In a day and age when the world is infatuated with the scandalous side of celebrity and the misadventures of some of today's young female stars, One Tree Hill actress Hilarie Burton is a breath of fresh air. In fact, she's living proof that rising female stars can provide hope to those in need within their own generation through strength and positive messages. Although TV fans know Burton as the brooding and artistic teen harlot, Peyton Sawyer, on One Tree Hill, Hilarie recently got the chance to show a completely different side of herself next to Malcolm McDowell and Chuck Carrington in the southern faith based thriller, The List, which is now available on DVD (as of June 10).

Much like her character in The List, Hilarie Burton found herself on a journey of exploration that allowed her to reaffirm her own faith and belief in a higher power. On Monday, Hilarie phoned in to The Deadbolt HQ to talk about her time on The List, her views on faith and what it means to be a Christian girl in Hollywood, how she navigates the real world evils of the industry, how she's different than her character on One Tree Hill, her USO tour of Guantanamo Bay ... AND, whether Dan will be returning to the series and if we should all have faith that Peyton Sawyer could be making wedding plans this season.

THE DEADBOLT: So I guess the best question to start with is, did you have faith The List would finally be released on DVD?

HILARIE BURTON: Oh yeah, that was never a question. Gary Wheeler is so good at his job. Not only is he a phenomenal on-set leader, but he understands how to maintain his integrity and his ethics in a business that can be kind of seedy. So I think anybody who meets him and encounters him automatically recognizes that. So I never doubted for a second that he wouldn’t go out there and sell this movie.

THE DEADBOLT: Is it tough to be one of the 50 Sexiest Women and still be religious?

BURTON: [laughs] What? Where did that come from? I didn’t know about that. Is that your own personal list?

THE DEADBOLT: No, but you’ve been on a few.

BURTON: A couple of them - sexy is as sexy does. I think I went through a very awkward stage growing up. I had three brothers and every girl likes to say she’s a tomboy because they think that’s what boys like to hear. I was painfully tomboyish for awhile and it wasn’t something to brag about [laughs]. So I think once you’ve experienced that level of awkwardness, any kind of accolade about your physical appearance is always just kind of unsettling. So I don’t pay attention to that.

THE DEADBOLT: I guess it would be kind of weird.

BURTON: Yeah, it’s totally weird. I met a guy from Europe recently that was talking about how gorgeous women were - gorgeous, gorgeous - and I was like, "Listen buddy, here in the States woman don’t want to hear they’re pretty. Every once in a while, maybe, but American women like to hear they’re capable and really smart. That’s what keeps us going. Tell me how smart I am." [laughs]

THE DEADBOLT: So what was it exactly that spoke to you about The List?

BURTON: For me it was the opportunity to play a Christian woman that wasn’t a geek. There’s that stereotype that the bible-toting Christian woman is a dork, and that’s a stereotype I grew up with and never really agreed with, and so I was very excited about the opportunity to show a different side to my fan base. I’ve got impressionable teenage girls who watch One Tree Hill and I wanted them to know you can be cool and still be devout and still be strong in your faith, and you don’t have to keep it a secret either. People are like, "Wow, you’re pretty vocal about your faith." And I’m like, "Yeah, well, that’s part of it. That’s part of being a Christian, you have to announce it." It’s not a secret.

THE DEADBOLT: Since there's such a strong sense of faith in the film, why do you think it's so strong in the south?

BURTON: I don’t know that it’s stronger in the south. My mother’s family comes from Iowa and Minnesota and they’re some of the most devout people and their entire communities are super devout. I think, given the climate and how warm it is, people get out and mingle more. So maybe there are more arenas to get out and talk about it, to go to church. I think church in the south is - it’s our history, our tradition, it’s where we go to see our neighbors. That’s not to say that that’s all entirely wholesome, half the time you’re just there to check out other people’s outfits. But I think it’s so ingrained in the southern culture that there are just more arenas to talk about it perhaps.

THE DEADBOLT: When connecting to your character, Jo, were you faced with a similar questioning process of understanding her in the same way she had to understand her own future?

BURTON: I think for me, in playing the part of Jo, a large part of it was that I’ve been playing a character on One Tree Hill that I, as a younger person, did have a lot in common with. Peyton Sawyer was very similar to how I was in high school. So being able to play someone closer to me was important. And I also wasn’t lost, but searching for a way to use the leverage I gained on One Tree Hill for good, you know. I mean, you can go to all of the fashion shows you want, go to all of the parties, and get in all of the magazines and take pictures, you can do that all you want, but unless you’re using your status for good it’s kind of pointless. So getting to play Jo, I knew that it was going to bring my fan base to an entirely different genre, which was important to me. But also, I knew I was going to have an opportunity to do things like this, like promote the film and be asked about my faith. When I do stuff for One Tree Hill, I don’t get posed those types of questions. If I’m going to share any part of my personal life with my public, I think attesting to my faith and what I believe in is probably one of the only valid things I should be sharing.

Keeping the Faith with One Tree Hill's Hilarie Burton Page 2