Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks, Thandie Newton and friends celebrate the European premiere of Oliver Stone’s Bush biopic.

It’s something of a massive understatement to say that the current incumbent of The White House is not very well liked but, for a few hours on a rainy night in London, he was the star of the show.

Oliver Stone’s Bush-burning biopic, W., got its European premiere at The Times Gala of the 52^nd London Film Festival and the cast were out in force to support the director with his controversial new project.

Showing Dub-Ya’s rise to power after years of heavy drinking and wild living, Josh Brolin’s portrayal of America’s current President has surprised people by being more sympathetic than you might expect.

“Everyone is a human being, they get up in the morning and they think they’re the good guy,” says Oliver Stone of his subject. “I’m not a journalist, I’m a dramatist and my job is to portray Bush as a human.”

The film also star Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, how did she feel about playing the First Lady?

“It’s very intimidating, you worry that she’s going to see the movie and audit me,” says Banks. “She’s very much an enigma, she’s a very private person and we’re trying to tell their story and of course they’ve never had a camera in their bedroom so I just did my best to discover who this person is and get under her skin.”

Has she ever met Laura Bush in real life?

“I have met her actually,”she says. “We met in 2003 long before I ever played her - it’s an odd irony of my life. She screened Seabiscuit at the White House for her and the President and we were all invited, so me and Steven Spielberg met her then. I don’t think that I’ll be invited back to see this one though.”

Thandie Newton, who plays Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice, was also on the rain-sodden walkway.

“It was fantastic, I loved the theatre of it,” says Newton of her role. “It was very liberating because Oliver wanted to do something theatrical and he wanted to be audacious, I think he actually toned it down a lot from what we did on set. Compared to the body of material that’s been made about this administration, we kept things relatively low-key.”

Does she think the movie will affect how the current presidential race will turn out?

“I don’t think so,” she says. “A little Hollywood movie isn’t going to change how things are done politically but it was our small contribution to the wealth of information that is available to people as they decide who is going to run the country in a few months time.

“I don’t get the vote because I’m English but with W I felt that was able to contribute in another way so that was exciting.”