An honest story, one that while complicated is showcased by a cast whose acting abilities become the epitome of simplicity. Adapted by the Argentine film, El Secreto de Sus Ojos (directed by Juan Campanella), comes the American version Secret in Their Eyes. While there was uncertainty on whether or not to tell this story, director Billy Ray felt there was "a story worth retelling and exploring." That developed with a valuable supporter, Juan Campanella, who says "Contrary to what people might think, I really like it when somebody takes a piece of work and turns it into something different."

Entertainment Affair got to talk to one of the key actors of this film, Alfred Molina. With over 163 credits as an actor, his brilliancy is everlasting. We talked about his versatility as an artist and his role as Martin Morales. While his character is not only corrupt and deceitful, Molina is courteous, well spoken and humorous.

Entertainment Affair: Stepping into an adapted film, do you feel any pressure on taking on a role from a film that was already successful and received so well?
Alfred Molina: No Not really, because I think good films, good stories always stand up to scrutiny. And in the same way that a good play can be done over and over with different actors and different settings. If the story is good enough it just, it has a kind of universal quality and it can be told again and again. A story about sort of tragedy and a need for closure that never seems to come, a sense of people trying to overcome what they perceive as a failure in order to come to terms with themselves. All these very human, very universal themes could apply to any society any country any group of people anywhere in the world. So I think theres a universality about these stories so they can be told again and again. There's no pressure. The only pressure really is to justify your existence and tell the story as well as you can and not let it down.

EA: For many actors, the business can become discouraging. With the successful career you've had, have you ever felt like "I got this" as an actor?
AM: I've never done it. I've never felt that way and I never quite trust actors who do think that, you know. I always tell a story about coming off stage and the actor who kind of comes back into the dressing room and says triumphantly, "I nailed it tonight. I did it perfectly." I always think, I never believe them. I never believe that because I don't think that's ever true. I don't think you ever get it absolutely right. Otherwise, why go back and do it again? I think there's a constant searching for some kind of perfection, which we all know perfectly well doesn't exist. So you keep striving. I've been very fortunate that my only criteria through my whole life has been to just say yes. So, I've done all kinds of strange jobs, all kinds of weird characters. If I've had a career, which is furthest to judge. If I look back at what I've done, it's bit of a crazy quilt of different ethnic characters, different kinds of people. But that's just been my good fortune. It wasn't a game plan or a strategy that I had, but I've been lucky that I've been acting professionally for 40 years and I'm still working . I'm very very grateful.

EA: Is there anything you'd like to play that you haven't?
AM: Yea, there's all kinds of stuff! The great advantage of being an actor in your middle age is there's a whole new sort of generation of roles that are available. I tell a joke now; I tell young actor's, "you can do all the running and jumping and I'll just do the pointing and shouting." I can spare behind a desk in a nice suit sayings like, "my office now!" or "get this done" or "don't come back here". I don't have to spent my time running up a mountain or wrestling the people in the middle of the freezing cold... there's always an interesting part somewhere. There's always a good story somewhere to be told and if you're lucky enough to get the chance to do it, you should grab it with both hands.

Director Billy Ray said in an interview, "Secret in Their Eyes is comprised of really, really smart actors." With Billy's fondness of working with smart actors, I began to ask Alfred when he joked, "I thought you were gonna say, he likes to work with smart actors but in this case he made an exception." Between laughs he continued, "At the heart of this story is a terrible unspeakable tragedy. Like all great stories, it takes you to a very very dark place and then of course you come back from that. That's the whole nature of drama... Given that process, there's always or should be a fantastic interaction between the actors and the director and the writers. There is kind of exchange of ideas and possibilities and smart directors, like smart actors are people who will recognize a good idea when it comes from somewhere else and won't deny it... If another actor says, 'why don't you try it like this'. If trying it like that gets you to the place you wanna be, why not? That's the nature of collaboration."

New roles are already marking the year of 2016 for Alfred Molina, including both film and TV.

Secret in Their Eyes opens in theaters November 20th.