.
Memphis Belle was directed by Michael Caton-Jones. It was his first movie following the critically acclaimed historical drama, Scandal. Expectations for the film were high despite its modest budget. The cast was loaded with up-and-coming actors like Zane anyone of whom could have broken out as a major movie star for the 90’s. Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz were the two most recognizable names at the time. The cast also included Tate Donovan, D. B. Sweeney, Sean Astin and Harry Connick Jr. in his film debut. John Lithgow and David Strathairn filled out the cast.
Despite mostly positive reviews, Memphis Belle disappointed at the box office. It has since developed a cult following among fans of the genre.
Later that year, Zane got his first chance at a lead role in the low budget sci-fi thriller, Megaville.
Megaville takes place in a dystopian future in which all media is banned except in a place called Megaville. Zane played a police officer tasked with enforcing the ban on media, but he finds himself strangely drawn to it. His strange behavior could cost him his job, but instead he is sent on an undercover mission to infiltrate the criminal underworld because he bears a striking resemblance to a brutal killer.
The movie was beneath the radar of most critics and audiences. But it gave Zane his first crack at a lead.
In 1991, Zane starred in the Italian drama, Milardi, which was retitled Millions for US distribution.
Zane played a member of a rich family lead by a dying relative. As the ailing industrialist nears death, family members fight for control of his empire.
The movie co-starred Lauren Hutton and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, Carol Alt.
Zane also starred opposite Flashdance star Jennifer Beals in the quirk crime comedy, Blood and Concrete: A Love Story.
Zane played a Vegas car thief who is known for carrying an unloaded gun for show. He falls for a punk rocker played by Beals and hijinks ensue.
It’s the kind of movie you would accuse of being a Tarantino rip-off except it pre-dates Reservoir Dogs by a year.
Continuing a busy year, Zane starred opposite Colin Firth in the thriller, Femme Fatale.
Firth played a former painter who left the city for a career as a park ranger. He falls for a girl played by Zane’s real-life sister, Lisa Zane, and soon they are married. The night before their honeymoon, Firth’s new bride disappears. She leaves behind her wedding ring and a note that reads “I don’t know who you are”. Firth tracks his missing bride to the big city where he crashes with an old friend from his painting days played by Zane. Together, they uncover her dark secrets.
In 1990, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks was a cultural phenomenon on TV. The first season was critically acclaimed and a ratings winner. But in the second season, things started to fall apart rather quickly. I was a die-hard Peaks Freak, so please bear with me while I reminisce.
As the ratings started to decline, ABC got nervous. They insisted that Lynch solve the show’s central mystery by revealing the identity of Laura Palmer’s killer. Lynch insisted that doing so would kill the show. But he relented to studio pressure.
Unfortunately, Lynch was right. With the killer revealed, Twin Peaks lost its reason to exist. The writers scrambled to find new stories to tell. But nothing they came up with worked. Instead of being strangely compelling, the second season of Twin Peaks was often just dumb.
In the midst of all this, there was a struggle between the writers and the show’s star, Kyle MacLachlan. The writers kept trying to link MacLachlan’s popular character, Agent Cooper, with the show’s most popular female character played by Sherilyn Fenn. They figured a romance between the show’s most popular characters would ignite the ratings.
But MacLachlan objected on the basis that Agent Cooper was an upstanding FBI agent and Fenn’s character was supposed to be a high school student. Reportedly, MacLachlan’s then girl friend, Lara Flynn Boyle, was also irritated watching her beau film love scenes with Fenn. So she was pressuring MacLachlan to nix the romantic rubplot as well. The issue got so heated that MacLachlan threatened to walk off the show if the writers didn’t cut it out.
The writers complied and new love interests were created for both MacLachlan and Fenn. Heather Graham was cast as a love interest for Agent Cooper in spite of the fact she was even younger than Fenn.
Zane played John Justice Wheeler, an honest businessman and a friend of Fenn’s character’s father. He comes to Twin Peaks to help bail their company out of bankruptcy. Basically, his job was to be handsome. Zane considered himself extremely lucky to get to work on the show:
“Twin Peaks was awesome. It was an incredible gift playing that role and supposedly getting to deflower Audrey Horne [played by Fenn] on your private jet while saving an endangered species. I was like, ‘Did I win the lottery?’”
A year ago when Twin Peaks was still a hot show, such a role would have made Zane a huge star. But by this point, cancellation was right around the corner. Zane’s character left the show after five episodes. Presumably, he would have returned had the show been renewed for a third season. But unfortunately, that was not to be. The show did spawn a movie, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. But since the movie was a prequel to the TV show, Zane’s character did not appear.
In 1992, Zane appeared opposite Tilda Swinton in Sally Potter’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando: A Biography. The title of the movie was shorten to Orlando.
Swinton starred as a young man named Orlando who is commanded by Queen Elizabeth I to stay young forever. Amazingly, Orlando never ages. He stays young as British history unfolds all around him. Although he does not age, he does not remain unchanged. When he has a crisis of masculinity, he switches genders.
Zane got second billing, but he is only on screen for roughly 12 minutes.
Although he had yet to star in a hit movie, Zane was viewed as a rising star. In 1993, he was all over the place. First, he starred in an erotic made-for-cable movie produced by soft-core auteur, Zalman King. The movie was called Lake Consequence.
Joan Severance starred as a suburban housewife who has to make a choice between her safe, boring life with her husband and having threesomes in a hot tub with Zane. Since this is a Zalman King production, her decision will surprise no one. Although if I were going to have an extramarital affair, I don’t think I would do it at a place called Lake Consequence. I mean, that’s just asking for trouble.
In 1993, Zane starred opposite Tom Berenger in the action film, Sniper.
Berenger played a veteran sniper going on one last mission to kill a Columbian drug lord. Since his last spotter was killed in action, Berenger is paired with a civilian played by Zane. The civilian, though a sharp shooter, has never killed a man before. Zane’s orders are to take Berenger down should he divert from the mission. But Berenger doesn’t follow orders which leads to conflict between the two men.
Reviews were mixed. The movie opened at second place at the box office behind Aladdin. While not exactly a hit, the movie did develop a cult following and spawned three sequels.
Later that year, Zane played a villain in Mario Van Peebles’ Western, Posse.
Van Peebles directed and starred in the movie. He played the leader of the U.S. Army’s 10th Cavalry Regiment, a segregated African-American unit during the Spanish-American War in Cuba. Van Peebles’ character, Jessie Lee, returns to the command center to ask a racist Colonel played by Zane for permission to retreat. Zane agrees under the condition that Peebles shoot a deserter. Peebles’ character refuses to kill a man in cold blood, so Zane replaces him as leader with a white prisoner played by Stephen Baldwin.
After the success of New Jack City, Van Peebles had the clout to make a Western with a mostly African-American cast. He cast non-actors like Big Daddy Kane, Tiny Lister and Tone Loc. He also found a role for his father, director Melvin Van Peebles. The cast also included Blair Underwood, Isaac Hayes, Pam Grier and Nipsey Russell.
Unfortunately, Posse didn’t share in the success of New Jack City. Reviews were mostly negative and the movie flopped at the box office.
Zane also appeared in the low-budget thriller, Betrayal of the Dove.
Former Supergirl, Helen Slater starred as a single mom recently divorced from the man of her nightmares, Alan Thicke! To show how intimidating he is, the former Growing Pains dad doesn’t shave and wears a wife beater. It’s the host of Thicke of the Night as you have never seen him before! Slater’s bestie, played by former Mrs. Steven Seagal Kelly LeBrock, sets her up with a doctor played by Zane. Someone is out to get Slater in all of this and everyone is a suspect.
Zane also had a bit role in John Singleton’s follow-up to Boyz in the Hood, Poetic Justice aka the Janet Jackon/Tupac movie.
He also had a small role in the 1993 Western, Tombstone.
Kurt Russell starred in the Wyatt Earp biopic and Val Kilmer co-starred as Doc Holiday. The cast was filled out with actors like Sam Elliot, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe and Michael Biehn. They all played rugged cowboys while Zane got to be fancy. His character’s name is Mr. Fabian. Even his name sounds fancy. Why, he’s almost as pretty as Dana Delaney (pictured beside him). Oh, who are we kidding? Zane is prettier. Sorry, Dana. Nice hat though.
Zane spoke well of co-star Kilmer, but he singled out screenwriter Kevin Jarre for praise:
That was just a testament to Kevin Jarre, who should’ve had a mention at the Oscars. That was a strange oversight—the man who wrote Glory, Tombstone, and directed two weeks of Tombstone before being ripped from his own film.
Originally, Jarre was hired to direct Tombstone. But Russell and Kilmer agreed the script was too long with too many characters and subplots. Jarre refused to cut his screenplay and was fired as director. Russell went about trimming down the script cutting many of his own scenes in order to give the other actors more screen time. The film was already two weeks behind schedule and the studio panicked.
According to Russell, he ended up directing Tombstone. But the studio heads wouldn’t trust him with first time director duties. So he was forced to hire George P. Cosmatos to officially direct the film. Cosmatos came recommended to Russell by Sylvester Stallone who had hired him to ghost direct Rambo II. Russell claims he promised to keep his directing duties a secret while Cosmatos was alive. After Cosmatos’ death, Russell took credit for directing Tombstone.
Reviews were mostly positive and the movie was a hit at the box office.
Also in 1993, Zane starred opposite Martin Sheen and former Bond girl, Maryam D’abo, in an episode of the TV show, Tales from the Crypt, In the episode entitled Well Cooked Hams, Zane played a lousy magician and D’abo played his assistant whom he accidentally sets on fire. Sheen played a rival magician.
Around this time, Zane starred opposite Kim Cattrall in the made for TV sci-fi thriller, Running Delilah.
Cattrall played a secret agent who is killed in action and revived with cyborg parts. It is nothing at all like the Bionic Woman. Did the Bionic Woman have Billy Zane in it? I didn’t think so. So stop comparing it to the Bionic Woman, will ya?
Okay, so it’s pretty much a low-budget ripoff of the Bionic Woman. You win.
In 1994, Zane starred in the Italian parody, Silence of the Hams.
Zane played an FBI agent named Jo Dee Fostar. Get it? Har dee har har yuck yuck. Try sitting through an hour and 18 minutes of jokes like that! This is the kind of movie where Dom DeLuise plays a Hannibal Lecter-like character who dresses up like Gary Oldman in Dracula and makes fart jokes about fava beans.
Mel Brooks, John Astin, Bubba Smith, Lary Storch, Rip Taylor and Phyllis Diller and Shelley Winters have cameos. Martin Balsam of 12 Angry Men appears as Detective Martin Balsam.
Currently, The Silence of the Hams has a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Empire magazine said The Silence of the Hams has “a script staggeringly bereft of humour or invention, and a clumsy, amateurish direction that seems largely concerned with focusing on Charlene Tilton’s breasts.” Well, you have to play to your strengths I guess.
Zane also starred opposite the first Mrs. Tom Cruise in the prison drama, Reflections on a Crime (alternately titled Reflections in the Dark).
Mimi Rogers played a prisoner condemned to death for murdering her husband. Zane played a prison guard who questions Rogers about the events that lead to her incarceration. And also, “What is it like to be married to Tom? He’s a wacko, isn’t he? And Nicole? You hate her, don’t you? You know, I almost killed her on a boat.” Well, I imagine that’s what they talked about. I haven’t actually seen it.
Zane also starred opposite Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. in the crime movie, Flashfire.
Zane played Jack Flinder, a cop whose name is only slightly less ridiculous than Michael Scarn. From The Office, remember? Flinder is an honest cop on a corrupt police force. He and his partner uncover a conspiracy while pursuing an arsonist. Who like’s the partner’s odds of surviving to retirement? Anyone?
Zane also appeared opposite Marisa Tomei in Norman Jewison’s romantic comedy, Only You.
Tomei played a school teacher who has believed all her life that she was destined to marry a man named Damon Bradley. She ends up leaving her dull fiance when she gets a phone call from a man with that name. Since he is headed to Italy, she hops a plane because that is what you do in rom coms. While in Italy, she meets another American played by Robert Downey Jr. who claims to be Damon Bradley. Rom comedy ensues.
Reviews were mixed and the movie disappointed at the box office. But Zane’s role is so small, it doesn’t really matter much. At least Dom DeLuise is nowhere to be found.
In 1995 , Zane starred in the first Tales From the Crypt movie subtitled Demon Knight.
Zane played a demon known as The Collector who is pursuing a man played by William Sadler. Sadler’s character is tasked with protecting the last of seven keys. The key is a special container filled with the blood of Christ. If Zane manages to collect them all, evil will take over the world. Or he will sell them all on eBay. But probably the thing with the evil. Jada Pinkett (pre-Smith) co-starred as a convict who just might be humanity’s last hope.
The script for Demon Kight had been kicking around Hollywood since 1987. After passing through several directors, it was chosen by Joel Silver to be the middle chapter in a Tales From the Crypt trilogy. The studio decided they liked Demon Knight more than the other two movies so they made it first.
Demon Knight received mostly negative reviews. It opened at #3 at the box office behind Higher Learning and Legends of the Fall. Thanks to a low-budget, the movie managed to make a profit, but plans for the other two films in the planned trilogy were cancelled. A second Tales From the Crypt movie, Bordello of Blood, opened in 1996 and flopped at the box office effectively killing the series. A third movie, Ritual, was released in 2001 without the Tales From the Crypt name.
Zane continued starring in low-budget movies like the thriller, The Set Up.
Zane played a security systems expert who gets caught during a robbery. When he is released from prison, a bank owner played by James Coburn hires him to design a security system for his bank. As soon as he is done, someone kidnaps his girlfriend played by Mia Sara from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The kidnapper then blackmails Zane into breaking into his own security system.
In 1996, Zane starred opposite Kristie Swanson, Treat Williams and Catherine Zeta -Jones in the comic book movie, The Phantom.
Zane played Kit Walker, an adventurer who wears a mask and a purple body suit to fight crime. Kit is the 21st in a long line of Phantoms who are believed to be immortal because they pass along the mantle to an heir. Swanson played love interest and Williams played the villain who is attempting to collect magic skulls to rule the world. Zeta-Jones, appeared as an evil lady pirate.
Following the success of Batman, movie studios kept looking for a comics-inspired hero they could bring to the big screen. Bt instead of making the super hero movies everybody wanted, they bought up the rights to old pulp characters like Dick Tracy, The Rocketeer and The Shadow. Several directors were attached to The Phantom at some point in its development including Sergio Leone, Joe Dante and Joel Schumacher. Eventually it fell into the “capable” hands of Australian director, Simon Wincer. Who? The guy who made Operation Dumbo Drop. Uh-oh.
At one point, Bruce Campbell was the front-runner to play the Phantom. Zane was introduced to the character while filming Dead Calm and fell in love with the idea of playing the part. After he was cast, he worked out for a year to get in shape to fill out the spandex costume. Zane recalls the movie fondly:
“That film was ahead of its time, in a weird way. If it came out any later, in the glut of superhero-dom, it would’ve been squeezed into the same sociopathic, postmodern, all-too-slick, forgettable fare that’s out there. What fans seem to like about that movie is it has a very sweet, heroic heart. And it was Catherine Zeta-Jones’s first American film. I have a knack for cracking the girls of the Commonwealth!”
The movie received mixed reviews, but it’s actually a lot of fun if you don’t mind old school silliness. Zane was under contract to make sequels, but after the movie flopped the sequels were never made. It has become popular enough on home video that there were rumors of a sequel. But those rumors never came to pass. Now, there are rumors of a reboot without Zane and Swanson.
Not a lot of people saw The Phantom in the theater. I did. And so did James Cameron.
Later that year, Zane had a supporting role in the black comedy, Head Above Water.
Harvey Keitel starred as a supreme court judge who takes his young bride on a beach vacation. Cameron Diaz played his trophy wife. Craig Sheffer played Diaz’s childhood friend and caretaker of the island where the couple is on vacation. And Zane appeared as Diaz’s old flame. He shows up while Keitel is away and ends up dead. Before you can say “Weekend at Bernie’s”, Diaz is trying to hide her ex-lover’s corpse from her jealous husband.
Head Above Water was a remake of a 1993 Norwegian movie called Hodet Over Vannet. The original featured copious amounts of nudity which was not true of the American remake. Here’s a taste (of the movie, not the nudity):
The director of the Norwegian movie was not a fan of the remake. He later said, “”Twice Hollywood has remade my films, and both times they have managed to make the worst movie ever.”
At the time, Keitel was experiencing a bit of a career resurgence after Resevoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Diaz was hot off The Mask and on her way to becoming an A-list actress. And Sheffer, well, he sure was in this movie.
Reviews were mostly negative and the movie was ignored in the art houses where it played.
Zane put on his action hero hat (a ballcap apparently) for the thriller, Danger Zone.
Zane starred as an American mining expert who needs to find some missing barrels of toxic waste. Robert Downey Jr. co-stars as his side-kick who speaks in one of the least convincing Southern accents I have ever heard. Ron Silver plays the kind of slick bad guy he plays in most every movie, but this time with an equally bad French accent.
Robert Downey Jr. said he only made it because they offered him $500,000 for two weeks work. I’m sure he bought something nice with it instead of blowing it on drugs. You see kids, this is where drugs will lead you. Before you know it, you’re doing the worst Southern accent ever in a crappy Billy Zane movie in South Africa just to score some smack. Now that’s an effective public service announcement!
In 1997, Zane had the biggest role of his career. He co-starred opposite Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in James Cameron’s Titanic.
DiCaprio and Winslet played star-crossed lovers who meet on Titanic and fall in love against all odds. DiCaprio’s character is a poor boy with a good heart whereas Winslet played a rich girl who hates her life. Which is understandable because she is engaged to a handsome slimeball played by Zane. Of course, none of that really matters much because *spoiler alert* the boat sinks.
Zane’s role almost went to Cameron regular, Michael Biehn. The studio wanted to cast Matthew McConaughey in the lead role, as Jack. But Cameron pushed for DiCaprio. As a compromise, he offered McConaughey the bad guy role, but McConaughey declined. Probably when he got to wardrobe and realized he would be wearing a shirt. Other handsome actors like Rob Lowe, Rupert Everett, and Pierce Brosnan were considered. But then Cameron remembered seeing Zane in purple spandex in The Phantom and he was cast.
According to Zane, his nautical history in movies has caused him some troubles when it comes to boats, “Since Dead Calm I couldn’t charter a boat to save my life. I’d be in St. Bart’s and say, “Let’s go for a day sail!” And I’d step onboard, and the crew would say, “Hell, no!”
Zane is also good-natured about the movie’s ubiquitous theme song:
“It’s always funny when it comes on because when you’re at a public place and have people who might notice you, everyone shares the joke. I was in Harrods last week and they have live performances there, and there was a singer who performed “My Heart Will Go On.” There were a few balconies that overlooked this main escalator with mannequins in the latest designs leaning over, and as I was going down, people had a giggle and I was trying to compel one of the mannequins to jump. “Jump, Rose!” [Laughs] But it’s not annoying, it’s endearing.”
So obviously, Titanic was a huge hit with critics and audiences. Looking back on its success, it’s easy to forget that the movie was seen as a huge gamble. As is common for Cameron, he went over-budget making Titanic. The release date got pushed from summer back to the holiday season which is rarely a good sign. It was the most expensive movie ever made at the time and it was about a tragedy. It was over three hours long and everyone knew how it ended before it even opened. A lot of people expected Titanic to bomb.
Instead, Titanic became the highest grossing movie ever made at the time. Reviews were mostly positive and the movie cleaned up at awards season winning Best Picture and Best Director at the Golden Globes and the Oscars. More than that, it became a cultural phenomenon. Part of the reason for the movie’s unprecedented success was that young girls fell in love with the tragic romance and saw the movie over and over again. Leo Mania swept the nation and DiCaprio became a huge star.
On the flip side, all those little girls who probably would have thought Zane was dreamy if they had seen him in any other role, grew up HATING him. So even though Titanic was easily the biggest movie Zane ever appeared in, it didn’t do that much for his career.
In 1998, Zane followed up the biggest movie of his career by doing voice work in the direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas 2: Electric Boogaloo. Actually, the subtitle is Journey to a New World which is kind of odd because the movie is about Pocahontas travelling back to the Old World. But, whatever. It’s a direct-to-video Disney sequel. No one expects much from these things.
The sequel opens with the villain Ratcliffe ordering John Smith’s arrest. After the scuffle, he is missing and presumed dead. Zane played a diplomat sent to smooth things over between the settlers and the native Americans. Obviously, that worked out just fine.
Mel Gibson didn’t return to voice John Smith in the sequel. So his younger brother, Donal Gibson, took over the role.
1998 wasn’t all direct-to-video cartoons for Zane. He also starred in the ultra-low budget camp thriller, I Woke Up Early the Day I Died.
Zane played a lunatic who steals a nurse’s uniform and dresses up in drag to escape an insane asylum. Once free, he goes on a crime spree. The cast included Ron Perlman, Tippi Hedren, Christina Ricci, Andrew McCarthy, Bud Cort and Nicollette Sheridan. It was based on a “lost” screenplay by the legendary “worst director of all times” Ed Wood. The whole dressing up in drag thing makes more sense now, doesn’t it?
While the movie has sound effects and some narration, there is no dialogue. It also employs the Ed Wood cost-saving trick of using stock footage. The end result was as bad as a real Ed Wood movie without being as much fun. Although Zane likes it:
“We made this silent film called I Woke Up Early the Day I Died. That’s a remarkable movie that should be rereleased, because of The Artist. It’s quite camp and very funny.”
Zane also co-starred in another movie you have never heard of, John Landis’ black comedy, Susan’s Plan.
Natasha Kinski starred as a woman who wants her ex-husband killed. Zane played her boyfriend who hires a couple of thugs played by Rob Schneider and Michael Biehn to commit the crime. But the goons are incompetent and the husband lives. So they turn to a “biker without a bike” played by Dan Aykroyd to finish the job. Lara Flynn Boyle also appears.
At one point, Landis was one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. Especially when t came to directing comedy. But by 1998, he was running on fumes. He and Aykroyd also released the wretched Blues Brothers that same year. How it makes sense to call that movie Blues Brothers 2000 in 1998 is something only Dan Aykroyd can understand.
Also in 1998, Zane played Jason Blood/Etrigan the Demon in an episode of The New Batman Adventures.
According to Zane, part of his problem following Titanic was that he was forced to take lousy jobs to make his alimony payments:
“I was married at 21 for eight years with no children to a lovely girl, and we’re still friends, but L.A. law had gouged my assets and required exorbitant ransom for the better part of five years, and I chose ultimate freedom, and was happy to do anything to pay off a ridiculous monthly alimony. Dude, it was heinous for a young man, and this was happening right in the middle of Titanic. From that point on, if you see a nose dip, I was basically doing anything that paid to pay that off so it didn’t get extended, because then there’s a penalty.”
The “What the Hell Happened” series has taught me many lessons. One of them is don’t get divorced in L.A.
In 1999, Zane co-starred opposite Timothy Dalton and Leonor Varela in the Hallmark TV movie, Cleopatra.
Varela played the famous Egyptian queen, Dalton played Ceasar and Zane played Marc Antony.
Continuing to make his alimony payments, Zane appeared in a romantic comedy which is alternately known as Promise Her Anything and Nothing to Declare. Valérie Valois plays a beautiful tax inspector who audits a town that hasn’t paid a dime in taxes since World War 2.
Zane ended up in this movie due to a mistake made by his agent. Zane had read the script for a different movie called The Taxman, and his told his agent he would meet with the producers. His agent accidentally hooked him up with the producers of Taxman which was the movie’s original title. Zane and his agent didn’t figure out the mistake until halfway through the meeting, but he agreed to do the movie anyway.
Zane also made a cameo appearance in Marilyn Manson’s music video, The Dope Show.
In 2000, Zane starred in the Canadian TV mini-series based on the Dean Koontz novel, Sole Survivor. Zane played a man who loses his wife and daughter in a plane crash. Later, he learns of a nefarious scientific experiment that cause the accident.
He also played Jimi Hendrix’s manager in the TV biopic, Hendrix.
2001 was a pretty good year for Zane. He started off appearing in the critically acclaimed drama, The Believer.
Ryan Gosling starred as a Jewish student struggling with his heritage. Zane played a fascist who invite him to a Neo Nazi camp. The movie is based on the true story of Dan Burrows, an American Jew who joined the Nazi party.
Zane recalls working with Gosling:
“I saw his innate talent. You emulate your heroes, and I think his generation wanted to be De Niro. But he was already formulating his own identity and playing against the Disney thing he had going on before that. Watching Leo and Ryan at a point in their careers where they were really about to explode—the common denominator was great talent in kind men.”
The Believer received very positive reviews and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
Zane also appeared in the movie Roman Coppola’s look at French B-movies in the 60’s, CQ.
The movie is about a young film editor in Paris in 1969 working on a Barbarella-like science fiction movie called Codename: Dragonfly. Gérard Depardieu played the extremely French writer and director. He is later replaced by another director played by Jason Schwartzman. Zane played Mr. E, the bad guy in the movie within a movie who has a secret base on the “far out” side of the moon.
Roman Coppola the son of famed director Francis Ford Coppola. CQ was his directorial debut. Reviews were mostly positive. He has gone on ton colaborate with his cousin, Schwartzman and director Wes Anderson on movies like The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom.
More importantly, Zane played himself in a cameo appearance in Ben Stiller’s male model comedy, Zoolander.
Zane recalls how the scene came about:
“I swear I get more love for five minutes of playing myself in that than 30 years of character work! [Laughs] I was living in New York at the time, and I’d see Ben out and about quite a bit, and he called and asked if I’d do a cameo. When I was there, it suddenly evolved and all that came out of improv. I love that I was the only one in Derek’s corner. But we did so many different versions of that scene. “Stuff it, Zane!” “Put a cork in it, Zane!” “Save it, Zane!” The fact that he kept saying my name …“Billy Zane’s a cool dude!” He just kept hitting it and I was very embarrassed on the day but have come to be so grateful because I’m constantly met with strangers who claim, “Billy Zane is a cool dude.” I just hope to live up to it. Or I hear, “Save it, Zane!” It’s certainly better than, “You’re the asshole from Titanic!”
The movie opened to mixed reviews and was a modest hit at the box office. But it has developed a cult following on video and a sequel is planned. Zane says he has placed calls to try to reprise his cameo roll.
But that’s not all! Zane also starred in the adaptation of the Louis L’Amour novel, The Diamond of Jeru. Zane played an American ex-pat war veteren hired by Keith Carradine and his wife to act as a guide through an unchartered Borneo river in search of diamonds.
In Morgan’s Ferry he played an escaped convict who hides out with two other escapees in the home of a reclusive woman. The woman was played by Kelly McGillis and the other two convicts were played y Henry Rollins and Johnny Galecki.
Zane also starred in the martial arts/fantasy film, Invincible.
He also appeared in four episodes of the Fox TV series, Boston Public, and voiced the character of Brodi in the snowboarding video game SSX Tricky.
I’m not sure when Billy Zane slept.
From here on out, we’re just going to hit on some high and low lights. Zane kept up a very busy pace of making movies you probably have never heard of.
In 2002, Zane continued voicing video games. This time, he played the bad guy in the beloved PS2 game, Kingdom Hearts. It’s a bizarre mash-up of Disney characters with Japanese-style RPG characters. The game was a hit that inspired many sequels.
By this point, Zane’s career in mainstream movies had essentially died out. He worked steadily in low budget camp like the 2003 vampire movie, Vlad.
In 2004, Zane had an appearance in John Sayles’ political satire, Silver City.
Chris Cooper played a George W. Bush-esque politician with a Dick Cheney stand-in played by Richard Dreyfus. The talented cast included Danny Huston, Tim Roth, Thora Birch, Maria Bello and Miguel Ferrer.
In 2005, Zane appeared on three episodes of the fantasy TV show, Charmed.
Charmed was about three sisters who were witches played by Holly Marie Combs, Alyssa Milano and Shannen Dougherty Rose McGowan. Here’s McGowan expressing her excitement over Zane’s guest spot.
I love how McGowan doesn’t think Zane has “done TV before”. Does she even know who Billy Zane is?
Zane played the poetry-loving ex-demon, Drake.
Later that year, Zane appeared in the infamous video game movie, Bloodrayne.
Why infamous? Bloodrayne was directed by Uwe Boll, the man many consider to be the Worst Director of All Time. Unlike Ed Wood, Boll’s movies aren’t charmingly inept. They are just plain bad.
Zane played the father of a vampire-hunter played by Michelle Rodriguez. His character is secretly in league with the King of Vampires played by Ben Kingsley who never met a paycheck he didn’t want to cash. Kristanna Loken (aka the bad guy in Terminator 3) a half-human, half vampire who… nevermind. She’s the female Blade in a corset. Michael Madsen and Meatloaf also cashed in.
Madsen trashed the movie but said he enjoyed working for Boll and would work for him again. Boll claimed that Madsen was drunk for most of the shoot which may explain why he enjoyed it so much. Reportedly, Boll hired actual prostitutes for a scene with Meatloaf because Romanian prostitutes are cheaper than actresses.
Bloodrayne received terrible reviews and flopped at the box office. In spite of that fact, Boll went on tow direct two direct-to-video sequels. Loken did not return for the sequels and was instead replaced by Natassia Malthe. Michael Pare appears in all three Bloodrayne movies and plays a different character in each of them.
Zane also starred in the erotic thriller, Survival Island (also known as Three).
This time it was Zane’s turn to play a jealous older man married to a younger wife who is just too sexy for her own good. The couple goes on a cruise and the boat sinks probably because Billy Zane is on it. The hot young wife played by model-turned-actress Kelly Brook, is stranded on an island with a Latin dude named Manuel. They assume her husband is dead. I mean, I’m sure they looked for him, right? But since he didn’t immediately turn up, they start having an affair. Which proves to be awkward when Zane turns up alive.
Three was filmed in 2003 and set for release in 2004. Eventually, it received a limited release in England in 2006. It played for about a week before being released on video. Zane and his co-star, Brook, got engaged. They lobbied unsuccessfully to have Brook’s many nude scenes cut from the movie before it was released. In 2007, Brook postponed the wedding after the death of her father and in 2008 the couple split up.
In 2006, Zane appeared opposite Gary Busey in a controversial Turkish movie called Valley of the Wolves: Iraq.
The movie caused quite a stir for its portrayal of Americans as bad guys. Busey, for example, played a Jewish doctor who harvests organs from injured civilians to sell to the rich.
Both Zane and Busey were criticized for their involvement in the film. Here’s a funny bit from the AV Club’s Nathan Rabin:
“I can only imagine what the conversation between Zane and his agent regarding Valley Of The Wolves must have been like. It might have gone a little something like this Agent: So I got an offer I think you might be interested in. I gotta warn you though it’s not exactly ideal. Billy Zane: Whaddya mean? Are we talking nudity? Cause I’ll do nudity. Hell, I want to do nudity. Agent: There’s no nudity involved but here’s the thing: by accepting this role you may, in some people’s eyes, ambiguously, have to betray your country. Silence on the line Billy Zane: I’m still interested. Agent: Phew! That’s my boy. It takes more than possible charges of treason to keep my boy Billy “Blood Rayne” Zane away from a fat paycheck. Billy Zane: Hell yeah. The Phantom’s all up in this bee-yatch. I haven’t even heard of most of the movies I’ve done post-Titanic and I’m in em! Just how fat a paycheck are we talking about here? Agent: Two million dollars. Billy Zane: Two million dollars? Holy smokes! For two million dollars I’ll set an American flag on fire and rape a woman dressed as the Statue Of Liberty! Agent. Good. Cause those are two of the things your character, Rapey McMuslim-Hater does. Actually those are two of the more benign things your character does. Otherwise he’s something of a bastard. “
Funny, but not really fair. For one, Zane has made a career of playing these kinds of characters. For another, American movies tend to portray other groups just as negatively. So it can be argued that we were getting a taste of our own medicine.
The movie is actually part of a hit series called In the Valley of Wolves and it was quite successful in parts of the world where Captain America doesn’t show.
In 2007, Zane starred in the horror/comedy The Mad in which tainted meat turns a town into flesh-eating zombies.
He also starred opposite his then-fiancee, Kelly Brook, in the mermaid rom com, Fishtales.
In 2009, appeared on five episodes of Christina Applegate’s TV sitcom, Samatha Who?
In 2010, Zane was a regular on the short-lived legal drama, The Deep End. ABC cancelled the show after airing only six episodes.
In 2011, Zane returned to the Sniper franchise for Sniper: Reloaded. Although the original movie wasn’t a huge hit, two direct-to-video sequels starring Tom Berenger. For the fourth film in the franchise, Berenger’s former student teaches his son how to be a Sniper. So basically the same movie with Zane playing Berenger’s role.
In 2012, Zane starred opposite Ron Perlman in the direct-to-video sequel, The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption.
He also appeared in Electrick Children playing an religious father whose 15-year-old daughter believes that she got pregnant from listening to music.
Electrick Children made to festival circuits and got mostly positive reviews. Zane has said he is particularly proud of the movie.
In 2013, Zane appeared in the horror movie, Scorned. Zane played a guy who makes the mistake of cheating on his beautiful, crazy girlfriend. She sets up an elaborate revenge plot that includes microwaving a puppy!
So, what the hell happened?
Well, for starters Zane was never really a star. In the early 90’s everyone expected him to hit it big. But it just never happened. Zane’s career consisted largely of independent movies the average movie goer had never heard of. And when a movie he made did cross over to main stream audiences, he was usually playing a scumbag. Having a major role in the biggest movie of all time can take your career to the next level or it can make an entire generation of teenage girls hate you.
As Zane pointed out, his financial situation with his large alimony payments forced him to work steadily. He wasn’t in a position to be picky about what direction his career took. Sure, committing to a crappy horror movie pays the bills. But it also means you aren’t available if a better offer comes along. Zane was jumping from one project to the next which rarely leads to good career choices.
When Titanic was rereleased in 3-D, Zane was asked if he was frustrated with the state of his career. He admitted that his career wasn’t where he wanted it to be, but claimed to be happy all the same:
“It’s an interesting thing. ‘Always the bridesmaid,’ as they say for the ladies? It’s always nice to be on the verge. If Titanic 3-D is a unique or curious reminder of that body of work, then wonderful. I’m someone who believes in pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. It’s been interesting for me, and at times difficult. But I’ve never been in a better space.”
You should listen to Billy Zane. He’s a cool dude.
I’m surprised that you didn’t elaborate on Billy Zane’s performance in Orlando. It’s easily one of the better, more classy films in his résumé, and his prettiness and long hair actually work in the same gender-bending way that Tilda Swinton’s androgyny works for the character of Orlando. It should also be said that Zane’s character is likeable, not a villain or a jerk.
Well, in fairness, Zane isn’t in the movie for very long at all. The role was a good fit for Zane as you point out. And it was one of the better received movies Zane appeared in.
Zane may have been best known for his villains. But he did play some heroes too. The Phantom, obviously. But he was also one of the likeable characters on Twin Peaks. And he was a cool dude according to Owen Wilson.
Billy Zane recently replied to me on Twitter when I sent him a link that suggests that Hollywood should produce a “Defenders of the Earth” movie. For those who don’t know, “Defenders of the Earth” was a weekday, first-run syndicated animated TV series from the ’80s, which united the Phantom, Flash Gordon, and Mandrake and his sidekick, Lothar. It was basically, the Avengers or Justice League of the Kings Features comic strip heroes:
https://twitter.com/BillyZane/status/627514009231560704
There was a rumor according to the Sony hacks that Zane was in negotiations to play the Vulture in a Spider-Man movie.
Great installment, Lebeau! Billy Zane is exactly the kind of name that an actor with Billy Zane’s career would have. Thanks for the link to my Martin Balsam article. Check out a couple of the video links on page 2 or 3. They weren’t working when I read. I was never a fan of Marilyn Manson, but The Dope Show is kind of undeniable for its genre. Only way to make it better is to have Iggy Pop sing it instead. These articles really do a great job of filling in the blanks on what it is like to be… Read more »
Thanks for the tip on the video links. I found the Sniper trailer wasn’t working. Let me know if you notice any other broken links. Turns out that lead me back to the Tom Berenger article which had a couple of non-functioning videos as well. It also reminded me I forgot Sniper Reloaded in this article. So all of that has now been corrected. I love your line about Billy Zane’s name. I’m not exactly sure what it means, but I agree. I think Billy Zane sounds like a satire of a handsome actor. And Zane always seemed to be… Read more »
Just found your blog for the first time,big fan. subjection i think you should tv actors and tv channels ex mtv,wb,upn, or history channel
I wonder if part of the initial push (or hype) to make Billy Zane a “star” was that he did kind of resemble a young Marlon Brando. With that being said, had “The Phantom” been more successful (and therefore, spawned a franchise), then maybe Billy’s fortunes would been better. In a way, Billy Zane kind of reminds me of Brendan Fraser in the sense that he on paper, had what it took to be a leading man star (i.e. good looking, very charismatic and charming, can actually do any genre), but he just needed one or two more films and… Read more »
That really was the thing with Billy Zane and”Titanic”; people I’ve known just disliked him mostly because of that role, which is where the double-edged sword comes in, became it demonstrates how effective his performance was (yeah, I didn’t like his character either, and that was the point), but due to the recognition of that film, those who were just getting introduced to him had an unfavorable view of him overall.
I thought Billy Zane did a fantastic job in the role of the fiance in Titanic.
He was supposed to be a spoiled, privileged slime ball and he played the role the way it was supposed to be played.
It is too bad, I guess, that literally hundreds of thousands (of young girls) hate him for being good at his job.
But that is part of the human condition with regard to movies. So many can’t differentiate between the person and the role they play.
Definitely.
The signature Lebeau humor was in overdrive here… which almost distracted me from concluding, this is someone who I’m really not all that familiar with, but who has been steadily working while maintaining a grounded perspective on the whole experience.
And there is always a discovery in these WTHH entries. RB is right now smitten with the trailer for “Only You”.
I didn’t care for Only You when I saw it. But as you know, it’s not my genre. I bet you would enjoy it. I mean, Tomei and Downey, how can it go wrong? My recollection is that it was just too by-the-book. It didn’t bring anything new to the table. But the setting was lovely and the chemistry was there between two winning actors. If you’re inclined to enjoy romantic comedies, Only You is marginal, but watchable. As I was telling Daffy, I was actually surprised by how unfamiliar Zane was to most audiences. I had seen a lot… Read more »
The Mother Brain Files Underrated Actors Special: Billy Zane: http://cosblog.cosmelentertainment.com/2013/02/01/the-mother-brain-files-underrated-actors-special-billy-zane/ Whether it’s Robert DeNiro, Johnny Depp, or Sean Penn, many hardcore method actors can never escape the comparison to the legendary Marlon Brando. For Billy Zane, his uncanny resemblance to Brando proved to be a double edged sword throughout his career. Casting directors often tried to cast him in star-making roles because of his looks and it won him a number of leading men and villainous parts. Other times, his looks cost him roles because of what he may have lacked in talent. Born William George Zane Jr. in Chicago,… Read more »
Hey, what about Zane’s guest appearance in the final episode of Psych? His name and rep were recurring bits on that show too!
I saw Zane guested on Psych. The only episode of the show I ever watched was the Twin Peaks reunion episode. From what I saw, it seemed like a good enough show. I just don’t watch all that much TV. I didn’t know Zane was a running gag on the show. I may need to go back and add a bit on that. Thanks for the tip.
On the one hand, it is just a bit surprising that Billy Zane wasn’t able to parlay the monster success of Titanic into roles in more high-profile films, but on the other hand Kate Winslet didn’t become a big box office draw either post-Titanic. The difference of course is that Winslet chose a career of artistic films over mainstream Hollywood vehicles (avoiding rom-coms and action flicks and horror flicks and cheesball comedies and such) post-Titanic and received several Oscar nominations over the years as a result. Zane was nowhere as picky, plus honestly I don’t think he has that much… Read more »
Winslet is interesting. She had this fantastic career building in the 90s. Then she went and had this huge breakout mainstream hit. She could have gone the Reese Witherspoon route. Instead, she kept making great high end movies. She has always been a smoking hot babe and could have easily moved into rom coms or action movies. Whatever she wanted really. Bt she wanted to keep making movies that challenged her as actress. Zane was basically a B-movie actor. Dead Calm was critically acclaimed, but it was a B-movie at heart too. He made a lot of quirky independent films… Read more »
Spot on about Winslet. Immediately after Titanic became a pop cultural phenomenon, I can only imagine her agent was getting mainstream offers pouring in left and right; I would be shocked if Winslet wasn’t getting tons of offers for romantic comedies and such in the following few years. She was barely in her early 20’s when Titanic exploded, I give her a ton of credit for not jumping on that easy money train that most actresses in her position would’ve taken advantage of after Titanic, especially for someone that young.
I checked out notstarring.com which isn’t the most reliable source of info in the world. It wasn’t littered with rom coms like you might think. But she did turn down some pretty mainstream roles including Rogue in X-Men. She did finally make a rom com in The Holiday, but when she did it was a cut above the usual Kate Hudson stuff.
Wow, Rogue in X-MEN, that’s the first I’ve heard about Winslet being offered that. Funny thing is, either way Rogue was played by an Oscar-nominated actress!
Grain of salt. Notstarring.com is notoriously unreliable. But if true, you’re right. Rogue would have been an Oscar winner either way. I tend to think that one worked out the way it was supposed to. I don’t really see Winslet as a Southern belle.
Love Winslet, but I can’t really see her playing Rogue, honestly. If true, things may have turned out for the best with Paquin taking the role, better suited I think. When I say Winslet must have had stacks of mainstream film offers dropping on her desk after Titanic, that’s purely speculation on my part; I’ve never actually heard of any mainstream films that she actually turned down, it’s just that after Titanic became this massive pop cultural phenomenon I can’t help but think that Hollywood would naturally throw a bunch of rom-com scripts and other mainstream offers her way in… Read more »
I suspect you’re right. I don’t think Zane ever turned down a role. 😉
How bout ones on Sienna Miller and Rachel Mcadams? Rachel seemed poised for the a-list after the Notebook, but her potential seemed to disappear after doing nothing but romances. Sienna was an up and coming actress but was more famous for her personal life before kind of disappearing. I think they’d both be great.
I have considered McAdams many times. I would say you’ll see her sooner rather than later. Miller I will probably get to eventually. But as you say, she was more famous for her personal life than her career.
Rachel McAdams was an actress that I really thought was going to break onto the A-list, especially after Mean Girls, The Notebook and Wedding Crashers. I admit I’m a fan of Wedding Crashers, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson were great, Will Ferrell was hilarious in his cameo, and Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher were revelations. I had not heard of either actress before then, and I really thought both were going to become bigger stars than they did, but especially McAdams. Looking back, I’m not entirely sure why she didn’t break big. She would make an interesting write-up.
IMO, when Rachel McAdams took a two year break during 2006-2007, her career lost quite a lot of momentum. Amongst the projects she turned down was Anne Hathaway’s role in The Devil Wears Prada. She still works a lot though, and in quality projects with good directors and co-stars but they tend not to be the films that would attract a huge mainstream audience. I think the only relatively recent mainstream film that she’s done would be the Sherlock Holmes stuff.
Morning Glory was intended to be a mainstream romantic comedy, but it made no impact on McAdam’s career because it performed very poorly. Oddly, though, two years later she did another romantic film, The Vow, that actually was a hit making $125M domestically, yet Channing Tatum walked away with all the heat from that movie, as far as I can tell the film’s success didn’t help her career nearly as much.
Well, when I said mainstream, I meant films that actually reached the mainstream not just intended to be mainstream. But you’re right, I forgot about The Vow (I’m not a fan of romance films and tend to overlook films in that genre). I think maybe the reason it didn’t do more for her career is that she was already seen as a romantic leading lady because of The Notebook, so in a sense, it didn’t expand her audience. I think it did probably help to cement her as a bankable lead in a romance film, but she hasn’t proved that… Read more »
What you said about becoming a movie star is very true. I doubt Tom Cruise has had a single thought in the last 30+ years that didn’t in some way involve making himself a bigger movie star. Mega-watt movie stardom doesn’t happen by accident.
Having said that, there is a common theme among actors and actresses who have A-list star status slip through their fingers that they claim they never wanted it. I rarely believe that. You don’t come so close to stardom by accident either.
Oh, certainly, most of the time when an actor/actress says that, I’ll go “yeah, right”. But what makes me think that it could be true in McAdams’ case is that 2 year break just when her career was taking off. I don’t think there were any rumors of substance abuse problems or anything else unsavoury during that time, so I’m inclined to think that she really did take the time off because she genuinely wanted a break. Of course, there might have been personal issues, but still, again using Tom Cruise as an example, I don’t think anything would have… Read more »
I think it holds a little more water in McAdams’ case than others. If she read WTHH, she would know what a career killer the mistimed break is. 😉
You’re right. McAdams didn’t get her share of the credit on The Vow. The Channing Tatum narrative was too strong. His momentum just steamrolled over whatever comeback she may have been building. At least she still has the Sherlock Holmes movies for now.
Do We Need to Stage a Career Intervention For Rachel McAdams? http://movieline.com/2011/11/17/post-13/ Way back in June, Spyglass Entertainment debuted the first trailer for The Vow, the latest Rachel McAdams romance film involving memory loss. It was depressing to see our former Notebook sweetheart diving headfirst into another melodramatic title. Like McAdams’s Vow character though — who is struck with amnesia after a parked car accident involving an overplayed Meatloaf single — I forgot about the former starlet’s downwardly spiraling filmography…until today’s new preview for The Vow reminded me, it’s about time someone stages a career intervention for Rachel McAdams. Exhibit… Read more »
What Happened to Rachel McAdams and Does Buzzfeed Suck?
http://podbay.fm/show/712316884/e/1384360540?autostart=1
In this episode of The Popcast, Knox and Jamie discuss the career arc of Rachel McAdams. Also, they debate the merit of Buzzfeed and its contribution to culture as well as offer their own Buzzfeedy lists in honor of the internet giant.
You are practically writing the article for me! 😉
Keeping in tune w/ the subject matter of this blog, going on a lengthy hiatus is pretty much what killed Kim Basinger’s (especially after her Oscar win put her back into Hollywood’s good graces) leading lady career once and for all. Rene Russo also all but committed career suicide by going off on a six year acting hiatus. I think this is also what in hindsight, hurt Elisabeth Shue’s momentum (in fairness, if I’m not mistaken, she was focusing on motherhood and her education) from her Oscar nomination for “Leaving Las Vegas” (hence why she’s on “CSI” now instead of… Read more »
It’s definitely a recurring theme. Especially for actresses. The prime time for an actress’ career is while she is young which lines up with the best time to start a family. So actresses have to make tough choices. Even a little time out of the spotlight is enough time for someone else to come along and steal your momentum.
She’s coming. Eventually.
Basically, she had a tiny window to capitalize on Mean Girls and The Notebook. Red Eye didn’t connect like it was supposed to. That window closed when other actresses like Emma Stone came along and grabbed all the good roles. Then Stone’s thunder got stolen by Jennifer Lawrence. Being an actress in Hollywood is brutal. More so now I think.
Rachel McAdams might be too young to write off yet. She seems to take on a mix of roles, and is working a lot lately. So who knows, where that might lead.
Fans of hers will definitely want to check out “Midnight in Paris.” Although Marion Cotillard steals the show, McAdams as Owen Wilson’s fiancee, plays a different sort of role, understated and somewhat unsympathetic. Really nice performances from both Owens and McAdams, and entire cast for that matter.
The biggest thing I have learned writing this series is that once you have name recognition, you will never be out of work. McAdams has a long career ahead of her. But her shot at the brass ring is over. A-list is out of her reach. That’s why she qualifies.
What happened to Rachel McAdams? https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130706213010AAQZ6up I remember in 2004 and 2005 she was at one point one of the top actresses in Hollywood even a source named as the next Julia Roberts at one point. First came on to the scene in Mean Girls gained her notice then among other movies were The Notebook, Red Eye, The Family Stone and Wedding Crashers. Really thought after 2005 she’d be an unstoppable force and would even be an Academy Award nominee by now or even couple nominations. I thought 2005 was her year and would even gain her at least an… Read more »
Rachel McAdams 2012: http://www.laineygossip.com/Rachel-McAdams-needs-to-pick-up-her-career/22053 I briefly mentioned this the other day in the article about Emma Stone – click here if you missed it. Duana and I have discussed this a few times lately: Emma Stone is what Rachel McAdams was from 2004-2007. The Wall Street Journal had a lengthy piece on how Rachel was the most sought-after, the most talked-about, the most promising actress. And then… it just kinda… fizzled. She’s not Lindsay Lohan or anything. They just… they let the momentum slip away. Poor choices, or poor management? A combination of both? It’s so disappointing. Because Rachel McAdams… Read more »
WHY I HATE RACHEL MCADAMS http://www.tiffanyastone.com/blog/2007/02/why_i_hate_rachel_adams.php I just think Rachel has been really dumb about her career. She fired her agent at The Gersh Agency (a good boutique agency) as soon as she broke out in Wedding Crashers and went agentless for a while. Then she starred in Red Eye which wasn’t a bad career move, but after that she did The Family Stone. That movie was probably not good for her career since she played second fiddle to Sarah Jessica Parker and she should’ve stuck to leading lady roles (but maybe I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt… Read more »
It’s extremely funny that as soon as Rachal McAdams’ name is being discussed, she’s in the actual news: http://time.com/2951143/ryan-gosling-rachel-mcadams-the-notebook/ Is true love a lie? Even though the pair would go on to date for four years, The Notebook stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams initially fought during the romcom’s filming. In an interview with VH1, The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes admits Gosling wanted McAdams replaced: Maybe I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not. And Ryan came to me, and there’s 150 people standing in this big scene,… Read more »
Re: What happened to Billy Zane: http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showthread.php?205437-What-happened-to-Billy-Zane&p=7665215&viewfull=1#post7665215 True Story; Billy Zane was originally cast to play Biff Tannen in Back to the Future, but when Eric Stoltz came on set, Eric Stoltz was taller than Zane. Because the directors had wanted Biff to be noticeably bigger than Marty McFly the role then went to Thomas F. Wilson. When Stoltz left the film and the role went to Michael J. Fox (who was/is quite obviously smaller/shorter than Mr. Zane) the directors had by then decided Thomas Wilson was better in the role, and because Wilson had already memorized all the lines… Read more »
Why isn’t Billy Zane a bigger star?
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/archive/t-604802.html
I was one of the very few teenage girls that did not see Titanic in theatres when it was first released and was immune to Leo Mania. I did come across a VCD about a year later, but I could only stomach 20-30 minutes of it. Romantic movies just wasn’t and still isn’t my cup of tea. But from what I did see, Billy Zane was pretty much perfect for the role. He’s handsome, but there was a smarminess to him that fit that character really well.
No doubt. It’s a pretty fearless performance to be THAT despicable. His character is without redeeming value. I’m not sure how many actors could have pulled it off as well as Zane did.
10 Movies That Seriously Don’t Deserve Their Critical Acclaim: http://whatculture.com/film/10-movies-that-seriously-dont-deserve-their-critical-acclaim.php/2 Titanic It’s hard to imagine that, before Titanic was released, a number of prominent Hollywood insiders were certain that James Cameron’s epic would be a huge flop. Of course, Titanic was a huge box office smash, leading critics to gush over the “tender love story” and describe the film as “profoundly human in its sources and longings.” The truth, which few reviewers at the time seemed willing to acknowledge, is that there was nothing profound about the tacked on love story – centred around the hackneyed, overdone concept of love… Read more »
I viewed “Titanic” many years after its release and thought it was good, but it was a tad overlong for me and it didn’t exactly make me feel like the king of the world.
I never even heard of Billy Zane until Titanic. And I always thought of him as that handsome jerk compared to the tragic youth of Leonardo Dicaprio. I watched Titanic after the whole Leo mania, and then I caught Leo mania. Alas! By that time, Leonardo Dicaprio had moved on to Gangs of New York. What’s interesting is that the movies he’s most celebrated for are the ones where he plays the villain. Did you know that Zana had to use a wig for a lot of those movies? I can’t see teenage girls falling head over heels if they… Read more »
I think your experience with Zane is the experience of the majority. There was a lot of buzz around him following Dead Calm. As someone who was following that buzz, I always thought he was on people’s radar more than he actually was. But most people never heard of the guy until Titanic. It was pretty clear early on that Zane was losing his hair. Fortunately for him, he can pull of the bald look. But the wigs are pretty funny. Although teenage girls would probably be horrified to know how many actors rely on them. If he had been… Read more »
I thought he was the Next Big Thing after Dead Calm too– the flop that was Phantom probably hurt him. Funny- Bruce Campbell just missed out on the role and he had a classic “B” movie career too- only he seemed to get the “I’m in on the laugh ” formula a little bit better. He also had Sam Raimi to give him the occasional role (Xena) or cameo (Spiderman)
I’m overwhelmed by all the responses. I’m glad a lot of people understood what I was talking about and I definitely agree that taking that break in 2006-07 hurt her momentum.
We’ve got a pretty active community here in the comments section. And by and large, we’re pretty fair. Fair with a side of snarky. 😉
My ex-wife dislikes Billy Zane so much (she isn’t crazy about Joan Cusack either), and it all stems from her fondness of “Titanic”.
what did Joan Cusack do?
Good question: She feels Joan Cusack has an annoying voice and that her on-screen mannerisms are exaggerated; basically, she finds her obnoxious. I’ve always disagreed ( offhand, I love her in “In and Out”, and I dig her ‘coffee, tea, me?’ line from “Working Girl”). Poor Billy zane, though: he never stood a chance (I tried to get her to watch “Susan’s Plan” with me, but as soon as she saw Billy Zane onscreen, she wanted no part of that plan. Smart move, in retospect: the film isn’t all that great).
I don’t think she is alone in that sentiment.
Thread: Actors Hollywood Tried to Make Happen: Indiewire’s List:
http://awardswatch.com/forums/showthread.php?33497-Actors-Hollywood-Tried-to-Make-Happen-Indiewire-s-List&p=1661253&viewfull=1#post1661253
Billy Zane will always be the most mystifying case to me. He bombed hilariously as a leading man but he seemed ready for a reinvention as a character actor with Titanic… and he hasn’t booked a role in a major movie ever since. Like, I just don’t get what happened there.
Well, I guess Billy Zane, like little boy blue, he needed the money, so waiting on good character actor roles weren’t in his financial interest.
That’s Zane’s take on things. It’s an explanation that rings true to me.
It does to myself as well; It really sounds like Billy Zane is real stand up about handling his financial obligation.
California alimony laws seem confusing. I remember reading that George Peppard quit Banacek because if he had a lower income when the divorce went through- his payments would be lower for years.
I think Brendan Fraser had alimony complications when his income went down with his career. It would seem an easy adjustment- but lawyers don’t like easy, I guess.
That’s also ignoring why you have to pay alimony for a rather short marriage.
Early after 9-11, my roommate worked for the least successful of the three spy/agent shows that aired starting in fall 2001. It got renewed for a second season, but we were convinced the show needed a better star… someone liked Billy Zane. At the time I was a business traveler, so we devised a plan where I would drop letters in mailboxes all around the country petitioning for Billy Zane to take over the lead role of this network spy show. Needless to say, it didn’t happen, but one day one of the show’s exec producers commented to my roommate… Read more »
I imagine quite a few shows would have been improved with a little more Zane. 😉
Thanks for sharing the story. Too bad they couldn’t work it out.
I kind of like Billy Zane now; He’s a workmanlike actor. Hey, I think that’s cool.
I think that’s extremely cool. Because I write these articles, people think I advocate for being a big star at all costs. I do not. Zane has success most actors would kill for and he seems comfortable with that. That’s awesome.
Yeah, the more I think about it, Billy Zane has had a decent career, and there is still more room for opportunities.
I certainly don’t think he ever butchered a role. I remember him being pretty scary in Demon Knight. He delivers in the range that he has.
In a way, that joke is accurate. Obviously not blackmail, but Zane did feel financial pressure to take just about every paying job.
The Titanic… no?
Yep. It’s in there. Not sure which page though.
I have liked Zane in a few of his roles. For a while I thought he was on the verge of stardom with standout performances in Demon Knight and Titanic. I always thought the Phantom pretty much tanked his career in regards to playing a lead. Too bad he had to settle for slop roles, I still think he is a really good character actor.
I recently purchased the 4 volumes of “Batman: The Animated Series” (just as amazing as I remembered it) and on the 4th volume (when aired on television, it was the rebooted “The New Batman Adventures”, which, minus good and bad character redesign choices, I think is just as strong as the previous series) Billy Zane voices the character of Jason Blood in the episode “The Demon Within”. I didn’t automatically know it was his voice (I pause the cast credits after every episode because I’ve found a lot of nice surprises), but he voiced a cool character.
I’ve liked Zame ever since I saw him play the bad guy in Posse and do the funny intro to Poetic Justice one right after the other. I’ve always thought that part of the reason he never quite made the A-list was not due to lack of talent, but the fact that nobody could quite catagorize him in terms of roles. Plus he was good-looking but not in your typical Hollywood way—-he had a distinctive look and a quirky,unique presence that made worth watching. I read a post about him somewhere in which someone said that he should have done… Read more »
Glad you liked the article. I have to admit that prior to writing the article, I didn’t realize that Zane was not more popular than he was. I guess because I discovered him pretty early on, I was always expecting Zane to be a big leading man. But that never happened and I always wondered why not. I think you’re definitely right that Hollywood didn’t know what to do with him. He was handsome and charming, but could be sinister or goofy. Definitely check out Demon Knight. It’s a fun little movie.
His performance in This World, Then the Fireworks was amazing – his best by far. A shame he never really had a chance of doing similar things since. He should have done more decent indies.
I like the guy, but I think “Susan’s Plan” went really wrong. It’s not on him or the rest of the cast of that picture, it’s more about John Landis for me. I’m not really sure what I think of him as a director.