As far as film stars who haven't been stereotyped into one specific kind of character, Guy Pearce has been able to diversify his acting resume to avoid the box so many actors wind up in. From L.A. Confidential to Memento to The Proposition to Factory Girl, Pearce is one of the select few in Hollywood who can step into almost any role. Maybe it's a British thing since Gary Oldman and Ewan McGregor are in the same elite club. Who knows, but Guy Pearce is back on the big screen with Don Cheadle in the role of an FBI agent who heads up the investigation into a rogue agent working with terrorists in the espionage thriller Traitor.

How does Pearce feel about stepping into a politically heated battle between good guys and bad guys in a post-911 world? At the film's press conference, Pearce filled us in the challenges of walking the fine line between sensitive political issues and entertainment when making Traitor.

This is a very timely film. What drew you specifically to the storyline?

GUY PEARCE: Well, I think in this sort of world of fear we’re all constantly told we’re supposed to be living in, which I can’t stand - I can’t stand the idea that that quality in us is so easily manipulated that, really, for us to try and make the effort to understand other people, who are seemingly vastly different from us - You’ve got the West on one side and the Middle East on the other side of the fence, it seems very easy to say they’re very different from us. They’re the bad guys, we’re the good guys, as simple as that. It drives me crazy and I’m sure it drives a lot of other people crazy as well. There was just something about this film, I think, about the script that Jeffery [Nachmanoff] had written, it just felt like it was trying to hold a bit of a mirror up, trying to show that, really, we’re all people and our faith to our belief is something that’s relative to us individually but essentially, on a broad scale, is no different from each other.

I just found that the attempt to sort of delve into that was very clever and straightforward in a way. It felt very realistic in a way and not something you would not normally see in perhaps a studio film. I think if Jeffery had done this at a bigger studio it would probably be less confrontational. And the fact that Don [Cheadle] was doing the film was something I was really interested in. I mean, it’s not the hugest character arc, or anything like that, for me. But I think it was more of the film itself that I was drawn to rather than specifically the character.

Jeffrey [Nachmanoff] made your character a man of faith. You speak Arabic and you’re not just a simple white atheistic figure playing into theme. How did you feel about that?

PEARCE: Well, I think that’s two things. One, it sort of gets away from sort of an "us versus them" mentality I suppose. And it’s a tricky thing to do because there are things that could seem like a device in the film to try and make characters seem more relatable than they really are. I thought that Jeffery did a pretty good job of infusing it without it seeming too expositional, too heavy handed or anything. And Jeffery was aware for some people watching the film it might be the way they, sort of, are able to themselves, relate to Don’s character through the eyes of someone who may have a Baptist upbringing. I don’t imagine there will be a lot of Western people out there who are able to read Arabic. But I think more the religious background is something people can definitely find a connection with our protagonist, with Don and his... world.

And it just added some complexity I suppose. There was actually more about my character that didn’t end up in the film, which is probably a good thing because I think it might have started to feel like we’re trying to milk it too much in a way. So, funnily enough, when you watch a film and it’s been six months since you made it or whatever, you get to the end and you think, ‘That all works.’ And it’s not until you get to the end and thing well that all worked, then you’re like, ‘Hang on, there was another scene there and there was another scene there.’ In this case it really took me a while to remember that because in the end the version that we have now is the most appropriate version and you can’t necessarily know that when you’re shooting it.

You and Don had totally different roles, like the good guy, the bad guy, but yet it seemed like you had a respect for what each other was doing. Like you felt you were the best at what you did whether it was good or bad.

PEARCE: I think so. I think both of those characters in the film probably don’t necessarily believe there’s good guys and bad guys. I think they’re both aware that there are reasons behind why people behave they way they do, whether it’s oppression or upbringing or whatever, it happens to be and that it’s worth investigating before that good guy bad guy perspective is sort of played out and tossed away. As I said to Don at the beginning of the film, 'I don’t think you’re a fanatic, you might be an opportunist.’ It’s like I’m saying to him, ‘You’re not fooling me. I know there’s more to this situation than what I found you in.' And you can tell, obviously later in the film...

But yes, it’s interesting isn’t it? That no matter what side people come from - I was always fascinated by - you hear war stories from the second world war and the Germans would capture the British, or the British would capture the Germans, and if someone was a high ranking officer they got treated very differently from lower ranking soldiers, just because they were a high ranked officer. There was an immediate respect that this person was an equal and he was as highly ranked as I was. I’m still going to keep you prisoner and you’re still going to be my prisoner, but I’m not going to treat you like a lowly sort of dog. So it’s fascinating the way we can relate on very different levels. I think that level of respect and understanding, no matter where you come from, needs to be explored more in the world, ultimately.

What was the most challenging aspect of hitting the right tones with your character?

PEARCE: I always find the whole thing is a challenge. Doing an accent is tricky, that’s just a technical thing. But that’s always a difficult thing to maintain, particularly when you don’t speak anything like that. You get into a rhythm with it, I suppose. It tends to just end up being like a song, when you get a song stuck in your head, so it eases up as the job goes on.