Billy Zane Says Marlon Brando's The Most Attractive Leading Man

Billy Zane says the best-looking leading man is "The Godfather" himself, Marlon Brando ... which he says is an endorsement of his own A-list looks.

We caught up with the actor at LAX on Thursday and asked him about his upcoming movie "Waltzing with Brando" ... and, Billy says it was a blast to film -- and, he even stole some wardrobe from the set that he liked.

Zane says Brando sits above any star in H'wood when it comes to best-looking leading men ... wistfully saying, "What a mug" when reflecting on MB's iconic face.

It's sort of a self-compliment, too ... after all, Zane looks enough like Brando to play the guy in a movie -- and, he says an outlet even put up a pic of him from "Waltzing with Brando" instead of the two-time Oscar winner.

Zane had to cut our convo a little short to take a phone call with his daughter and catch his flight ... but, not before answering one more question about why his name isn't immediately thrown out next to Brando's on the Hollywood hotties list.