Billy Zane recalls filming Titanic with James Cameron Judging by the carpet and tapestry in this picture we are sitting outside the dining hall on set, waiting to film a scene in there. I don't remember the exact moment, but it looks as though Jim is receiving instructions from God and I look like I am trying to steal his wallet. I had not met Jim before auditioning for Titanic and I found him thoroughly charming and a genuine wit. My impression of him revolves around his sense of humour, which he never gets any credit for. I don't think you take on incredible risks without a great sense of humour, and Titanic was the biggest film that anyone had ever worked on. To execute this film was an extraordinary undertaking. The film company purpose-built that studio [the 35-acre Fox Baja Studios in Mexico] and it was more like a city than a set. For the seven months I was on set I felt humbled every day I went to work. The budget was enormous [$200 million] and the film employed new processes and technology. Devising a way to lower 2,000 tons of metal into the sea over and over again and capture it successfully on film in a usable fashion was rife with potential mishap. Titanic was an easy target for negative press while we were making it, but I always thought the last thing you wanted was outstanding reports of the film's progress. It is better to under-promise. Titanic went on to win 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for James Cameron [and is the second highest-grossing film of all time]. I play Cal Hockley, the rich, loathsome fiancé of Kate Winslet's character Rose, and I was universally hated for many years after the film was released. But I enjoyed playing the bad guy and, I have to admit, I wonder if Cal is about to have a renaissance [with the film's re-release]. Jim and I agreed at the time that we should at least try to create a sense of understanding of Cal. It's important to realise his rationale, and Cal wasn't a bad man, he was just a victim of bad programming, raised in a time and in a society that conditioned him how to behave, in business and romance. He was pretty much just following the code he knew and in the end it failed him. Not in a hundred years would he have thought that Rose would find this young ruffian, Jack [Leonardo DiCaprio], of interest and he didn't know how to handle Jack as a rival. I think that is tragic in a way. Cal loved Rose immensely and he tried to show her as he best could, and it broke his heart that he wasn't getting the reciprocation he thought he deserved. I had been a fan of Leo's work before Titanic and knew him socially. We became good friends during filming. Instead of trailers we had a row of dressing rooms, right next to each other. Being next to Leo and Kate was like living next door to my brother and sister because we spent so much time together and had really good, playful times. A remastered version of James Cameron's "Titanic" will be released in 2D and 3D on April 6 (titanicmovie.co.uk)