How "The Room" Star Greg Sestero Turned Embarrassment Into Oscar Buzz With "The Disaster Artist"

Fourteen years ago, Greg Sestero starred in the worst film of all time: The Room. In 2018, he might take it to the Oscars.

That’s the buzz around The Disaster Artist, James Franco’s big-screen retelling of the making-of The Room, which is based on Sestero and journalist Tom Bissell’s book of the same name.

"It would be the most improbable success story ever," Sestero tells Student Edge.

Even if The Disaster Artist never makes it to the Academy Awards, Sestero can take solace in the fact his new movie is delighting audiences almost as much as The Room does on a weekly basis around the globe. (Famously terrible, it regularly screens to packed houses of fans in costume who know the script by heart.)

At the sold-out Perth preview screening of The Disaster Artist, attended by Sestero, the audience cheered, clapped and roared while the faux-Sestero, played by Dave Franco, tried to meet the bizarre on-set demands of The Room’s mastermind Tommy Wiseau (played by director James Franco).

"That’s the dream, right?"

It marks the end of a 14-year journey that has never stopped being surreal for Sestero, who met Wiseau at an acting class in the late 1990s, became his confidant—and leading man—for The Room, and who has seen it go from a flop to an iconic cult sensation, now immortalised in The Disaster Artist.

But it’s all been very weird, and that’s not even accounting for Wiseau’s peculiar, individual weirdness, for which Sestero has held a front-row seat over the past two decades. So, what’s been the weirdest part?

"I think it was going to set [on The Disaster Artist] and seeing some of your personal story recreated; seeing Sharon Stone playing your agent from back in the day; [Dave Franco] interacting with Bryan Cranston, wearing the same jean-jacket from 2002 that I wore," he says.

"Just seeing your life recreated, giving you a different perspective and being able to let go of that part of your life and realise that a lot of what we hold onto is just perspective."

Read More:

Movie Review: The Francos Take a Bad Movie and Make Something Great In “The Disaster Artist”

Greg first discovered James was a fan of The Room after reading a review of his book by Franco in Vice.

"He talked about the story being universal to him, and how he saw it as a combination of Boogie Nights and The Master, which to me was the ultimate, because I wanted to ultimately make a great film about what was considered a terrible film," Sestero explains.

Though Franco eventually signed on to direct and star in an adaptation, Tommy apparently had another actor in mind: Johnny Depp. Still, when Franco was suggested by Greg, "he took to it really well."

While James relied on an “audio journal” of Tommy "talking about his fears and his troubles and trying to become an actor and being misunderstood" to build his character, Dave met with Greg to discuss his role, and what it’s like to be a young actor with big dreams in Hollywood.

"He was in the same vein; coming to L.A. and really wanting to make good films and getting stuck in projects that you can give your all and realising they’re gonna be terrible no matter what," Sestero says.

If the specificity of The Disaster Artist’s recreations is anything to go by, The Room must have been treated as a sacred text by the incoming performers too.

The whole experience of making The Disaster Artist has been so positive and cathartic for Greg, he’s gone back to work with Tommy one more time, for a new film called Best F(r)iends, due out next April. For that, you can thank James’ performance.

"I was able to see [Tommy] in a more human way and realise what he pulled off with The Room was heroic," he says.

"At the end of the day, he just wants to be taken seriously as an actor, and he’s never gotten a chance."

The awful memories of toiling on The Room almost kept Sestero away, however.

"I’d been working on a few ideas that didn’t include Tommy, because to be honest, I didn’t really want to work with him again," he says.

"That kind of changed when I sat down and thought, 'This is a great opportunity to write a serious role and give Tommy that final chance to be an actor in something that I was passionate about.'"

He even thinks it could revitalise Tommy’s career, after a decade-and-a-half as a punchline.

"I feel like he hasn’t really been interesting since The Room," Sestero says.

"This is a chance for him to finally try something and get back to being the interesting Tommy that we saw in The Room; paying him back for giving me the opportunity, because I do think he has a lot to offer as a performer, and I think this film definitely proves that.

"I think this will be kind of a renaissance for him."

Should Tommy be polishing two Oscar speeches then? Maybe we should leave our stupid comments in our pocket.

The Disaster Artist opens in select Australian cinemas November 30, expanding December 7.

Photo: A24 / Wiseau Films