THE role of Smallville actress Allison Mack in sex cult Nxivm continues to be exposed.

After allegations Mack was instrumental in recruiting and grooming women to have sex with cult leader Keith Raniere, it’s now been revealed that Mack instigated the branding of female members’ skin with a surgical knife.

In an interview the star gave to the New York Times before her April arrest for sex trafficking charges, published today, Mack boasted about coming up with the idea.

“I was like, y’all, a tattoo? People get drunk and tattooed on their ankle BFF or a tramp stamp. I have two tattoos and they mean nothing,” she told reporter Vanessa Grigoriadis.

In the article, Grigoriadis writes some women who had the logo branded onto their skin told her it was bigger than they thought it would be, and wore a surgical mask to avoid the smell.

At Mack’s bail hearing in a New York court this month, the court heard that as the women were being branded like cattle, Mack allegedly placed her hands on their chests and told them to “feel the pain” and to “think of [their] master,” prosecutors say.

Mack, 35 also said in the interview she joined Nxivm, founded by cult leader Keith Raniere, because she was unsatisfied with her acting career. She said she asked Raniere to “make her a great actress again”.

She also divulged details on the recruitment process. The female group member that invited another woman to join was that woman’s ‘master’, a “representation of your conscience, your higher self, your most ideal,” Mack said, according to the Times.

The ‘master’ would force their ‘slave’ to count calories, have cold showers, get up at 4AM only to stand still and do nothing, or refrain from having orgasms to prove their devotion.

“I found my spine, and I just kept solidifying my spine every time I would do something hard,” Mack told the Times of the effect of the rituals on her.

Last month Mack pleaded not guilty after being arrested for her alleged role in the cult.

A gaunt, dishevelled Mack appeared in Brooklyn federal court on charges of sex trafficking and forced labour — a month after Nxivm leader Keith Raniere was collared on the same charges.

Mack is out on a $5 million bail and under house arrest. Rainere was refused bail. A judge set their trial for October 1.

Raniere had pleaded not guilty on all three charges.

Both face 15 years to life in prison if convicted of the charges.

Mack was Raniere’s direct “slave” and had a sexual relationship with him — but also acted as a ‘master’ to other slaves

The actress first lured the women into the secret society within Nxivm known as “The Vow” — and cajoled them into providing “collateral” like embarrassing photos and statements to use as blackmail, prosecutors allege.

She then allegedly groomed the slaves for sex with Raniere — ordering them to adhere to extremely restrictive diets, to refrain from removing their pubic hair and to stay celibate, according to court documents.

“Ms. Mack was one of the top members of a highly organised scheme which was designed to provide sex to [Raniere],” Assistant US lawyer Moira Penza said in court.

Raniere pitched NXIVM as a self-improvement program for the stars with Battlestar Galactica’s Nicki Clyne, Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg’s daughter, India, and Mack’s former Smallville co-star, Kristin Kreuk, all members at one time.

Mack reportedly tried to lure singer Kelly Clarkson and actress Emma Watson into the fold.