FILM 1735: THE DISASTER ARTIST
TRIVIA: Greg Sestero stated that
when he was writing the book, Tommy Wiseau said that only two actors could play
him in the adaptation: James Franco or Johnny Depp. Wiseau, who claims to have
once lived in New Orleans, was a fan of Franco's performance in the film Sonny (2002).
James Franco spoke
like Tommy Wiseau throughout each day's filming, and even directed using
Wiseau's distinctive voice and syntax, though Jason Mantzoukas said
that Franco did not direct in character and only spoke like Wiseau. Seth Rogen admitted
he had a hard time being directed by Franco while being interviewed on The
Howard Stern Show. Rogen said during the first two days, he had a hard time
containing his laughter as Franco was speaking as Tommy Wiseau with his notable
European accent. Franco told Rogen he would get used to it, which he eventually
did.
To promote the film the distributor
rented the same billboard on Highland Avenue in Los Angeles that Tommy Wiseau rented
for five years to promote The Room (2003), mimicking the layout of the
original billboard and including a phone number to RSVP to screenings.
In almost every interview for The
Disaster Artist, James Franco mentions that Tommy Wiseau approves of
"99.9%" of the film. His only objections were the lighting of the
first scene, which Franco believes was because Tommy was wearing sunglasses
when watching the scene, and also for the poor way James threw the football.
Besides an interview for Esquire
and a video for Funnyordie.com, brothers James and Dave Franco have never
worked together or appeared on-screen together until this film. Dave Franco
almost appeared as himself with his brother in This Is the End, but he was
later excluded because his charcter would have had to die and it was considered
too sad for the already dark comedy. James was also considered for a role in 21
Jump Street (2012) respectively starring his brother Dave.
All three stars of podcast 'How Did
This Get Made?' (Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas) appear
in the film. In a Variety article, it was revealed that the podcast episode
featuring The Room which Greg Sestero appeared on, was a contributing factor
not only in the source book being completed but also served as an inspiration
for the screenwriters.
