Shut Up and Talk: Greg Sestero

my guest tonight is an actor and model who has starred in one of the biggest so bad it's good movies of all time the room he tours the nation with the film's director writer co-star Tommy was so and has recently written a book about the experience called the disaster artist my life inside the room the greatest bad movie ever made thank God he has embarrassed have so humor about it than Tommy was so or else he wouldn't be here with me right now please welcome the very awesome Greg Sestero how are you sir very good I'm glad to be here so anyway how's your sex life alright I stay away from staircases from now on but uh you know banging him there you don't put it inside bellybuttons no no that was never my thing tommy was a pro at that ok ok it is about to him yeah yeah and I know some people like it tight I just don't know that it's very interesting impregnated Lisa's navel at some point but find out about that that's where babies come from right you know when you hear people quote stuff like that I come up and say like oh hi mark I'm sure any of that stuff does it get a twinge into your eye or do you really embrace it I think it's pretty fun I mean I'm a big movie fan you know I'm sure if I walk by George McFly one point I'd say the same thing so I think it's pretty fun you know I think it's cool every time I see um a lot like we've joked about and if we made some quotes and stuff like that you seem very you seem very accepting of something that many people in your situation would want to forget but you seem to really embrace it and really love it what is it that makes you love it so much and enjoy I think when I first met Tommy in that acting class in San Francisco he was somebody that I just saw is this really fascinating character that you just enjoy watching him exist in life so this movie was an extension of that so it's like okay he's gonna make a movie oh my god I gotta be there to see how he does it so I was kind of it was a kind of a big joke to me you know the whole time so now that people are embracing it you know I was kind of like the first fan I guess you could say of how this whole thing went down so to me you gotta have a sense of humor about it it's it's so hilarious and then people enjoy it so I you know I can't really complain about that you you got in you you want to be you want to be an actor but you actually start off as a model and you transfer it into acting up what was the attraction to acting that modeling didn't give you it's yeah it's so funny with the whole modeling thing they say oh if you if you go on it's a it's a way to break into the business as if you're modeling making an actor but it's not the case at all because a lot of people think models can't act for good reason um so I was just I was an opportunity that was offered to me and I and I I took it and figured someone said that it's it's the starving waiter job that allows you to eat lobster I don't know that's even true but yeah I wished I thought it was a way to get into acting and it totally wasn't I mean the odd jobs you have to do modeling it's such a crazy business that uh yeah it was an experience to say the least um you of course have been in such not just the room but other demanding roles like in retro puppet master and Days of Our Lives uh roles a lot of people probably wouldn't be aiming for when you got roles like that was that something where you got discouraged or you just say that's just part of the game you know what I moved to LA my fourth audition I booked the lead in this movie retro puppet master I had never really had a speaking part on camera and we're shooting in Romania I figure you know why not why not do it I had no idea really what it was gonna be I didn't watch any of the sequels or you know prequels and I uh I watched it I watched when I was like oh God should I maybe cancel this but uh it was just kind of whatever was offered you know at the time and I went out for a lot of cool scripts that never even ended up getting made and uh yeah just part of the game I guess trying to survive you know trying to survive the business um you said that he met Tommy in a in an acting class corrected just at the ball places did to tell me just tell me the experience of meeting that man so I'm sitting in this dark basement on Sutter Street in San Francisco that sounds like where one would meet Tommy was oh but you know yeah and I just trying to figure out is this guy vampire is he a caveman like what's this guy's deal and he goes up on stage very commanding presence see everyone's just kind of watching him and he picks around backstage for kind of a long time we're all sitting there he comes out with a you know Stewie slams it down he starts performing the Shakespearean sonnet everybody's like just in awe I mean people that are normally really quiet or like laughing they're trying to communicate II know laughter and I'm just I'm Senor gun what's what's he gonna do next the teacher was very intimidating so I wondered how he was gonna interact with her and so when it came to an end uh she just was like what are you trying to do and he said I performed the sauna she's like no you're not he had this really intense argument that was very entertaining and I felt like he confronted her and nobody else had done that and I was like you know what I should do a scene with this guy I need to learn some stuff from him so I approached him I was like hey let's be scene partners and he's like he looked at me like I was crazy hahaha which clearly you were but it worked out I was I was I was crazy I was 19 I was down and out I almost gotten the role in this movie I was struggling trying to make it to LA and I was like what do I got to lose I'm at Ground Zero I'm gonna take a chance there so fascinating you you saw this guy that you know you've just said you know perform this very crazy sonnet and and instead of seeing someone that you just said Abbot's but nopal whatever you actually saw something that other people were doing something that was dead um very captivating you know in his own way entertaining presence on stage it wasn't classic in any way shape or form but I I think characters you're really you know really interesting I figured why not he clearly does stuff that is not done by other people I mean like in Andy's and for example in the room he makes decisions like he has some lines in some scenes like the scene with the dog said backwards or out of order uh there's several writing moments or plot devices that go nowhere and there's even a scene where you guys are playing football in tuxes like it's an everyday occurrence and it's never explained why making this movie what is your thought process through all this bizarreness sake every day is an adventure you just didn't know what was coming I mean he would have ideas come to him where you know today you have to shave your beard and we're gonna do a tuxedo scene and play football what about that and I'm like okay we just got a roll with it he put as many topics into the film and it's breast cancer football tuxedos like all these things come in that aren't really tied in with the plot in any way it's just all these kind of social issues he wanted to pack into this film to make it as important as possible and so you're just kind of along for the roller-coaster and hopefully you don't you know end up with your head cut off you you're a to an old it seems to be very optimistic just just take the ride go for it take the ticket take the ride um when you do scenes like the love scene in there we have to expose quite a bit does that ever get you nervous or is that just another part of the game yeah I didn't you know what the big thing with this movie when I when I said I was gonna do it reluctantly was I'm only gonna have my shirt off so cuz tommy was big on revealing a lot and so I was like pants stay on these are no sure no problem so the other loves teens were still very very painful to watch I mean you're shooting in a small stage it's about 120 degrees no one's really comfortable you're on this staircase that's incredibly uncomfortable that I don't think it's ever you think people you know I've done it there who even fantasizes about that it's not it's there's nothing appealing about it I mean if you just head a little ways up there's a bed right up there I mean it's it makes me much of a joy you can get caught if you're sitting right there on the staircase the door opens you're you there's no excuses you can make so the whole thing was just kind of awkward and it really looks that way on screen I mean it's the part when the movie comes on where I just bolt for the exit no I got forward III will disagree a little bit that there's no excuse because if you were to say why would we be making love on a staircase a lap you would say I don't know I have nothing that can validate that so I disagree a little bit with it maybe it was actually smarter than we're giving Tommy credit for that's true or maybe I think Mark was just so overcome with passion for Lea so that he could whatever yeah she was just too beautiful tell it's totally possible um obviously you you had this fascinating relationship with Tommy Wiseau you seem to have a good friendship but you're definitely not below throwing a few punches here and there or at the very least acknowledging what you see about this guy just in general well how would you describe your relationship with him because it does seem very unique but also it seems like you will throw the jokes in but it's still very loving yeah I it's definitely there's I have a lot of you know appreciation and in some ways admiration for Tommy for sticking through this whole process for this many years and making the project you wanted to make I do see it as for what it is it's just a very bizarre cinematic experience and I think that's nothing to take away from anything that Tommy tried to do or accomplished I think it's just fun in the culture of movies to you know treat this film for what it is and but yeah I think I with especially with the book it was important for me to be as honest as possible about what my experience was like and also be you know respectful towards what Tommy's privacy and what he would want yes Tommy read the book he's read parts of it he said I support 50% cook is 50% always red or as 50% of why that's a good question I'm waiting for for the other shoe to drop what he's gonna say you know I'm not gonna ask the obvious questions that everybody has about timing but was so where is he from why does he talk the way he talks what is he uh but I do what do you feel is his thought process what is his logical reasoning with how to deal with the world in general because clearly nobody else understands it and I think the person who can possibly come the closest to understanding it is you what is his thought process yeah it's it's funny there's a chapter in the book called Tommy's planet um and I really believe the way he interprets things the way he thinks there's no one else out there like him and I noticed that very early on he told me a story that one of his goals was to have like his own planet his own casino is you know his own everything and he canted me this pen that he had made called Tommy's planet and he just is totally different I mean he comes up with lines like with the doggie thing like a lot of the best things about Tommy are they're improvised like those Moe the best moments in the film are just him having a reaction and and I think that's what's great about the room as you're seeing something that you couldn't really find anywhere else because nobody thinks like him and nobody would have put this much energy into making a film without getting anybody else's opinion I just totally bankrolling the whole thing and pushing it until people finally responded to it so I think that's what's kept the room going for 10 years is that no one thinks speaks or acts like him and I think people just are trying to figure out what really it is do you feel you've understood him better the more you've been with him or has it just become more of a mystery I understood a lot more things but there's there's always parts that I feel like just keep turning over new mysteries and new mysteries it's like you just keep getting to these dead ends so I've kind of come to the fact that there's just things I'm never going to find out and that's part of the fun I guess yeah um what is something that people don't know about Tommy was so that you think they should know I think that Tommy is there's a part in that's very human and very endearing and just really really enjoyable I think he comes off as you know this vampire alien looking guy in the movie and it's you know when his appearance is the sunglasses but yeah there's just this human side to him that's just it's so fun going through these experiences with like getting on a plane or watching go through airport security he's just got this really there's just no one else really like him and what is something about you that people don't know that you think they should know um that I am nothing like mark in the room you're not adulterer come on man I look to you I'm like dude you totally cheat us what yeah I think yeah I'm probably the opposite of Mark so for better for worse yeah you know I was gonna say you don't hang any pictures of spoons on your wall and that just leads me to a question I think now what is up with the spoon on the wall yeah the spoon on the wall or spoon only on the table there it's basically they just didn't have time to put a change of picture and put you know take out the stock photo which is what it was they were they're trying to get a picture of Johnny and Lisa in there which would have made sense that they'd have framed pictures of their couple on the table but you know Tommy's like we don't have time so they just left this frame picture of a spoon in there so now it's off boom hog refer should be pretty happy that all these screenings you know all over having fire these all these uh plastic spoons oh if only we could remember like the photography was fun we could do a plug for it just right now if you want pictures of people like business would go booming for that like just that spoon like that pictures somebody died just that Oh a picture of a spoon you never thought it would have inspired that it'll turn to like this great kitchen art like the dogs playing poker and stuff yeah so everyone have this picture of a spoon it's like yeah you don't get it yeah so ah play we as name it may we'll get the future they will put play go forward be like I took that picture yes oh um you know you got this this book this disaster artist obviously you really want to tell this story what made you what made you actually want to write it down and share it with everybody uh ever since I made this movie I've always been asked why what was the purpose why were you in it what were you thinking and I just felt to do the story justice for Tommy and myself is really just to tell the whole story of how crazy this ride was that it's actually a lot crazier than the movie itself and I felt more of those stories that I told people um they really responded to them so I felt I felt compelled by the material to tell it that it's not just this bad movie and just the making of a bad movie but it's really a story about an unlikely friendship and a very surreal take on the American dream that I felt like I hadn't heard before I've noticed that you have a pretty good impression of Tommy was so even just the way sits on it was very impressive would you be willing to say five phrases in your Tommy Wiseau voice sure uh the first one is it's a me Mario it's a me Mario the next one is Luke I am your father look I am your father the next one is I am the very model of a modern major-general and the very model of the major model general and you mispronounce it which is just like um I love that uh and the final one is sparkle Sparkle Sparkle sparkle sparkles Barbeau you should really go on tour with that I'm telling you think reigned in my memory at this plant it's I've heard like two I've heard a lot of impressions that has a very good impression um so you've gone through uh you found success being both a writer and an actor in a very unusual strange totally different way uh for other people looking to just get recognition or recognise any of that as either an actor or a writer or both what would you recommend for them it's really weird it's the it's the things that you least expect to come out that do I mean with the room I didn't expect anything from it I had worked on things auditioned for movies that thought would go somewhere and it was the room that people really responded to so I don't know it's it you know I've never been into quote-unquote bad movies I didn't even know there was a market for them but I would say just get out there and try and do as much as you can you know I randomly decided to take that acting class in San Francisco I could have stayed home and not push myself to go out and do that and it brought me on this crazy adventure so you just don't know what what's out there waiting for you that could change your life I mean this is this isn't an idea obviously I would have loved to have made a movie like Inception or something that that I really respect and would be passionate about but you know it's the room oddly and this whole experience gives me a chance to be creative and I can't really complain about that so I'm gonna be honest as soon as you send cept and I immediately got an image of mark just look around like what's going on give up what's going on here wait wait what are you doing what do you do that would have been great but I think Tom Hardy took that over I'm sure you audition Yeah right um just the whole experience it sounds like you're very positive about it you're very upbeat if you had to sum it up in a sentence just everything making the room and what has come of it in one sentence I would just hum it up truth is stranger than fiction nicely put I like to have my interviews with the same two polar opposite questions here the first one being what is the toughest thing either professional or personal that you've ever gone through and how did you get through it um well I'm gonna give a little bit more of a shallow experience I uh when I was trying to survive you know as a model I got hired in Las Vegas to be Tarzan really and the the idiot that I am I thought it would meant I was going to wear a costume at a convention so it's like oh nobody will see me I'll get paid to work awesome at a convention so I drove five hours to Vegas 5:00 a.m. arrived they hand me a loincloth and they're like this is what you need to wear in front of an entire convention and I kind of went to the bathroom looked in the mirror and cried and it was like am I going to do this am I going to head back so uh I manned up and I wore a loincloth at a convention for two days two days like the most embarrassing job what kind of convention needs you to dress as Tarzan it was it was like a food convention or they would come relation accompany the Tarzan company the owners of tar the Tarzan brand were starting energy bars so they needed a Tarzan to be there to sell them or to at least inspire them and I just got I rolled the entire time and asked if I was like a dancer from Thunder Down Under I'm like no I'm just trying to survive here and get this paycheck and get out of town so it was I kept the loincloth just to remind me don't end up here so it was it was pretty brutal before I ask the final question I just had to know what did you think a Tarzan costume what daddy that is exactly that's the best question of it because the joke was on me I mean the whole point Tarzan is this in the junk jungle he doesn't have a costume so I was just a it was a just a very stupid moment on my on my behalf paycheck I was looking pretty good wasn't I I paid the price well with that said what is the proudest thing again either professional or personal that you have ever done in your life um I'd say a big highlight was I'm a huge Star Wars fan you know who isn't but when the room showed at the Ziegfeld Theatre in 2010 it sold out the entire entire theater and I had overheard somebody say that that was the first time that had happened since the re-release Star so I thought it was kind of a was kind of a amazing moment I mean it was I accepted it for what it was I was very aware that this wasn't Star Wars but I think the fact that being part of anything that brings that many people together with something that was cool it is very very cool the book again is the disaster artist it is sold where all good books are sold and banned books as well I'm sure yeah but it is an awesome book go check it out my guess was Greg Sestero this is the part where we talk to each other and like we still have other things to say you know it's just yeah and we laugh we laugh a lot do a big laugh with me ah what a story mark good look good yeah awesome that's great and that is it great questions yeah perfect blend of kind of

Channel: Channel Awesome

Views: 367,029

Keywords: the room, shut up and talk, doug walker, Greg Sestero (Film Actor), nostalgia critic, interview show, interview, disaster artist, channel awesome, tgwtg

Id: KD2z8uC54DA

Length: 23min 12sec (1392 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 10 2014