Tommy Wiseau's The Room has become an iconic cult phenomenon worthy of study in the 15 years since it first debuted on the big screen, and Tommy himself has turned into a polarizing figure in the filmmaking community. However, despite his eccentricities, there are some out there who still assert that he's not even the man behind The Room at all. Chief among these detractors is The Room's script supervisor Sandy Schklair, who has a new book claiming that he directed the so-bad-it's-good film in its entirety.
Sandy Schklair has made these claims numerous times over the years, but his recent reiteration of this point to THR has been made even more poignant by the success of The Disaster Artist. In his latest assertion, he has stated that he shot all of the footage filmed on the Los Angeles set of the film (except for the sex scenes) and that Tommy Wiseau was only responsible for the pick-ups shot in San Francisco (such as the football scene in the park). Moreover, Schklair also asserts that many of The Room's most beloved and famous flaws (such as continuity errors and the infamous "breast cancer" scene) were intentionally put into the film by him for comedic effect. To accompany his claims, Schklair also has a book coming out soon called Yes, I Directed The Room to tell the story of the film's production from his point of view -- which will likely make it an interesting counterpoint to the story of The Disaster Artist.
Those of you who know about the behind-the-scenes drama of The Room have likely already heard of Sandy Schklair. He's a pivotal character in Greg Sestero's The Disaster Artist, and comedian Seth Rogen plays him as a competent-yet-befuddled Tommy Wiseau collaborator in the recent film.
Greg Sestero's first-hand accounts of the production of The Room from The Disaster Artist lend a certain amount of credibility to Sandy Schklair's claims. The book describes Schklair's responsibilities on set as far more than the standard job requirements for a mere script supervisor (including setting up shots and directing actors), and the movie even shows Schklair help keep things on-track during Wiseau's many outbursts and failed takes. On the other hand, The Disaster Artist also describes Tommy (however incompetently) directing The Room as well, which contradicts Sandy Schklair's assertion that Wiseau didn't helm any of the movie's sequences while on the set. So much of truth behind The Room remains a mystery, and it's no shock that multiple accounts of the past don't correlate.
Of course, this begs the question of why anyone would want credit for directing the movie widely regarded as one of the worst movies (if not the worst movie) ever made. It might not make total sense to many of us, but then again, people are strange.
If you want to see the film about arguably the worst movie ever made, then you can currently catch The Disaster Artist in theaters. You can also take a look at the 2018 movie premiere guide to get a sense of what films are still coming over the next year.
