Twenty years ago, audiences heard Tommy Wiseau say those fateful words to Greg Sestero for the first time: “Oh hi, Mark.”
Perhaps the quintessential example of a cult film, 2003’s The Room has long entertained audiences with its strange dialogue, difficult-to-follow plot and director-star Wiseau’s peculiar choices. Fans have even created their own rituals to accompany screenings, like throwing plastic spoons at the screen. The Room will return to the Belcourt twice this weekend. This time it will be part of a Wiseau-directed double feature, with 2023’s Big Shark making its Nashville debut. Both films will play on Sept. 27 and 28, and Sestero will be there, as he tends to be, to support his friend. He’ll also participate in a Q&A between the films during both Friday’s and Saturday’s screenings.
Sestero — who says if he could present his own Belcourt double feature, it would be The Talented Mr. Ripley paired with Sunset Boulevard — spoke with the Scene about The Room’s unlikely power, the work he’s most proud of and his next moves.
Is there anything about Nashville that you think makes it especially ripe for a screening like this?
I just feel like they support film, indie film and cult cinema. I know when [2017’s The Room-inspired] The Disaster Artist came out, [the Belcourt] was one of the early theaters that screened it. When I was there the last time, it’s a great mix of all ages of movie fans. The Belcourt, they’ve always been a big supporter.
It’s a really fun double feature. Obviously for The Room, people come out with the spoons, and then Big Shark is a really good complement to that crowd once they’re hyped up after seeing The Room. It’s a unique night out at the movies.
Where are you at with your relationship to The Room and it being known as a movie a lot of people say is bad?
I think that’s sort of a very simpleton way of looking at it. … I think it’s funny, initially, calling it the “best worst movie.” But honestly, I think any filmmaker out there right now would love to make a movie that people still show up to 20 years later. I think that was sort of the mob mentality, [saying] it’s a bad movie.
For me, what I stand by is the book that I wrote [The Disaster Artist], and the Oscar-nominated film that came out of that, and it’s just given me opportunities. I got a chance to work on The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix, and now I’m making my own films. It’s been a great gift, and I’ve always looked at it as a really unique experience that I’ve marveled at, that people still love to come watch it.
The Room is never something I thought would be a break or would be the one that would give me a shot. After this many years, I’ve looked at it a different way. It’s not a movie I’m gonna watch, and it’s not a movie I’m gonna show friends. It’s really a movie for the people that has been supported by the people, and now I’m just excited to get out there and make other films. You hope that people enjoy whatever you make as much as The Room, as ironic as that sounds.
What projects are you most excited about right now?
[2017’s]Best F(r)iends is one that I’m really proud of. I always try to take real-life events and mold them into an original film, and with that film I took the Black Dahlia murder and crafted a character for Tommy [Wiseau]. [2021’s] Miracle Valley was a ’70s horror-thriller that was based on a real-life cult. I feel like with each one I’ve grown more accustomed to storytelling, and I think Best F(r)iends sort of captures the movies I’d like to make and improve on. I think right now I’m most excited about Forbidden Sky, which is a UFO abduction story that I’m going to make next year.
Is making an alien movie something on your bucket list?
I was always very drawn to sci-fi. I saw, obviously, the original Star Wars, but more than anything it was a movie that came out in 1993 called Fire in the Sky. Back then you had to rent VHS movies, and I was so terrified of it. But I just always remembered the way it made me feel. Then I took a UFO night tour in 2020, and it was just such a fascinating experience. And again, I wanted to take something that I experienced and fold that into a film. I’ve been working on the screenplay since 2020.
Twenty years on, what’s your friendship like with Tommy Wiseau now?
It’s crazy, it’s gone on for two decades. I think the biggest connection is that we both love movies and we both love to create, and I think that’s what’s kept us in touch and supporting one another.
What mindset should the audience go into the screenings with?
Come in with an open mind, and come in just preparing to have your mind blown — hopefully in the best way. The Room will change your view on cinema and maybe on life. When that ends, Big Shark will hopefully balance that all out.
