Billy Zane began painting while filming Titanic

OHMYGOSSIP — Billy Zane discovered a talent for painting while filming ‘Titanic’ while the cast had daylight hours to spare as they worked in the evenings during their time in Mexico.

Billy Zane discovered a talent for painting while filming ‘Titanic.’ The 47-year-old actor, who played Rose Dawson Calvert’s fiancé Cal Hockley in the 1997 film, had daylight hours to spare as they filmed during the evenings in Mexico, and this is when he explored the foreign setting and began working on his art.

Billy said: “We were filming in Mexico for seven months, shooting at night often, so you had to take advantage of the daylight. I was inspired by some debris on the shore. I would collect them and start to paint them, and my house became a studio.”

Billy puts his artistic influences down to his time globe trotting because of his career and being exposed to different cultures.

He said: “It’s singular expression. Plus we have a lot of down time, and the privilege of travel and cultural influences, as well as the light around the planet, everything the life of a film actor affords.”

The star finds a calmness in his artistic streak and feels it is a relaxing hobby, but he strives be more like his fiance model Candice Neill who paints freely.

Billy told The Huffington Post: “It’s about urgent relaxation. It’s a curious philosophy of juxtaposition. For me the act of painting provides relaxation and meditation for me, even when I’m painting hard on the floor, which the title summed up.

“She [Candice] joins me in the painting. I strive to her level of freedom”

While he made a name for himself in a number of Hollywood hit films he would happily be remembered for his artwork instead of his movies.

He said: “I’d be happy for that [his legacy to be artwork] to happen in 10 minutes.”

His first UK exhibition ‘Seize the Day’ opened on October 11.