Former “Smallville” actress Allison Mack, who was arrested and later released on $5 million bail for allegedly participating in the sex cult NXIVM, as previously reported by CrimeOnline, has now claimed to the New York Times that branding sex slaves in the cult was her own idea.

The 35-year-old actress is accused of recruiting women to the highly-publicized cult in order to have sex with Keith Raniere, 57.

Some of the women in the cult were allegedly branded — the process of burning skin to leave a permanent scar– as part of the initiation process. And among those branded, some were given the initials of Raniere and Mack.

In an interview with the New York Times, Mack suggested the branding was her idea.

Speaking from her apartment in Brooklyn, New York, Mack told New York Times reporter Vanessa Grigoradis six months before her arrest, “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.”

The actress reportedly went into detail about the branding process and how the woman coped with it.

“Some of them kidded around through it,” wrote Grigoradis, who claimed Mack said the women thought of the bizarre ritual as a way of conquering their fears.

The reporter continued: “Even if they cried when they were getting the brand; even if they wore surgical masks to help them with breathing in the smell of burning flesh; even if the brand was much larger than they were told it would be and looked like an ancient hieroglyph; even if they were in a state of sheer terror, they were still able to transcend the fear and cry out to one another: “Badass warrior bitches! Let’s get strong together.”

Mack remains on house arrest at her parent’s home in California, and she is due, along with Raniere, to stand trial on conspiracy and sex trafficking charges in October.

If convicted, the duo faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.