Rotten Tomatoes: In Push, the government secretly trains people with a number of special powers, but the most dangerous ones are "pushers" -- people who can make you believe lies are real. Are all the best actors really pushers of some sort?

Djimon Hounsou: I guess you could look at it that way. But at the end of the day, actors are "pushing" themselves, not you; that belief makes you [the audience] believe. They don't alter your thinking; they alter their own beliefs, embodying the life condition that they're playing. They are convincing themselves, not you.

And you, do you ever push yourself too far?

DH: [Smiling] No. I'm not an actor who takes his bulls*** home. There are limitations.

Your director, Paul McGuigan, was previously known for a few very striking movies, Gangster No. 1 and Lucky Number Slevin among them. Did you feel that Push would fit into Paul's style, or do you resist the idea that filmmakers or artists can have a signature style?

DH: I don't know if it's such a nice thing [to be thought of as having a signature.] It's like a painter -- where one stroke of a brush can be read into. In that sense, maybe. I like to think that moving to a new project, your style should change to accommodate the story. If it's the same, you become repetitive with your style. Paul [McGuigan] is known for his visual interpretations, but I've paid attention to his directorial visions. I think of Push as an entity unto itself, completely independent of all other films. I'd like to think that when a story changes, your vision changes.

When I spoke with Ed Zwick, who you worked with on Blood Diamond, he said he preferred to not be typed and to let a film speak for itself.

DH: I certainly don't see Zwick other than his great storytelling; I don't want to pigeonhole him by saying I see the "Zwick trait." I don't look at directors like that. Hopefully we don't all.

You've done historical drama, action drama, and now, sci-fi action. How do you strike a balance between the projects you choose?

DH: I guess you could try to balance but at the end of the day you're left to what's available at the time. Some projects can be amazing, but they won't happen until five years from now. You sort of have to surrender to the outcome of what's present at the time, and hopefully choose one of the best and hope it creatively comes together.

Push opens in wide release February 6, 2009. Click here for a full synopsis, photo gallery and trailers.

Want more Five Favorite Films? Check out previous installments with Ernest Borgnine, Jean Reno, Danny Boyle, and James Franco.