Feb. 09--It's been more than 18 years since Chicago native Billy Zane played Caledon Hockley in "Titanic" but fans have not forgotten his villainous performance.
"You either get people telling me to put a cork in it or I'm told I'm a cool dude, and as long as the ratio is pretty equal, I'm pretty happy," Zane told HuffPost Live Monday about people recognizing him. "It's refreshing, as opposed to being told 'You're the (expletive) from 'Titanic.' That one I get a lot, which is really nice. Nice to meet people that way."
Zane, 49, attended the Francis W. Parker School in Lincoln Park. He's been in dozens of movies, multiple television shows and the Lyric Opera's production of "The Sound of Music," but it's his "Titanic" role as Rose DeWitt Bukater's fiance that stands out in people's minds.
"Do I ever mind being part of one of the biggest films of all time? Does it ever become a burden? Oh, yes, oh, druther," he joked. "I'm so honored and flattered to have just been on that ride and for something that was such a mad calling card, unilaterally at a time when the delivery systems were still a bit archaic."
Zane appears in "Zoolander No. 2," due out in theaters Friday.
