Franco, Rogen make a success of ‘Disaster’
Excellent film about the making of a terrible film could get Oscar attention
BEVERLY HILLS – Everyone comes to Hollywood with a dream. But who would have thought James Franco’s was re-creating The Room?
As fate would have it, Franco had picked up a book about a bizarre film coined “the worst movie of all time,” made by eccentric outsider Tommy Wiseau, who 14 years ago poured more than $6 million into making a film starring himself as a hero whose girlfriend betrays him.
The film has since become a so-bad-it’s-good cult classic, inspiring
Rocky Horror- style midnight screenings, and Franco says Wiseau’s story about dreamers and “trying to make it” in Hollywood is what he connected to. The Disaster Artist, an earnest sort-of-biopic about the making of The Room, goes nationwide Friday. Franco — camouflaged by prosthetics, a flowing raven wig and blue contacts — stars as Wiseau, and his younger brother, Dave, plays Wiseau’s chiseled actor friend Greg Sestero, whose memoir the film is based on.
Franco, who also directs, went Method on set. “Whenever someone new came to the set, there was this thing like, ‘Oh, yeah, and James is in character the entire time,’ ” laughs Seth Rogen, who co-produced and stars.
A quick 411 on Wiseau: He pretended to be half his age, had millions in the bank (but has never specified how he obtained it), claimed to be from New Orleans (but spoke with an Eastern European accent) and hid behind a mane of unruly black hair.
But he had chutzpah. In 2003, Wiseau paid for a two-week run in theaters, trying to qualify The Room for the Oscars. On the night of his self-fund-
“I asked (Wiseau) as we walked in, ‘So, Tommy, here we are. ... How do you feel? What are you thinking about?’ He’s like, ‘Umm. Naked on the beach.’ ” James Franco
ed premiere, he drove by the Chinese Theatre to persuade ticket buyers to come see his film instead.
Recently, Franco and Wiseau premiered The Disaster Artist at the TCL Chinese Theatre, with Wiseau in tow.
“I asked him as we walked in, ‘So, Tommy, here we are,’ says Franco, in a sweeping tone. “‘You came here the night of your own premiere. ... How do you feel? What are you thinking about?’ He’s like, ‘ Umm. Naked on the beach.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ ”
Rogen guffaws. “What does that mean?” Franco: “It’s not even a quote from The Room!” Rogen nods: “That’s Tommy.”
There are many curious things about The Disaster Artist, but chief among them is how it has thrown Franco into the best-actor Oscar race. The comedy has a 97% fresh rating on review site Rotten Tomatoes; USA TODAY critic Brian Truitt called it “one of Franco’s strongest roles.”
After a decade of Franco frenetically juggling acting, writing, attending grad school, launching art exhibitions and directing, Rogen credits the star’s newfound focus for the film’s high praise.
“Honestly, (we) were like, ‘What would be great is if you weren’t doing a million other things as you were also making this movie,’ ” says Rogen, whose friendship with Franco spans almost 20 years.
Franco made good on that, and at 39, he says he continues to veer from the adage “more is more.”
The star looks rested and says he has acted for only two weeks this year (in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, an upcoming Netflix series from the Coen brothers). He’s off social media and has a new girlfriend. “It’s just about slowing down and putting more attention on fewer things that I like,” Franco says.
Fans might be surprised by the influence Kanye West had in a post-credits scene.
Those who wait will see a delicious split-screen comparison of scenes from The Disaster Artist and The Room. It’s the kind of mimicry Franco and Rogen sharpened when putting out their viral parody of West’s sultry music video Bound 2 with Kim Kardashian.
“It was sort of a precursor,” Franco says, grinning.