SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Bulworth's flirtation with a White House run appears to be dead.

Actor-director Warren Beatty set off a frenzy of speculation among political pundits and the news media last summer when he said he was considering a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

But in an interview in the February issue of Vanity Fair magazine, he seemed to rule it out.

"I am not running now," he said.

He didn't elaborate on whether "now" meant he would not run at all in 2000, or that he was not currently running. He didn't immediately respond to message left at his Los Angeles office Monday by The Associated Press seeking comment.

But with the New Hampshire primary less than a month away, Beatty's chances of successfully running for the nomination are almost nil.

Indeed, the prospect of making a poor showing prompted Beatty to reject entering the California and New Hampshire primaries, the magazine said.

Beatty said such an embarrassment might damage his liberal agenda and the issues that matter to him, including schools and a ban on special-interest money for political campaigns.

He told the magazine that he feared his critics would say: "Look, Mr. Movie Star was up here and tried to do something with these issues and look how unpopular they are."

Beatty left the door open to a run for political office later.

"I think the question is: Can I be effective at another time? Whether that is in a year, or two years, who knows?"

Beatty, who wrote and starred in the 1998 political send-up "Bulworth," doesn't think his flirtation with running for office was entirely in vain. "I feel good about speaking up," he said. "I wouldn't feel good if I hadn't. It seems to me that the effect has been positive, that I've not yet made too much of a fool of myself -- at least, I don't think I have."

Beatty refused to endorse any other candidates.

"They're all good men, but none of them are saying enough of the things that need to be said," he told the magazine.