The Actor Behind The ‘Phantom’

Billy Zane is poised to become a major hero-hunk this summer with his starring role in “The Phantom.”

In the film, based on the ‘30s comic strip, he struts around the jungle in a form-fitting purple costume, rides a white Arabian horse and has a cool skull ring that helps fend off evil forces. Zane knows a thing or two about villainy: in the film “Dead Calm,” he was evil incarnate as a menacing ocean-going psycho.

It was during that film that Zane started reading “The Phantom” comics as a way to wash off the psychic slime.

Besides battling “piracy, cruelty and injustice in all its forms” as the Phantom, Zane endorses milk in one of those celebrity-with-a-white-mustache ads. Just don’t ask him what’s in it.

1. Who are your heroes?

Zane: My entertainment role model and my inspiration was Gene Kelly. I loved his dynamic and knack for entertaining as well as thrilling. He was a stunt man as much as a dancer. That was always intriguing. And his sense of comedy was fantastic.

My real-life hero? I drew from for this character a bit of Gene Kelly, a bit of Errol Flynn but a bit of my father. He’s really an honorable man.

2. You were the mysterious stranger in “Dead Calm,” the mysterious lover in “Orlando.” Now you’re the mysterious Phantom. Some people might say you have a problem with disclosure. Do you keep a lot of secrets?

Zane: I love a good mystery. So yeah, I’ve got plenty. I wear a lot on my sleeve, too, though. I like characters with a fairly complex psychology. … What’s cool about the Phantom is he kind of takes the curse off of being good - it’s no longer a four-letter word. He operates from beneath a unique, purple, form-fitting thing with body tattoos and skull rings. He’s got all the trappings of a very sensual, if not sinister, character. But he does all these good deeds and is so, you know, happy.

3. Now that you are becoming more famous, do you covet anonymity? Would you like to wear a costume like the Phantom to be invisible?

Zane: Paranoia breeds intrusion; access buys peace.

3-1/2: Huh?

Zane: If you’re paranoid of the public, they will give you reasons to be. If you are open and give yourself, then that kind of intrusion will not be an intrusion.

4. What’s that junk they put on your upper lip for the milk endorsement?

Zane: It’s not large-curd cottage cheese, contrary to popular belief. It’s all completely drinkable dairy. That’s the only way to get it on is to drink from a cup. They don’t paint it on.

5. Can you name the nine essential nutrients in milk the ad boasts about?

Zane: No, not at all. Does it mean my body isn’t processing them? That sounds like a ‘70s band, doesn’t it? “The essential nutrients.”