Thandie Newton's Teenage Lesbianism In No Way Helped Her Play Condoleezza Rice
As rumors circulate that Condoleezza Rice was passed up for John McCain's vice presidential slot due to questions about her sexuality, her film portrayer Thandie Newton sat down for an interview with gay magazine The Advocate. The actress, who is playing Rice in Oliver Stone's election-tipping presidential fantasia W., said that she herself doesn't believe Rice is a lesbian — and it's too bad, because Newton has the same-sex experience that could have informed such a role:
Have you ever experimented with a woman? Yes, I had my rite of passage. I was 16, and I wasn’t really in control of the situation, if you know what I mean. It was much more about a male fantasy of seeing two women together. But I loved the girl a lot; she was one of my closest friends. I think falling in love is actually more about falling in love with an individual. We’re all potentially bisexual; it all depends on your circle, your upbringing, and all kinds of things. Or maybe I’m just talking about myself. I could’ve easily fallen in love with a woman over a man. My husband Ol’s kind of a man-woman. Look, I once loved Tim Curry, so there you go.
Upon reading Newton's interview, Oliver Stone immediately scheduled reshoots for an elaborate lesbian dream sequence to accompany George W. Bush's 2002 preztel-choking incident. "Laura, Condi, why don't you root out each other's infidels. No, I'm just gonna hang back. I'm the Decider." [Photo Credit: AP]