Polymath Billy Zane, best known for his acting work in films like Titanic, Twin Peaks and Back to the Future, tells the story of being “trapped” in an editing bunker for a film project. There were two extras with him, people usually considered at the bottom of the Hollywood totem pole.
“We chatted as we worked, human-to-human. We're all just people, right? Let's work. But by the end of the day the older of the two extra reveals to me he was the executive producer of the film! And he said, ‘Thanks for being so nice to me and my boys. You didn't have to do that.’”
The usual expectation” says Zane, “of what a movie star is supposed to act like - I didn’t do. The producer asks me, ‘what else are you working on?’ I said, ‘well, I’m preparing this film’ and I tell him about it. He ends up funding it! A single source investor. Five million dollars. Bang!”
If Hollywood is supposed to be a snake pit of status-seeking, posturing and bad behavior, Billy Zane belies the myth. His reputation precedes him, as he is widely known to be driven by a genuine desire to make a positive impact on the world not only through film but also tech, innovation and storytelling across the board. His secret?
“It’s simple," he says, "be nice to everyone. You never know who someone is or what they’re suffering. That producer is now one of my best friends, and our professional relationship is built not on status - but on simple friendship.”
Zane takes this ethos into his other endeavors, including as founder of Convergence Labs, his tech think tank for cutting-edge innovations, and as head of his venture fund, a collaboration with Caltech's Office of Technology Transfer.
Watch Billy Zane at METAL
“I tell everyone,” he says, "to bless your competition. Never lament what you don't get. Stay busy with your own project or passion, whatever it is. When you exhibit jealousy of others’ success, the air of desperation seeps off of you. And people tend to withhold from you if they know you want something too much. You cannot emit the aura of lack.”
By contrast, he credits much of his success to doing the opposite.
“You have to be absolutely confident and attract what you need. There's all kinds of money out there. Connect with the why rather than the outer success associated with it in your mind. Try to park your ego and find out what’s exciting about what someone else is doing. I attribute most success to service, or at least the mindset of service. That's the organizing principle that's worked for me.”
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