This weekend, he’ll head to the AFI Silver Theater in Washington, DC for
two midnight screenings, with a twist: As a companion piece, Wiseau and
original cast member Greg Sestero will create a live staging of the film,
featuring “never-before-seen scenes and characters.” It is perhaps a precursor
to a full-fledged stage production of “The Room,” which Wiseau has always made
clear as his ambition.
Last month, indieWIRE chatted with Wiseau over the
phone when he was in Toronto doing a midnight screening at the Royal Cinema (one
of the first theaters to start midnight screening of “The Room” outside of Los
Angeles), part one of which is transcribed below. Though he occasionally
rambled on in manner comparable to dialogue in “The Room,” the infamously
mysterious man (despite an ambigiously eastern European
accent, he claims to have grown up in New Orleans and lived in France “a long
time ago”) was also very pleasant and charming as an interview subject,
often bursting into laughter and always speaking quite sincerely to his film
and his ambitions.
1.
Hello,
Mr. Wiseau?
2.
Just call me Tommy. So how have you been?
3.
Great,
how are you?
4.
Okay. So let me give you a little structure
here. As you know, we have no restrictions. You may ask anything you want. So
let’s move on ... Did you see “The Room”?
5.
Yes,
many times.
6.
Okay, cool. Peter, right?
7.
Yes,
Peter.
8.
Okay, Peter ... Go for it!
9.
Let’s
start by going back. When did you first become interested in film and how did
that lead to “The Room”?
10.
That’s your question?
11.
That’s
my question.
12.
Okay, so long story short: I used to want to
be a rock star, believe or not.
13.
I think
a lot of us did.
14.
There you go ... You, too? Anyway,
long story short: I wrote this 600-page book and at first I decided I wanted to
do it as a play instead. But then I decided, no, I’ll do this as a film. So I
converted my 600-page book into a 99-page script, and that’s what you have
today. But to respond to your question about my interest in film. I
like a lot of classic movies, like for example “Citizen Kane,” James Dean
movies, etc, etc.
15.
But going
back to “The Room” itself, how long ago was it that you converted that book
into a script?
16.
Well, whatever you hear or read online is very
misleading because “The Room” is almost 20 years of work, if you really think
about it. My background is in psychology and I’m also a stage actor. That’s my
background. So to respond to your question, it took me like ... What is your
question exactly?
17.
The
question was about the origins of “The Room” and how that came together. At
what point did that 600-page book become that 99-page script and where the film
go from there?
18.
Oh, okay. You see, I did
a study and concluded that in America the number of people who go to see
theater on the stage is much less than the people that go to a cinema. And
believe it or not, from the beginning I wanted to put it on as a play. But the
cost was so much, so I thought to myself about how all this money would be
spent and it would just run in a theater for like two weeks.
19.
So then
you decided to make it a film.
20.
Basically, I did not approach any studios
because, again, I did some research and I knew this movie would never be
produced by a studio [laughs]. That was my conclusion! I have some friends who
tried to pitch it to studios and it was very unsuccessful. That’s the facts.
But I’m happy with what happened with “The Room.” That’s the history of “The
Room.”
21.
Now that
it’s clearly become successful, do you think you would turn into a play now?
22.
Absolutely! Actually, I want to show it on
Broadway, not off Broadway. You know the difference, right?
23.
Yeah.
24.
For your information, we have an AFI event in
Washington DC and we are actually going to put some scenes on the stage and I’ll
be there. But we want to do it on Broadway, definitely. As you probably know as
you’ve seen “The Room,” it is very easy to adapt on the stage. For a Broadway
show, how I feel it should be moving. For example, a dozen Johnnys singing, as
well Lisa, etc, etc. So I’m very excited to work on it, but it will be
extremely costly and a big risk. But we’ll be doing it. For sure.
25.
That’s
really great. I’m sure it will end up being as big a success as the film. And
speaking of which, I’m curious what your expectations were going into it? And
what has your reaction been in the past six or seven years as you’ve watched
this film travel the world with midnight screenings and undeniably become a
cult classic?
26.
Well, Peter, to be honest with you ... From the
beginning, I did not expect that. My idea was to the “The Room” and then after “The
Room,” I’d do other movies. But then it didn’t happen the way I had planned. It
actually came out better than expected! But there was a lot of sacrifice ... Do
you want to hear a little background about how this happened with the midnight
screenings?
27.
I’d love
to.
28.
So basically, long story
short: I submitted “The Room” to the Academy Awards -- you can check that, it’s
a fact. We followed all the rules by doing a two-week run in Los Angeles and I’m
proud to be in the Academy database. After two weeks’ screening, I pulled it
from circulation. But then we got all these requests from the audience
demanding to screen it again. That’s a fact. We got several phone calls
from the theater that people were campaigning because they wanted to see “The Room.”
I said to myself, “What the heck.” We got thousands of e-mails. So I said, “You
know what, let’s just screen ‘The Room’ at the Wilshire screening room.’ But then we got
into trouble. Which is good trouble, I guess [laughs]. We violated the fire
marshal code. Meaning that there were too many people showing up for the film.
People were literally sitting on the floor. And they said we could not do this
because we triggered the fire marshal code. So again, whatever you hear or read
online is misleading. Because that’s exactly what happened. I called the
theater back and said, “Can we screen it at midnight?” Because sometimes people
are late. And we started screening at the Laemmle Sunset in Los Angeles. We had
one screening and today -- I don’t if you know, but now you know -- we screen “The
Room” once a month there and have 800 or 900 people come. So that’s the history
of “The Room” and how we started the midnight screenings.
29.
Since
then, you’ve truly become this cult icon and even a bit of a celebrity. What’s
your life like now? Do you travel with these screenings?
30.
Occasionally. I’m fully booked this year. I
do travel a lot. The fans of “The Room” want to see me and we have a groovy
time. I think it’s beneficial for “The Room” as well. And I like to travel
anyway.
31.
What’s
one of your favorite experiences from these screenings?
32.
Sure! One girl said to me, ‘Can you marry me?’
33.
Did
you?
34.
Of course not! At this time, no. She was
nice, but you know ... Are you tripping me, Peter?
35.
No, I’m
just joking! Sorry.
36.
I know, I am too. So don’t worry about it.
Express yourself!
37.
Any
more stories from “The Room” midnight screenings?
38.
I have dozens of stories. They want me to drink,
they want me to do this or that. We play football. We always have a groovy
time. I haven’t had one bad screening in my entire eight years screening “The
Room.”
39.
How
long do you foresee these screenings going on? And how long will you continue
touring with them?
40.
Right now we’re fully
booked for this year, but next year we have another tour. It’s called “‘The
Room’ Blu-ray Tour.” We’ll be releasing “The Room” on Blu-ray and we’ll
be promoting that. At the same time, and you can stress this, I encourage
everyone to see it in the theater first. It’s the best way to see it. I always
say, ‘You can laugh, you can cry, you can express yourself, but please don’t
hurt each other.’”
41.
Ha.
That’s a good motto.
42.
Thank you.
43.
What have
you learned from all these screenings and experiences? Both as a filmmaker and
as a person?
44.
Well, I’ve learned a lot. About people, culture.
And about “The Room” as entertainment. I don’t want to be self-centered, but I
guess I was right. You see, if I had produced the way they want me to produce
in Hollywood ... Which again, I am very respectful of those people. I’ve worked
with lots of people in Hollywood and I am respectful of any kind of project.
But the fact is that “The Room” is a different cookie cutter than Hollywood. It’s
much different than a regular movie. You probably know this, since you saw it.
Again, nothing happened by accident. No. Keep in mind, 600 pages had already
been written prior to the movie. What I decided to do is that I wanted to put
as much perplexity [sic] and symbolism within “The Room” so audiences would
say, “what is this about?” It’s that consistency from the beginning to the end
of the film. How I tackle different issues relating to relationships? Two’s
better than three, but three’s a crowd. But three is okay too, you know?
45.
True.
46.
But it’s questionable. Is it okay to betray
someone? Your friend? And again, it doesn’t matter who you are. He, she, they,
whatever. It’s okay to love someone. “The Room” was designed for American
people, but we have a great fan base in the entire world and I’m very happy. I
didn’t expect it, if you ask me. I’m a very simple guy. So you know, I didn’t
know this would happen. I like how people seem to really, really enjoy the
film. It’s not like you force it on them. I did my job well, you know what I’m
saying?
47.
Yeah, for
sure.
48.
So whatever negative things mainstream media
said ... They didn’t get it at that time. But little by little people learned
about it, anyway. I like the way you ask questions. You’re very straightforward
and ask about the movie and my experiences. That’s how it’s supposed to be.
People don’t understand, for example, technical aspects of “The Room.” That I
shot it in two formats: HD and 35mm. What you see in the theater is a 35mm
format. Why? Because it’s better, etc, etc. But I still shot it on both
formats. It’s not just because I said so. It’s because every time in Hollywood,
they didn’t want anything in HD, for your information. That’s a fact. When you
go way, way back you can see certain data that explains that Hollywood is
afraid. Again, the system was set up on 35mm. Keep in mind, by now we convert
some of the classic movies to HD. But the fact is fact. Film is the film. You
know? You cannot change that. I don’t care how much you improve the technology
that you have today. A lot of people are shooting on HD, as you know. It seems
to me we can use technology for art. But it’s very expensive. That’s another
aspect that people don’t realize. I don’t care who you are, you will still
spend money. I don’t care what camera you use. You know, you can use your
iPhone and shoot some scenes. But the fact is you can’t bring it to 35mm
because it’s grainy, etc, etc. I always encourage people and say before you do
something, please do research first. That’s about directing and acting and
anything you do. Anyway, continue, move on [laughs] ...
49.
Well, how
about a question that’s not about “The Room”? What else have you been up to,
and where do you want to go as a filmmaker and an artist from here?
50.
Right now I’m working on “The Neighbors.” It’s a
sitcom for TV.
51.
For Comedy
Central, right?
52.
Actually, no. For Comedy Central, I completed
something called “The
House That Drips Blood on Alex.” But right now I’m working with someone
else. I can’t tell you the name of the network because they told me not to
tell.
53.
No
problem.
54.
But the fact is that they’ll be releasing 15 episodes. And we’ll
actually be doing theatrical release as well. A lot of people want to see it so
we’ll be showing both in theaters and on TV. That will be a sitcom. Then I’m
working on a vampire movie, as well as a movie that relates to the economy of
America. I hope everybody will like it. With the
vampire movie, I know one thing. If you see my vampire movie you will probably
not sleep for two weeks.
55.
When do
you think these projects will all come out?
56.
With “The Neighbours,”
we will have the first episode within two months and then we will be continuing
shooting one episode a month. Then with the economy movie, we want to submit to the Academy
Awards so probably September or October and the vampire movie I’m working on.
So it will probably be later this year. And for
your information we are releasing “The Room” on Blu-ray at the end of this
year, as I mentioned.
57.
Great.
I look forward to all of it.
58.
Sure. No problem! And then I’m working with
someone doing “The Tommy Wiseau Show” and also some other projects. I’m
extremely busy. And then I travel too, as I mentioned.
59.
I don’t
know how you do it.
60.
Yeah, but I like to travel, you know?
61.
Me too.
62.
Good! Okay, thank you very much and I want to
say thank you to all your readers. Is this your website’s first article on “The
Room”?
63.
I’m not
actually sure. But it’s definitely the first in a few years.
64.
People like to hear and I encourage you to
attend any screenings and interview some of the fans. It’s just a suggestion.
65.
That’s
a good idea.
66.
Because some of those fans are really crazy
[laughs!]
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