Billy Zane says ‘actors should be paid for emotional stunts’ after playing a sex cult leader and filming scenes of abuse

Actor Billy Zane (Headstone, Titanic) recently said Entertainment weekly that “actors should be paid for emotional stunts” after transforming into Sarah Lawrence cult leader Larry Ray for upcoming Lifetime movie Devil on Campus: The Story of Larry Ray.

Ray was an ex-convict who moved into his daughter’s dorm at Sarah Lawrence College in 2010 and gained manipulative control over his roommates’ lives.

His violent sex cult lasted a decade before he was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison. Playing Rey required Zane to gain weight and film several scenes of abuse.

Zane said: “Actors should be paid for emotional stunts. The secondary experience invades the primary one. It really does. You’re recreating a very strange trauma.

“We’re pumping adrenaline into our bodies, running out of serotonin and dopamine, getting scared, and the body registers it.”

I’m pretty sure actors get paid a lot more than average citizens, so while I’m sure it was mentally taxing to play the part, I’m also pretty sure I was compensated fairly.

It’s also very mentally taxing to work jobs in the military, law enforcement, nursing, hell, even teachers have a very mentally and emotionally exhausting job and we know they don’t get close to the pay they deserve!

So maybe we should start there. At least actors have the money to go to therapy when they’ve moved on from particularly difficult roles.

Zane said he appreciated the Devil on campus set, which was safe enough where the cast and crew could share laughs and check in with each other when the cameras weren’t rolling.

Zane said of the role: “I’ve played evil characters in the past and then stepped away for a while. I couldn’t resist this just because of the curious nature of him.

“And I hadn’t been there in a while. I really liked the platform for this. I’ve never done a Lifetime movie. I hadn’t considered it. And I thought the network was a good fit for the story, because if it had aired on any other streamer, the story would have been eclipsed by the graphic nudity and violence.

“The fact that there was moderation and a certain level of censorship required in this story allowed us to delve deeper into the character.”

Zane said that above all he “enjoyed” the transformation, which also required him to “gain a lot of weight because he was imposing not only in height but in mass”.

Zane continued: “I’m getting a big belly. He was obviously trying to feed something. I think there was some food trauma going on there. Then the accent and the strange affectation of his pronunciation. There’s a lot to chew on, so to speak.

Devil on Campus: The Story of Larry Ray it was directed by the actor Elisabeth Röhm and even stars Manuela Sosa, Frankie Warren, Erin Walsh and Tedra Rogers. The film will premiere June 23 on Lifetime.

via: Variety