Titanic’s Billy Zane on Timely Movie Deadly Vows & Its True Story

ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke with Titanic actor Billy Zane about the new timely thriller movie Deadly Vows. Zane discussed how he got involved with the project, why he wanted to be involved with the timely and important film, and more.

“Inspired by true events, Deadly Vows is a gripping thriller about love turned lethal. After fleeing the Iran-Iraq war, Darya begins a new life in Los Angeles and is swept off her feet by the charming Sam Lebon,” a description of the film reads. “But behind his promises of safety lies a violent darkness. As their relationship twists into abuse and control, Darya makes a daring escape, only to discover Sam has ordered her death. Hunted and alone, she must outwit a relentless predator before his vow becomes her execution.”

Deadly Vows is now available on digital and on-demand platforms courtesy of Quiver Distribution.

Brandon Schreur: I just watched this movie last night, and I really enjoyed it. It’s such an interesting, powerful movie that goes into some different directions than I expected. But I was in for it the whole time. Can you tell me a little bit about how you got involved with this project, Deadly Vows? What’s the story of how you got cast in this movie, and what made you want to play this character?

Billy Zane: A producer I had worked with, named Karmel Bortoleti, who produced a film that I directed called INT.HALLWAY/NIGHT, which is coming out soon, had sent it to me and introduced me to [co-director Bella Bahar Danesh]. And when I realized that this very gripping story about this woman who survives the Iran/Iraq war, who then relocates and starts her life over in Beverly Hills…She gets into a very complex relationship and ultimately finds that she has a price on her head, as perpetrated by her husband. And how she survives that, but more so, how she overcomes the trauma and realization of that tragic turn of events, through the power of forgiveness, is what really moved me about the story. Her survival mechanism was fascinating.

I think it’s a lesson that needs to be told today. The fact that it’s based on true events was equally gripping to me. I wanted to throw in and support this story, and be this kind of calming force in her life, which was Detective Manny, and help her through the physical and logistical journey of survival. He was even moved by her choices and affected by her emotional intelligence in managing it after the fact. I thought those were really cool themes.

Totally. And I’ll say, that’s something that moved me while watching this. The movie starts, and it’s about domestic abuse, which is a really heavy, hard topic. And this is very clear that it’s not something to be swept under the rug. It deals with it in a real, heavy way. I thought there was intensity and truth to that. Bouncing off what you said, when you were reading the script for Deadly Vows for the first time and preparing for this role, was there anything that really stuck out to you like, ‘Yes, this is the moment, we need to make sure that people understand and get this?’

Well, there wasn’t one particular moment. Though I’ve made my share of thrillers and maybe horror, and played some fairly despicable characters, there’s always a cautionary tale in there. There’s always a journey and a lesson to be learned. I’m not a big fan of celebrating or platforming violence of that nature, especially perpetrated towards women. However, in this case, the fact that it’s a true story needed to be explored, and the journey of, again, survival. That was the trigger for me. How she processed this, I don’t think I would have done the movie or played this role had that not been one, true, and two, how she overcame and survived. 

And, like, truly survived. There’s a fairly, I guess, long and consistent record of people, if they physically survive trauma — if they’re not processing, you carry it in your body and it manifests as illness or other forms of tragedy. You have to really purge that process. And that’s important to learn. A lot of people overcome, so they think, but if you carry that hate, you’re not surviving.

Totally. Because of the subject matter here, I think it’s fair to say that Deadly Vows is a dark movie. It has a very hopeful message, and it’s very good in how it presents everything, but, like, it’s kind of a heavy watch. And I’ll tell you, last night after I watched this movie, I went to the theater to see Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love. That was a heavy double feature. I came back from that and was like, ‘Oh, man, cinema can be real dark sometimes.’

They can. That’s a double whammy. You should have, like, put a screwball comedy on or something much lighter, like Peter Sellers.

Right. But I also think it’s so important to tell these kinds of stories. And so, my question is, how do you approach something like this as an actor? Like, is it kind of a similar process when you’re doing an intense movie like this compared to doing something lighter or a comedy? Or, to get into character for this movie, do you kind of have to go to a dark place?

I mean, the role I played was of a professional detective who has seen a variety of tragedy, trauma, difficulty, and criminality. He’s clearly made it his life’s work to offset that, right those wrongs, and bring people to justice. Help victims through their journey. So, connecting to the nobility of Manny wasn’t difficult. It was an honor. 

The key was to create moments of humanity and maybe a little levity — or comic relief, though I don’t really want to use that term — to round off a character like that. And also provide elements for the film to kind of exhale and breathe a little bit with little asides and little beats that just give you a break from the heavy stuff.

Yeah, I think that totally comes across so well. That kind of jumps into what I wanted to ask next, because, Billy, you’ve been around in Hollywood for so long and you’ve worked with all kinds of legendary directors throughout your career. I’m curious what it was like working with the director of this movie, Jared Cohn. I mean, he’s done a lot of like action and genres in the past. What did you feel he brought to the table in telling this story, and how was that experience working with him?

Jared was great. Consummate professional. He jumped on for the same reasons. We were all, as they say, grabbing an oar in the same boat, rowing toward the same shore, and for the right reasons. I think he had a take on it that was able to navigate otherwise potentially treacherous waters. Bella had a hand, a strong creative hand, in it; it was her story. I appreciate his emotional intelligence and experience in the process. It was a pleasure to work with him.

Thanks to Billy Zane for taking the time to discuss Deadly Vows.