The Disaster Artist

The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made is a 2013 non-fiction book written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. Sestero details the troubled development and production of the 2003 cult film The Room, his own struggles as a young actor, and his relationship with The Room director Tommy Wiseau. A film adaptation of the same name was released in 2017, directed by and starring James Franco as Wiseau and his brother Dave Franco as Sestero. Synopsis In 1997, Greg Sestero, an aspiring actor struggling with confidence, first encounters Tommy Wiseau in an acting class held by Jean Shelton in San Francisco. Sestero is initially perplexed by Wiseau's over-the-top acting technique, unusual physical appearance, untraceable accent, and eccentric behavior, which includes a fascination bordering on obsession with American culture and a refusal to discuss his past. At the same time, Sestero admires Wiseau's boldness and genuine enthusiasm for both life and acting. The two form an odd but affectionate bond as Sestero learns of the many contradictions of Wiseau's personality. Sestero signs with talent agent Iris Burton; as he slowly accrues more acting credits and makes other friends, Wiseau grows jealous and schemes to earn similar acknowledgment (such as earning a SAG card by producing and starring in a commercial for a company he himself owned), and threatens to evict Sestero from the Los Angeles apartment he is loaning to him, leading Sestero to become uncomfortable with their relationship. After viewing The Talented Mr. Ripley for the first time, Sestero is struck by how similar Wiseau is to the title character. However, when Wiseau also sees the film, instead of recognizing his own behavior, he is deeply impressed by it and becomes obsessed with creating something just as emotionally powerful. He subsequently disappears from Sestero's life for nine months—during which their occasional phone calls frequently indicate that Wiseau had become depressed and suicidal. He eventually returns to Los Angeles with a finished script for his film: The Room, which includes a character, Mark, named after Ripley actor Matt Damon (whose name Wiseau had misremembered).