Billy Zane felt "typecast" after he starred in Titanic. The 46-year-old actor - who portrayed Cal Hockley in the 1997 epic drama - admitted while landing such a coveted role in the movie was "a gift," he became "synonymous with playing bad guys" among casting directors immediately afterwards.

"It's a gift for any actor to be part of such a wonderful movie - it was a blessing. But in terms of a curse, Hollywood in particular is notorious for taking less risks for more money. So when it comes to casting in particular, there's quite a bit of type casting. And they always try to make 'last year's movie,' which is a big mistake, instead of 'next year's movie.' I was synonymous with playing bad guys. So it forces you to become a little more inventive and embrace your independence and direct your own movies, and make your own life."

With the Oscar-winning movie re-released on April 6 in state of the art 3D, Billy explained watching Titanic a second time around allowed him to finally feel "sympathy" for his bad boy character:

"I found myself experiencing it more objectively, like an audience member. It completely transformed be into a ticket holder. But what I found this time around, which is really interesting, was I was really engaged by Cal- I could see myself outside of myself and I suddenly found myself caring a lot. I was more understanding, and had more sympathy dare I say, for his journey than I did before."