Zane’s Addicted is based upon her best-selling book/Photo Credit: RayCornelius.com
Written by | Ray Cornelius
According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, nearly 12 million Americans suffer from some form of sexual addiction. First recognized as a problem in 1983, sexual addiction is one of the fastest growing 12-step programs in the world. Behaviors associated with the disease include compulsive masturbation, pornography, repeated sequential affairs, frequent trips to strip clubs, high demand for sex and unsafe sexual activity. While some critics may scoff at the idea of sex being an actual addiction, like drugs or alcohol, the statistics say otherwise.
6% to 8% of all Americans can be classified as addicted to sex and 4.7 million individuals spend over 11 hours per week viewing porn sites says The National Council on Sexual Addiction Compulsivity (following a 2000 Stanford University Report for MSNBC). The sex struggle is real folks!
In addition, Americans’ accessibility to sexual content these days through cable television programming, internet, magazines advertisements, videos, sex apps and the newest infatuation with “sexting” can only increase these numbers with time.
Photo Credit: TheBayNet.com
Famed erotic writer, Kristina Laferne Roberts better known to her fans as Zane, is bringing this taboo subject to the forefront in her new film, Addicted, which opens today in theaters. Long before Fifty Shades of Grey, there was Zane telling us tales of carnal pleasure, salacious affairs, and sexual escapades throughout her numerous novels including Shame On It All, Head Bangers, Missionary No More and The Hot Box. Her popularity grew so much that she took her stories to Cinemax in the form of the television series, Zane’s Sex Chronicles and most recently, Zane’s The Jump Off. Now, the former sales representative is taking her seductive best-seller of the same name to the big screen with the hopes of reaching a broader audience and shedding light on the story’s real issue—sexual addition.
Addicted features an all-star cast including actress Sharon Leal as Zoe Reynard, a beautiful urban professional who’s married to the man of her dreams played by Boris Kodjoe. The two have it all—a beautiful home, great careers, two loving children and an amazing sex life. However, that’s not enough for Zoe, who often leaves home at night searching for her next conquest. Her insatiable appetite for sex, leads her to a handsome Spanish painter named Quinton, played by Latin sensation, William Levy. In the story, Quinton takes Zoe down a twisted path of lust, deceit and mayhem as she tries to come to grips with her growing obsession. While she enjoys the spontaneity of her new found lover, she can’t help but feel trapped in his grips and her overpowering addiction to sex. Supermodel, Tyson Beckford co-stars as Zoe’s other lover, Corey, the “tall, dark and handsome” type that she meets in an after-hours nightclub. Therapist, Dr. Marcella Spencer (Tasha Smith) tries to help Zoe find the courage to tell her torrid story before it’s too late. Rounding out the cast are actresses Kat Graham, Emayatzy Corinealdi and Maria Howell.
Photo Credit: MoviePilot.com
For Zane, Addicted will ignite some much needed dialogue between couples and hopefully get people talking about their sexual issues and past hurts. She also warns long-time fans that the film is only an adaptation of the book and doesn’t follow Zoe’s story chapter by chapter.
“Obviously we had to lose a lot of things from the book but I think the overall premise is still the same. The addiction still comes through very clearly that this is something that is real. Here is a woman who truly loves her husband and but also has this very real disease,” says Zane. “I think the part about being able to communicate with your mate also comes across very clearly as well and the importance of a man hearing his woman when she says, ‘There are some issues.’ We also have to deal with things that happened to us in our past if we want to have a healthy existence. So those things are what I really wanted to come across in the book and transcend into the film. That to me is what was most important.”
Zane also says that while she wrote the book she opted not to write the film script but had a hand in picking the film’s director, Bille Woodruff and the cast. Addicted was actually filmed in Atlanta in 2012 and has been screened at least four times in front of audiences in order for Zane to get the right audience reaction. So far, she was very pleased with the last version and was overjoyed with Atlanta’s recent screening of the movie. Most importantly, she says Addicted has literally helped piece marriages back together that were broken.
Zane’s is currently prepping for the debut of her stage play, Other Side of the Pillow, which premiers on October 21 in Dallas, TX. A full fledge tour of the show will begin in February 2015. Check out the Addicted trailer below:
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Addicted opens nationwide in theaters today.
