Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- In ``Traitor,'' an action thriller that delivers more twists than an Olympic gymnast, Don Cheadle plays a devout Muslim named Samir Horn who blows up buildings and people.

He's not really a terrorist, though, he just acts like one.

``I'm supposed to be the good guy, but I'm leaving a path of destruction on the way to getting the main guy,'' said Cheadle, 43. We met recently at a hotel near Manhattan's Union Square, where he was promoting his new film, which opened yesterday. Cheadle wore a baseball cap to the interview and a large diamond in his left ear.

For his character, there are difficult questions to confront: ``What costs are too high for me? What collateral damage can I live with?''

Cheadle earned an Oscar nomination in 2004 for his role in ``Hotel Rwanda,'' in which he played a compassionate and resourceful hotel manager-cum-savior during Rwanda's genocidal civil war.

In ``Traitor,'' Cheadle brings nuance and finesse to the part of Samir Horn, a character faced with a moral dilemma.

The film opens with Horn as a boy in Sudan who witnesses a car bomb explosion, then cuts to him as an adult in Yemen where he's supplying detonators to a terrorist cell. While a dapper FBI agent (Guy Pearce), is chasing him around the globe, Horn, we learn, is actually in the employ of a rogue CIA contractor played by Jeff Daniels.

Lost Soul

Cheadle describes his character as a lost soul who gets mixed up with Islamist extremism after moving to the U.S.

``He's somebody who feels he's not really a son of this country,'' Cheadle said. ``He doesn't really have a place.''

Horn's insider knowledge and know-how with explosives make him perfect double-agent material for Daniels, who gives him ``a place where you can belong,'' Cheadle said. His credentials also make him an ideal candidate to coordinate 50 suicide bombers for a massive Thanksgiving attack on America's heartland.

The film, by first-time director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, tackles terrorism from a number of angles.

``It's not just about how many people are killed, what target they're able to take down,'' Cheadle said. ``It's about what it does psychologically. We see how fear is used, even in this current administration, to get people to do what you want them to do.''

Cheadle said he threw himself into Islamic culture while preparing for the role, learning Arabic and visiting mosques.

Hijacked the Religion

``What I found was that very few Muslims believe the extreme reading of the Koran that supports terrorist acts, but that's what gets the most press,'' he said. ``Less than 1 percent hijacked the religion.''

The film had its wild and crazy origins in a semi-comic ``What if?'' climax conceived by comedian Steve Martin, who's executive producer of ``Traitor.''

``Steve's idea was the twist I can't really talk about,'' Cheadle said. Martin supplied the ending, and the rest ``had to be reverse-engineered from that.''

Meanwhile, in the works for Cheadle is a biopic about Miles Davis, in which he will portray the legendary jazz trumpet player. Cheadle will also produce and direct the film.

(Robert Hilferty is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Robert Hilferty in New York at rhilferty@verizon.net.

Last Updated: August 28, 2008 00:01 EDT