THE DEADBOLT: In relation to your own faith, how does Peyton give you a broader perspective on the world, or the lives of people like her?

BURTON: You know what? I was nervous for a little bit that I was going to be accused of being a hypocrite. They’re two different kind of people. We had a screening where Gary Wheeler was sitting next to me and a man was not pleased with the fact that this character, Jo Johnston, was cast by a girl that plays a teenage harlot. So that was something I was very nervous about. But I think my thing is: whether you’re playing the prudish Christian woman, like in very typical Christian films, or you’re playing the drugged out prostitute, the grace of God becomes glaringly obvious through human error. It is because we’re human and it’s because we’re imperfect and because we’re sinful creatures that God can manifest himself and show himself to us in really beautiful ways. And even so, Peyton Sawyer does things I would never ever do. I think that the consequences of her actions have always been shown, and you know you don’t get away with making bad decisions. I think that she, herself, whether or not she’s vocal about it - you know, I’ve gotten to do some scenes where my character prays on the show and those are the some of my favorite scenes. My character turns to God in her time of need while Jo Johnston in The List would turn to God every day. So people relate to God in different ways and I’ve been fortunate enough to play a couple of characters that have all gotten to find him in one way or another.

THE DEADBOLT: For someone like The List's lead character, Renny, how hard do you think it is in today's world to decipher good from evil, especially with so many mixed messages in various mediums?

BURTON: In acting, the best thing about the bad is that he doesn’t know he’s the bad guy. And I think that’s true in real life. Right now, in this moment, you are probably the bad guy to somebody. I know I’m probably the bad guy to somebody, because I know there are people who are the bad guy to you and the bad guy to me. But everybody can justify their own actions. So I think it’s difficult to tell good from evil and that’s where you have to follow your heart and what your gut tells you. If you make it a practice to ask God to guide your heart, I think those decisions become easier and easier to make.

THE DEADBOLT: Given the dark side of the industry, how do you navigate the real world evils? Is it tougher for young females?

BURTON: I mean we’re in a lecherous business, but we also hold a lot of power. And that’s something I didn’t recognize early in my career. I was very upset I wasn’t a male. I thought I would totally have a leg up if I was a male. But, you know, for women to hold a certain level of power in this industry that's something you don’t want to abuse or exploit. So it is a very fine line. There are some days where I can justify certain aspects of the industry and there are other days where I’ve just had it.

THE DEADBOLT: How important is it for people to have faith?

BURTON: I can’t tell anyone to have faith. That’s not something I can do. What I can tell people is that if there’s a void, don’t ignore it and search and search until you find the thing that is going to fill it. For me, I can’t love anyone else, whether it’s my family, friends, a spouse, until all of my voids are filled and I’m a full person and I can give my full self over. So in creating my full self, I turn to God and I find a lot of fulfillment and guidance there and I’m very lucky. I would hope that other people can experience that and I know a lot of people who do experience that. It’s a personal journey for anybody. I guess I talk about it more so people know it’s out there and it’s something worth searching for.

THE DEADBOLT: That’s good. It’s kind of refreshing that you talk about it.

BURTON: Thanks. [laughs] I’m waiting to have this major life’s mess up and everyone will be like, "We thought she was a Christian!" And I am, but I’m also human.

THE DEADBOLT: So, I hear Dan is coming back next season on One Tree Hill.

BURTON: Is he? I don’t know. He did get hit by a car pretty bad. Yeah, he bit it. We have great stunt guys. I wasn’t there when they shot that scene. I just remember watching that episode going, "What the... What was that?" It was exciting.

THE DEADBOLT: Well, since faith is so important, should we have faith that Peyton will be making wedding plans this season?

BURTON: I don’t know. I start work tomorrow and they’ve kept it a secret from me. They’re very scared about spoilers. I’m not really sure what’s going to happen. You know, I think any of the girls are going to be very lucky and you can justify him being with any of them. Our show has been good, even if our storylines aren’t about a love interest, we still have interesting things to do. I feel lucky to have a character that has been empowered and started her own company and has other stuff going on other than who she’s making out with.

THE DEADBOLT: So, if it's not Peyton, how would you like to see her evolve next season?

BURTON: I think Peyton has a lot of holes in her life. We’ve been introduced to her father, but he’s been away for years now. We’ve been introduced to her half brother who’s a marine, and that’s really something I’d like to see Peyton explore. Last week I went to Guantanamo Bay to do a USO tour with the military, and my father’s an ex-green beret, I grew up around the military, and it’s something I have a great deal of respect and awe for. So I went down to Guantanamo and got to hang out with the men and women that serve down there and really educate myself to what the situation is down there with the detention center.

I went into a detention center. And separating fact from fiction, the myth that exists right now about what goes on at Guantanamo and the false information that has come out, almost this mass hysteria of abuse and torture and all of this kind of stuff, it’s very unsettling to me. And it's very demoralizing to our troops, who are actually doing a fantastic job over there, so I volunteered. I was talking to the USO and I let them know that I’ll volunteer to go over to Iraq or Kuwait and the Persian Gulf at some point later this year. I think Thanksgiving is going to be the best time to go when I can get off of work, so I’d love to be able to serve Thanksgiving dinner to our troops. I would love to see Peyton kind of mirror that in the show because it’s something I feel so passionate about. I wish she could interact with her brother and his marine buddies some more.