Best Worst Movie Ever
The Room. It's been called the "Best Worst Movie Ever," and the "Citizen Kane of bad movies." The madman (genius?) behind it is the enigmatic Tommy Wiseau. When we say enigmatic, we mean it. Wiseau completely self-financed the film, which is rumored to have cost upwards of $6 million to make, but no one knows where he got the money. He has a bizarre accent that sounds vaguely Eastern European, yet he insists he is from New Orleans. Before The Room, Wiseau had never produced, directed, written or starred in a movie, yet he pulled all those duties at once. The degree to which he pulled them each off is open to debate, but what is not open for debate is that the movie's certified cult status has legions of die-hard fans that love to laugh at a movie that Wiseau still takes very seriously.But Wiseau didn't do it alone. The rest of the cast (Oh, hi actors) have entered that odd realm of cult heroes, despite not having a lot of success after The Room. Five of them recently participated in a Reddit AMA and answered a wide array of questions. The actors who participated were all central to the...uh...plot of the movie. "Plot" needs to be used loosely here, but nonetheless, they were the stars of the movie and here's what they have to say now.
The Players
The five actors that took part in the AMA were:Juliette Danielle, who played Wiseau's character's (Johnny) love interest and "future wife" LisaRobyn Paris, who played Lisa's best friend MichelleDan Janjigian, who played the neighborhood dealer, Chris-R, whose name is never explained in the movieGreg Ellery, who played StevenKyle Vogt, the psychologist named PeterPhilip Haldiman, who played Johnny's young neighbor Denny
How Did They End Up In This Bizarre Movie?
Each one of the actors came to the movie in different ways. Wiseau held a huge open audition process where he found a few of the actors. Some actors were friends of other actors or were friends of friends. As you can imagine, it was an eclectic process. It started with Wiseau and his right-hand man for the movie, Greg Sestero, who played Johnny's best friend, Mark. From there, we'll let the actors tell their stories of how they got involved, how much they got paid, and why they did it.
Kyle Vogt (Peter, The Psychologist)
Vogt saw it as an opportunity."I was just starting out. I think this was the third project I had booked, and was my first feature-length, right before I had to go shoot my second feature immediately after it."
Philip Haldiman (Denny)
"Struggling actors tend to take what they can get.No [smut]. Ha! Although I have been teased for being in a 'soft [smut].' But I'd say The Room is more transcendent."
Dan Janjigian (Chris-R)
"I took the role because I wanted to get involved with Hollywood and this was actually the first thing I ever auditioned for. Talk about hitting the lottery!"At first, Dan Janjigian didn't know what to expect. In fact, the whole thing was a bit of a surprise."I didn't know much, except they were looking for a thug. My roommate was the original Mark, which Greg took over the part of, so that's how I got introduced to Tommy and The Room. When I arrived, I was under the impression that there were other scenes, but we never knew anything for sure because we weren't allowed to look at the script. In hindsight, it all seemed like a big waste of time."
Juliette Danielle (Lisa)
Juliette Danielle had the toughest role to play, working so, um, intimately, with Wiseau, which she addresses later, but first she simply explains that she took the role because, "They offered them. Duh." And she was just starting her career.
Robyn Paris (Michelle)
Robyn Paris is just as pragmatic as the others, but has changed her views in the 15 years since, "Struggling actor motto: take every role you get. If I had to offer advice to struggling actors now, I'd say: 'Be discerning.' It's a different world now though - you can pick up a good camera and create something amazing yourself that looks high quality. You couldn't do that back in 2003."
The Insanity That Was The Audition Process
From the start, most of the actors got a weird vibe. It was clear this was going to be a strange production, and an even stranger movie.When asked about her audition, Juliette Danielle responded, "Yes. It was crazy from the start. Tommy would give us wild directions and have us improv" and later went on to say, "It was a circus."Kyle Vogt added about his: "Have you ever been to an audition and someone asks you to play bacon (the meat, not Kevin)? Yeah, kinda like that. Definitely all Tommy."
What Was It Like On Set, Working With Tommy Wiseau?
This is one of the areas where all the actors open up nicely.They talk about getting paid, what they thought about while working, and more.
Did They Actually Get Paid?
It might LOOK like amateur hour, but yep, the actors all got paid, though, not well:Greg Ellery: "For an independent film, I thought we got paid pretty well. Especially because it was hourly, and we were there for everything."Robyn Paris: "Yes, we got paid, but not much. It was like $100/day or something."Philip Haldiman: "I got $100 a week. And no checks bounced!"Juliette Danielle was more reserved: "I don't know if I want to play this game. I can't tell you 1,000% that is was not enough. We do not receive any residuals."Kyle Vogt adds that while he did get paid, "...like most non-union independent films, there are no residuals. So, no, we're not getting money every screening, just smiles and love from the fans."
Did They Ever Want To Quit During The Filming?
The answer is a pretty resounding, "of course" there were moments they all wanted to quit.Robyn Paris said it was right away, "The first scene we did with me was the 'chocolate is the symbol of love' scene. I got a call from Greg asking how fast I could get the set, within 45 minutes, we were shooting that scene. After we shot it, I looked around and was like, WT[F] is this? But it was too late, my scene was in the can and I'd been raised to 'stick with my commitments' - haha. [Darn] integrity. Guess the integrity didn't cover appearing in bad movies...oh well."Juliette Danielle agreed, "Depending on how you look at it, I didn't have enough backbone to quit back then...or I was a finisher lol. The only way I would have quit was if everyone else did. I'm different now. I would have taken off pretty quick."
Was It A Good Or Bad Decision To Stay On The Film?
One of the best questions of the AMA is, "Has your careers been affected by The Room? If so, how, for the better or worse?"So, how have their lives and careers been affected by The Room?Juliette laughs it off, but it still does affect her: "Oh God. What career? Lol kidding aside...I have been taken aback a few times when I have gone in to read for a part and they recognize my credit on my resume RIGHT before I'm supposed to read. That throws me off big time."Robyn figures out that it has, indeed, helped her: "I mean, it hasn't helped my career really - although it did give me tons of fodder to create a series - The Room Actors: Where Are They Now? and creating that has not only been cathartic and healing for me but also given me a chance to direct for the first time. And directing that has led to other opportunities, so indirectly... wait perhaps yes, then!"And it got Dan a shot on Wheel Of Fortune! "I'm pretty sure it got me on the Wheel of Fortune, so I had that going for me"
The Actors Were Asked About The Disaster Artist, Of Course
In the wake of the release of The Disaster Artist, one of the more pressing line of questions was about the movie (and the book it was based on) and how closely it mirrored real life.The actors were asked, "What was the most true-to-life part of The Disaster Artist? How about least?"Kyle: "Probably the bottle throwing scene. The book was pretty accurate, because Greg went out of his way to reach out to us to get our input as well as to jog each others' memories."Robyn felt some of it was good, but some took too much license: "I think the friendship between Tommy and Greg was portrayed pretty accurately. I wasn't there in those private moments between them obviously, but it seemed pretty dead-on based on the book. Least accurately...not much to be honest. The portrayal of The Room premiere wasn't accurate. People didn't chant Tommy's name there and laugh super loud. People were definitely laughing, but it was more of a stifled type of laughter. The chanting of Tommy's name came at later screenings when it started to get the cult following, so they compressed time for dramatic/climatic purposes and it works for the film - but it's not accurate/realistic."Dan agrees on the book and the movie: "The book actually was pretty accurate. The movie was not quite as accurate, especially the final scene where we are watching the premiere. It was pretty much crickets at the end, and the groundswell of the movie didn't start to take place until weeks later. Hollywood needs to wrap up a movie, so it made sense how they did it."
In The End, Are They Glad Or Sad That They Were In It?
None of the actors have had much success in Hollywood since, but Greg doesn't blame the movie, except, "...being in the worst movie ever made hasn't really promoted me as an actor."Would they do it again?"Why would anyone want to relive that?!" was Kyle's response. That probably says it all.
And Finally, The Most Important Question, What About The Picture Of The Spoon?
"I'll bet that Tommy returned them back to IKEA... Take that off the $6m budget!" - Dan
