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# A Love Letter to Billy Zane
Dear Billy Zane,
I owe you an apology.
For years, I thought you simply appeared in *Titanic*, looking impossibly handsome while also being the kind of man who would chase people around a sinking ship because his dinner plans had gone sideways.
You caught my eye as Cal Hockley. Of course you did. The suits. The hair. The voice. The completely unreasonable amount of confidence for a man standing on a boat that was actively disappearing into the Atlantic.
And then one day I saw *Tombstone* again.
There you were.
Billy Zane.
Just casually existing in another movie I already loved, as if you had been hiding in plain sight the entire time.
I thought, “Wait a minute. Billy Zane was in *Tombstone*?”
Apparently, yes.
And now it has happened again.
I am watching *Back to the Future*, a movie that has existed in my life forever, and suddenly there you are again. Young Billy Zane, hanging around with Biff’s gang, apparently having quietly infiltrated my entire movie-watching existence before I even knew I was supposed to be looking for you.
Billy, I am beginning to understand.
You were always there.
You were there in 1880s Tombstone.
You were there in 1955 Hill Valley.
You were there aboard the Titanic in 1912.
Chronology means nothing to Billy Zane.
History itself is apparently just a collection of places where Billy Zane might turn up looking fantastic.
How many more movies have I watched without realizing you were standing somewhere in the background? How many times have I unknowingly crossed paths with you?
At this point, I fully expect to rewatch *Jaws* and discover Billy Zane sitting on the beach.
I expect to watch *Raiders of the Lost Ark* and spot Billy Zane carrying a crate.
I expect someone to digitally enhance the Zapruder film and discover Billy Zane standing on the grassy knoll wearing sunglasses.
And you know what?
I'm okay with that.
Because what began as, “Hey, that guy from *Titanic* is pretty good,” has become something much larger.
It has become a journey.
A realization.
A cinematic awakening.
Billy Zane wasn't suddenly introduced into my life.
Billy Zane has apparently been quietly accompanying me through it.
I just finally noticed.
So here's to you, Billy.
Thank you for being handsome on the Titanic.
Thank you for wandering into Tombstone.
Thank you for hanging around Hill Valley with Biff.
And thank you, most of all, for making me wonder where the hell you're going to show up next.
With affection, admiration, and an increasingly suspicious eye toward every movie I've ever seen,
Dan
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