TORONTO - Is it possible that, in the era of Michael Moore, Oliver Stone is a comparative moderate? I mean, he managed to make World Trade Centre, a 9/11 movie that avoided politics entirely.

Now Thandie Newton -- who plays Condoleezza Rice in Stone's upcoming biopic W -- says not to expect a polemic of the outgoing 43rd President of the United States

"You'd be very surprised," she says of the movie, which covers Dubya's career and administration from 2000-2004.

"I haven't seen the final product. I was with Josh Brolin (who plays Bush) the other night when he got an award in London, and I was like 'How is it? Have you seen anything?' because I have no idea.

"Oliver Stone is in the editing room," she says of the film whose release is expected to dovetail with the upcoming U.S. election. "But I can tell you on the set, we were going for a human portrait, authenticity, naturalism. It was about the dynamics between the personalities, the players of the administration.

"So it's not as simple as to say it's a slamming or respectful, because life isn't like that. The movie is much more shades of grey and it actually allows the audience to figure out their own feelings. It's not didactic, not from what I've seen anyway."

Thandie jumped from Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla to the Stone film, playing Rice in the era when she was National Security Advisor. "It was like deep-breath, jump in, terrified. And at the same time, it was enormously satisfying."

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