Directed by the renowned Billie Woodruff, Addicted is the first film to be based on a novel by wildly popular writer Zane. The story revolves around Zoe (Sharon Leal), who seems to have a perfect life. She and husband Jason (Boris Kodjoe) have a happy marriage, three beautiful kids, and thriving careers. All is well until Jason discovers Zoe is leading a double life in which she carries on torrid affairs with other men (Tyson Beckford, William Levy). Her addiction leads them down a dangerous road that may shatter their world completely.
We recently sat down with stars Boris Kodjoe and Tyson Beckford to discuss Zane’s fan base, the theory of perfect relationships and addictive behaviors.
What’s it like to be in the debut feature film from the Zane franchise?
Boris: It’s exciting. We know the magnitude of the fan base that she enjoys and the loyalty her fans have for her, so it’s great to be able be a part of her first film because we know how big this is for her. We know this is something her fans have been waiting for. Zane gave it a thumbs up so we can’t wait for people to check it out.
What can you tell us about your characters?
Boris: My character Jason is Zoe’s husband … very successful guy. He’s a great father and husband who is under the impression he has a beautiful family life, only to realize that it isn’t so. One day he finds out that his wife has been living a separate life. Then he’s confronted with the shock and reality of the fact that the person he thought he knew all his life really wasn’t who he thought she was.
Tyson: I play Corey. He meets Zoe and he’s just interested in having fun, nothing serious, and then he finds out about her whole married life. He gets his heart broken and then he gets creepy. Then he finds out about Quentin (William Levy) and confronts everyone. He’s been around, but never involved in anything like this. He doesn’t mean to be a home wrecker, but ultimately he finds out that’s what he is.
Do you think people who seem to have a perfect relationship sometimes find a need to have some sort of dysfunction in it? Is a perfect relationship feasible?
Boris: I don’t think there’s a such thing as a perfect anything, ya know? Much like anything else, it’s all about what you make it. It’s definitely important to have open communication with your partner. The movie actually addresses that with the character of Zoe because a lot of women feel that they can’t express their sensuality and sexuality without the fear of being judged by their partners. So that liberation of feelings plays into it. Temptation plays into it. And then you have sexual addiction as well which can happen to anyone, which also needs to be talked about in this context. But overall, I can’t stress this enough, that communication is key.
Tyson: I agree with Boris that communication is the key. If you don’t know what your partner is missing then you’ll definitely miss out on something. There’s gonna be a point where they say, “Alright I’m not getting it here so I’m gonna go find it elsewhere.” Having had the experience of cheating on a girlfriend or two and being cheated on, I understand that mainly the reason most people cheat is that there is something missing. In the case of this film, it wasn’t that her husband wasn’t giving her good love, it was that she wanted to try different things. And with him being a successful architect maybe he didn’t have or make enough time for her. Sometimes when you miss a dinner, the other partner may say “Oh it’s alright!” but in actuality they’ve prepared to do this for you all day. So sometimes they may say it’s alright, but deep down they’ve internalized this hurt and that brings us back to the point of communication.
Is that the overall theme to the movie? Making sure the communication is there and perhaps situations like this won’t happen?
Boris: Not quite. The movie is more so about Zoe’s exploration of her desires, her sexual desires, and the secret needs she possesses to have them fulfilled and what she goes through in order to do so. Her sexual addiction is very strong so it really doesn’t matter who her husband is and what her life is like, she’s just never satisfied. It’s an intense need that can never possibly be satisfied, which is a sign of addiction.
Tyson: You sometimes see these great people who are a couple and then one of them will break off and go to someone who’s lesser but they get what they’re looking for with them. People are looking at you crazy like “Yo you left her for that?” but it’s not always about that. I learned that the hard way. It’s not all about who you are or what you have. It’s someone offering them something that you can’t. So maybe he actually finds time to have the date night she wanted with you.
