Here's a tip for border control agents at airports in Australia and Los Angeles.
The next time Guy Pearce wanders up to your booth bleary-eyed after the 14-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean, have a close look at his entry documents.
Particularly, the question that asks for his occupation.
If Pearce keeps his word, it should say: "Movie star".
"You know what will happen if I do it?" Pearce, his eyes wide, laughed during an interview with AAP in hotel suite in New York's Union Square.
"The customs guy will say: 'What a dickhead! What a wanker!"
The easygoing 41-year-old from Melbourne has a bit of a dilemma.
He's the Clayton's movie star - a movie star who doesn't want to be a movie star.
Revered as one of the industry's great acting talents, Pearce's Hollywood breakthrough came in 1997's LA Confidential alongside Russell Crowe, followed by action thriller Rules of Engagement and in recent years was applauded for roles in Memento, Factory Girl and in the coming months will be seen in a potpourri of films, ranging from The Road, based on the haunting Cormac McCarthy bestseller, to the Adam Sandler-Disney comedy Bedtime Stories and the chilling Australian crime drama In Her Skin.
Despite the resume, Pearce is not convinced he is a movie star.
"About two years ago a friend of mine said to me: 'You're a f...... movie star. Just accept it. Say these words: 'I am a movie star'," Pearce, still laughing, said.
"I was like: 'No, I'm not going to say it'.
"It was hilarious.
"So, there's a part of me that goes: 'OK, if you put the movie star thing into a context, I can understand it', but it's an external thing.
"I just think I'm an actor."
"So, OK.
"The next time I come into the country I'm going to write on the form 'movie star' to see what happens.
"I have no doubt they will call me a wanker."
Testament to the respect Hollywood has for Pearce is that he is continually offered jobs, despite being missing in action in Tinseltown, preferring to hide out in Melbourne with wife of 11 years, Kate Mestitz, and their two beloved Basenjis dogs Lulu and Zelda.
A year or so ago Hollywood screenwriter-turned director Jeffrey Nachmanoff picked up the phone and dialled Pearce's home number.
Nachmanoff was hoping to recruit Pearce to star alongside best actor Oscar nominee, Don Cheadle, in the political thriller Traitor, a film delving into the shady underworld of Muslim extremists and terror plots.
The director was targeting Pearce to play FBI agent Roy Clayton, a Tennessee-raised son of a preacher hunting Cheadle's character across the Middle East, Europe and the US.
"I didn't realise how strong Guy's Australian accent was," Nachmanoff, recalling their first phone conversation.
"At one point I said: 'Do you think I need to get you a dialect coach?'
"He said: 'No mate, I'll take care of it'.
"I told him where the character was coming from, he took the information, absorbed it, went and did his own research and came on set the first day and BOOM!
"He spoke with this southern accent that was flawless."
Nachmanoff, best known for writing the script for the 2004 disaster film The Day After Tomorrow, regrets having a sliver of doubt whether Pearce could pull off the role.
"In lesser hands, the character of Roy Clayton would be overshadowed by Don's, but what Guy does is bring it to a level equal with Don's," Nachmanoff said.
"It's no surprise.
"Look at his body of work.
"How do you go from Priscilla Queen of the Desert to LA Confidential to Memento?
"He's a chameleon and he's equally riveting in all of his movies.
"I was incredibly lucky to get two actors the calibre of Guy and Don in my first film as a director."
Pearce had no doubt he could pull off the Tennessee accent.
The actor has a secret weapon - Connecticut-based dialect coach Tim Monich.
"The reference in the script to my character was that he had a 'southern accent'," Pearce explained.
"So, I said to Jeffrey: `What are you thinking of specifically? How strong is the accent?
"Jeffrey said: 'I'm thinking he's from Tennessee, he's well educated so there's not a lot of twang'.
"I told him about Tim Monich and how I work with him a lot.
"Tim has this wonderful catalogue of tapes.
"Wherever Tim goes in the world, he interviews people.
"So, you call him up and say: 'Hey Tim, I'm playing a well-educated character from Tennessee' and he'll go through his catalogue and send six CDs with three interviews on each CD with all of these different people with the Tennessee accent'."
Pearce says it actually works to his advantage to be based in Melbourne and an irregular visitor to Hollywood.
When the actor does fly to Los Angeles, his management team puts out the word and Pearce's schedule quickly fills up.
"In actual fact my agent has told me it is quite good I don't live in LA," he said.
"He said: 'When I do tell people Guy Pearce is coming to town' it tends to make people jump a little bit and say: 'Well, we know he's not going to be here for long, let's make the most of it'."
Pearce and Kate, a psychologist, are also unconventional in their personal life, not taking the traditional route of other couples which leads to raised eyebrows.
They do not want children and are adamant about it.
"I think it's confronting for people who do have kids when we tell them," Pearce admitted.
"People always say: 'Are you married?'
"We say: 'Yes'.
"They say: 'Do you have kids?'
"We say: 'No'.
"They will say: 'Well, you don't have them yet' and we'll say: 'No, we're not having kids'.
"Then they'll say: 'No, you can't say that'.
"We'll go: 'Yes we can'.
"Kate doesn't want kids. I don't want kids.
"I just don't think I could give them enough attention.
"You know: 'Well, I better not go and spend nine hours in my music studio because I have to tell my kids some stories'.
"We've got the Basenjis.
"They're happy to sit on my lap while I'm doing my music.
"Kids probably wouldn't be so happy."
There's another advantage.
"They don't ask me if I'm a movie star," he laughed.
Traitor opens in Australian cinemas Thursday (November 6).
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