When director Oliver Stone first set out to make his biopic “W.,” he cast none other than Christian Bale in the role. Yep, you read that right.

The English-born actor spent months learning the mannerisms and vocal tics of the American president, but ultimately backed out of the film at the last minute after he reportedly felt that the hair and makeup tests simply weren’t working.

“Well frankly, Christian’s a very methodical actor,” Stone explained to us recently, insisting he holds no ill-will towards the star of “The Dark Knight.” “And he has to have the makeup thing work for him.”

Instead, Stone had to scramble at the last minute to line up Brolin, who was searching to take his career to the next level while coming off critically-acclaimed roles in “No Country for Old Men” and “American Gangster.”

“Actually, I’m very happy with Josh,” Stone said of the mixed blessing. “Because he is the man who became George. Josh is American, he comes from rural California, [lives] on a central California ranch, and he has the cowboy thing. He has the walk and the talk and he is Western.”

Brolin is so good in the film, in fact, that Stone believes he out-George W. Bushed the actual man.

“I think Josh is better than George,” the legendary writer/director laughed. “He’s more handsome in a way. I think that if George ever accepts the movie [and watches it], he may very much like Josh Brolin doing him.”

(For more on "W.," head over to MTV Movies to read an interview with Josh Brolin and other members of the "W." cast and crew, and check out what the stars are saying about "W." in our video interview series.)

Are you glad Brolin got the role of “W.”? What do you think Bale would’ve done with the part?