For those who can’t remember him, Billy Zane was the one who played Caledon Nathan Hockley, who might be more memorable to Titanic fans as Rose’s fiance Cal. Most people will remember Cal as something of a villainous figure in the movie, seeing as how he was more than a little bit hostile towards Jack because of Jack’s relationship with Rose. However, it is interesting to note that Zane has stated that he thinks that his character has gotten more of a bad rap than he deserves.
What Does Billy Zane Think About His Character?
First and foremost, it is important to note that Zane acknowledges all of the bad things that Cal does over the course of Titanic. For example, he is perfectly aware that Cal is intent on pursuing a relationship with Rose in spite of the fact that Rose has no interest in him whatsoever. Furthermore, Zane has flat-out called Cal a “bastard” at one point, meaning that there is no ambiguity about what Zane thinks of the character whatsoever.
Instead, Zane believes that there is nuance in that Cal is a “bastard” because he is a product of his times. In other words, Cal was a “bastard” but he was trained to become a “bastard” by his society, which does not excuse his actions but does give them further context. In Zane’s view, Cal did love Rose in his own way, but his upbringing as well as his circumstances combined to make sure that he was not capable of handling an independent-minded woman like Rose who was willing to break the social norms of both her class and her times. As a result, Zane states that when Cal had his attempt to show his love rejected by Rose in a way that made him look like a fool, he lashed out in anger.
For what it is worth, Zane has a point about Cal being a product of his times. It doesn’t excuse the fact that Cal was a “bastard,” but his circumstances does explain much about who he was as well as what he did. After all, while love has been prized for countless centuries, love as the basis for marriage is not a concept that became popular until the 20th century. In fact, there are a number of famous thinkers who outright scorned and scoffed at the idea of love in marriage, with examples ranging from the Athenian Plato to the French Montaigne.
With that said, it is also important to not use the times as an excuse for bad behavior. After all, bad behavior is still bad behavior, even if it has identifiable roots. For that matter, it should be remembered that Cal did make an attempt to get Jack killed via indirect means. Some people will also point out how he escaped the sinking of the ship by bringing a child onto one of the last lifeboats, but to be fair to him, that is a much grayer choice, not least because there are a lot of people who would have made a similar choice under similar circumstances. Summed up, Zane has a point when he says that Cal wasn’t the main villain of Titanic, but he is nonetheless one of the villains within it.
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