We all love The Room. From its horribly constructed dialogue and plot, it’s the best type of terrible, becoming a truly special film for the wrong reasons. Naturally, love has poured on the “auteur” of the film, Tommy Wiseau, who has since turned a profit on the film since its release in 2003. Everyone quotes “Ohh hai, Mark” or “YOU’RE TEARING ME APART LISA” with no end in sight, but what exactly makes us love the disaster artist?
The Obvious
I think that covers everything. Moving on!
His Appearance and Mannerisms
Tommy Wiseau looks strikingly different to literally every other human. That long black hair paired with his pale skin has some comparing him to Dracula. In fact, Wiseau refuses to release his age, adding some quasi-truth to that theory. That Eastern European accent doesn’t help, either. Who knows, maybe he actually is an alien. After all, he does act as a caricature of what normal human life is like.
Everything about Wiseau says wannabe star, which makes it that much more cute when you realize he’s earnest. His oddly toned physique screams of a man attempting to look attractive by using his home gym.
Tommy Wiseau is like someone who is both incredibly comfortable in his own skin, but also someone who lacks identity and is struggling to find his own personality. The Room is full of of sequences where Wiseau is just trying different things out to see what works. He is everything, and yet he is nothing.
The Mystery of Wiseau’s Personal Life
The man is also as mysterious as D.B. Cooper (if you aren’t aware of who that is, it’s worth a Google search). He’s most likely waiting to release a tell-all book once his money from The Room dries out to spill all of his secrets. Or, as some as gestured, money might not be a problem at all. Shockingly, The Room cost $6 million to make, all of which was financed by Wiseau himself (why the film cost so much to make deserves another article entirely). As noted in the book, The Disaster Artist, Wiseau told co-star Greg Sestero that he made and sold coats to earn his money.
Really, Tommy? Coats? That’s the best excuse you could think of?
Like his age, we know nothing of how he earned his wealth, causing many to speculate that he was involved in less than legal affairs. Then again, he could actually be telling the truth about the coat thing, we’ll never know!
Wiseau also claims to hail from New Orleans. Really? Just listen to the man talk:
If he’s of French descent, than I’m a pegasus from outer space.
Normally, I’d scoff at such a lazy cover up. But the truth is, we don’t have the faintest idea what Wiseau could possibly be hiding. Normally when people are lying through their teeth, we know what they’re trying to hide from having a general sense about who they are as a person. With Tommy, we literally have no idea, leaving everyone with an oddly endearing feeling towards a man who’s trying to create his own aura.
A Shocking Display of Living One’s Dream
However, at the core of it all, Wiseau is a dreamer. He’s the guy who you scoffed at when he said, “I want to make my very own movie!” The difference here, however, is that is actually accomplished his goal. Not only that, but he’s carried out his dreams with a sweet, innocent charm that is incapable of explanation. Honestly, I don’t not sure he truly understands what he made:
His ignorance to literally every social construct is just so cute.
As misguided as he was, Tommy Wiseau deserves appreciation for perseverance, determination, and shear audacity. The man is successful and known by millions, a feat that much more talented individuals have failed to accomplish. As James Franco’s The Disaster Artist explains, Wiseau was never going to stop. He wanted recognition as a star. While it wasn’t exactly the way he intended it, he’s still revered more than you or I.
But, in the end, it’s the enigma that makes us so fascinated. Who knows, maybe Tommy Wiseau is actually an actor in disguise in the role of a lifetime. No one knows! And that’s the fun in it all.
Also:
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10 comments
I lost two hours of my life watching The Room.. lol… So many years ago. I can’t too see the Seth Rogan movie about it!
???? but The Disaster Artist is actually good!
Nick, I apologize if it seemed I was directing my comment to you. I was directing it to anyone who would make an issue of Tommy Wiseau’s reluctance to reveal details abut himself.
You get it. You know that show biz is all about reinvention. What Tommy did was show how anyone can do it, even someone who’s nothing like what a movie star should be.
I couldn’t care less where he’s from or how he made his money. Who doesn’t change their name or lie about their age? Major studios blow $200 million on flicks that people forget within months. And there are actually people who saw The Disaster Artist and have the nerve to give Tommy flack about being misogynistic and abusive. Considering how things were in 2003, had The Room been good, he would have been hailed as an “up-and-coming eccentric star” and Miramax, then run by a now-disgraced individual, would have signed him.
Is Tommy Wiseau an actor is disguise? No. We wish he was. The truth is way harder to swallow.
He’s the child of Hollywood.
No worries! I’m just glad to discuss one of the biggest enigmas in Hollywood with someone!
You’re so right about studios wasting money these days. Honestly, I’d watch The Room many more times than watch Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom which looks like the worst thing ever ???
I think you nailed it on the head when you said he is everything, and yet nothing. I just listened to the Nerdist podcast where Seth Rogen was on, and he said it was interesting doing a movie about a man they knew so little about. But, Rogen said he doesn’t believe Tommy made his money “selling counterfeit jeans”. He should tell us everything! He’s tearing us apart!
????? my guess is that there’s probably some type of citizenship issue there that he doesn’t want people to know about. Who’s knows, but I’m happy he’s still around!
Citizenship? Oh, so now that’s an issue. We call our country “a nation of immigrants.” We praise “dreamers” who need to “come out of the shadows.” We get misty-eyed over “tired, poor, huddle masses yearning to breathe free.” We gush over “enriching our culture with vibrancy.”
Tommy Wiseau grew up behind the Iron Curtain. He watched American movies and yearned for the freedom and opportunity that America offered. He went from Poland to France to New Orleans to California, finding ways to make money and pursue his goals. And now he hangs out with celebrities.
Tommy Wiseau is America.
Read the book. Sestero writes, If I was a criminal, Tommy Wiseau is the last person I’d want involved with my enterprise. However he made his money, it had to have been legit. He wouldn’t last one day as a crook. He’d have to be bumped off for blabbing.
Fair point! I didn’t mean to disparage immigrants by that remark, it just seemed consistent with my line of reasoning, that’s all! I love Tommy and he’s not going anywhere if it’s up to me!
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