History Literature / TheDisasterArtist

* SellOut: For all his talk of doing things his way, Tommy consistently says won't do anything that "big Hollywood studios" wouldn't do. This goes some way toward explaining why the film's budget was so relatively astronomical.

* SellOut: For all his talk of subverting the studio system, Tommy holds himself hostage to their standards and methods. He unfailingly tries to present himself as a first-class filmmaker to Birns & Sawyer, which is why the film's equipment costs were so astronomical.

--->"Juliette was put into a terrible, unfair situation, and all things considered, I think she handled it well. She’s not given nearly enough credit for that. Juliette was set up to fail, and most people in her position would have quit. But Juliette never quit. When Tommy threw a water bottle at the original Michelle, the whole cast walked out. Juliette, though, was disconsolate; she wept. She cared about the movie more than anyone. In the end, Juliette was cast as Lisa because she was the only actress capable of surviving the meat-grinding torture of Tommy’s casting process. For Juliette, serial humiliation became just another obstacle to smash through."

* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Greg has a minor EurekaMoment when he sees Tommy watching the infamous "[[BigLippedAlligatorMoment football in tuxedos]]" scene, and realizes that the reason Tommy refuses to cut it (besides just his usual obstinacy) is that it shows Tommy a version of himself who is youthfully energetic, happy, successful, and has many young friends. It's one of the few moments in the book where [[JerkassWoobie you kind of feel sorry for Tommy.]]

** Bill Meurer and Peter Anway of Birns & Sawyer need production on ''The Room'' to run at least thirty days to run out the time Tommy has to return all the pricey equipment he bought. The production lasts at least ''four'' months (not including pre-production), during which time their modest space is overtaken by Tommy's nonsensical Rooftop set in the parking lot as well as his private bathroom facility, and they have to contain at least at least two crew mutinies. When he no longer strictly needs the space, Meurer and Anway basically kick Tommy off the lot.

** Bill Meurer and Peter Anway of Birns & Sawyer need production on ''The Room'' to run at least thirty days to run out the time Tommy has to return all the pricey equipment he bought. The production lasts at least ''four'' months (not including pre-production), during which time their modest space is overtaken by Tommy's nonsensical Rooftop set in the parking lot, his private bathroom facility, and they have to contain at least at least two crew mutinies. When he no longer strictly needs the space, Meurer and Anway basically kick Tommy off the lot.

** Bill Meurer and Peter Anway of Birns & Sawyer need production on ''The Room'' to run at least thirty days to run out the time Tommy has to return all the pricey equipment he bought. The production lasts at least ''four'' months (not including pre-production), during which time their modest lot is overtaken by Tommy's nonsensical Rooftop set in the parking lot, not to mention it's nearly flipped over during a ''Room'' crew mutiny. When he no longer strictly needs the space, Meurer and Anway basically kick Tommy off the lot.

See also ''[[http://vimeo.com/59931490 My Big Break]]'', a comic book about Philip Haldiman's (Denny) experience. Compare ''Growing Up with Manos: The Hands of Fate: How I was the Child Star of the Worst Movie Ever Made and Lived to Tell the Story'', another self-published memoir by an actor (Jackey Raye Newman Jones) that starred in one of the most famous So Bad, Its Good movies of all time.

See also ''[[http://vimeo.com/59931490 My Big Break]]'', a comic book about Philip Haldiman's (Denny) experience.

* BoomerangBigot: Although Tommy Wiseau is obviously a European of [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent some strange, previously undiagnosed variety]], and is assumed to have at the very least spent ''some'' time in France (given his bastardized French surname and grasp of the language), he absolutely ''despises'' any use of foreign languages on set, and seemingly French in particular, going so far as to ''tackle'' Sestero when the latter casually drops some French while shooting a scene with Tommy.

** Greg's mother said "no sex, Tommy", and his awkward response was "Well, we all do.", not getting the implication that she was referring to her son.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Although Greg himself casts doubts on the backstory [[UnreliableNarrator Tommy]] gives when he's willing to share anything (about escaping from an unspecified Communist country in Eastern Europe and suffering PoliceBrutality from the authorities in the process), it's clear that ''[[NoodleIncident something]]'' has happened to Tommy to leave him [[FreudianExcuse such an emotionally damaged person.]] Even Greg's mother, who is one of Tommy's most aggressive critics, notes to her son that whatever is going on with Tommy, he's clearly "been put through the wringer."

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Tommy drives ''so'' carefully (constantly going at least 20 mph under the speed limit, and slamming on his brakes the second he sees another car in a parking lot, no matter how far away) that it warps back around to this. Plus, he doesn't know how to use windshield wipers. He claims to have been in two near-fatal car accidents, which is probably the case, though Greg doubts how true they are. Played straight when Tommy confronts Greg over him talking to his hippie friend about Tommy, where he becomes angry and unhinged and starts driving like the "normal" version of crazy.

* EpicFail:

** Really, the entire film production is one of these after another. Tommy routinely makes production decisions that defy not only basic film production procedures, but basic logic.

* AFatherToHisMen: Both Raphael and Graham (their first Director of Photography and his short-lived successor) are this to their respective crews, trying to keep them properly healthy and hydrated, wrestle their paychecks away from Tommy, and trying to shield them from his abuse whenever possible. The latter is all the more impressive because of how young he was, and yet nevertheless was willing to directly confront Tommy on his bullshit and call him a "filthy fucking liar" to his face. Sestero even notes that he can tell whenever a DP is respected by his crew, because [[UndyingLoyalty wherever he goes, they follow]], and when he leaves, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they leave.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: Tommy Wiseau is this for the most part, to the point where, for a short while, ''he had a page on the Villains Wiki.''

* RageBreakingPoint: [[BewareTheNiceOnes Graham, the second DP]], ''explodes'' on Tommy when he refuses to buy a generator even after Graham begged him repeatedly, and then lies about it to Graham's face. [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Graham and his entire crew quit right there on the spot.]]

** Of the mythos surrounding the film. You don't make a movie as hilariously bad as ''Film/TheRoom'' without major dysfunction behind the scenes, especially when the director is not entirely "there" and everyone else knows that things are going disastrously.

*** Both are then kind of [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] in that, while the finished product is horrible, its horribleness is strangely [[AchievementsInIgnorance masterful]].

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Although Sestero himself casts doubts on the backstory [[UnreliableNarrator Tommy gives]] when he's willing to share anything (about escaping from an unspecified Communist country in Eastern Europe and suffering PoliceBrutality from the authorities in the process), it's clear that ''[[NoodleIncident something]]'' has happened to Tommy to leave him [[FreudianExcuse such an emotionally damaged person.]] Even Sestero's mother, who is one of Tommy's most aggressive critics, notes to her son that whatever else Tommy is, he's clearly "been put through the wringer."

** Of the mythos surrounding the film. You don't make a movie as hilariously bad as ''Film/TheRoom'' without pissing off, and/or ripping off, a lot of decent actors and crew.

*** Both are then DoubleSubverted in that, while the finished product is horrible, its horribleness is strangely [[AchievementsInIgnorance masterful]].

** On the other hand, other scenes become much funnier. Knowing that "It's not true, it's bullshit, I did not hit her, I did naaaaaat... Oh hai Mark," took thirty-two takes over three hours makes it somehow more hilarious, as is the fact that the original script just had him entering and saying "Oh hai Mark"; the ranting ahead of time was added minutes before filming for dramatic effect, which explains why he's saying that despite having no reason to know about Lisa's lie at that point in the film.

* AnatomicallyImpossibleSex: Greg Sestero notes the same problem that has been identified by everyone else who's ever [[FanDisservice watched Johnny's sex scenes]] [[BrainBleach with their eyes open]], that for most of said love scenes, he appears to be penetrating Lisa's ''navel'' rather than her belly button.

* ArtisticLicenseFilmProduction: Tommy had ''zero'' idea in how to make a film. For instance, Sestero ended up as his line producer, which is a very time-consuming job as a line producer is responsible for the daily operations of production that the director cannot be bothered with (such as setting up casting calls and ordering food for the crew), and has him be a lead actor at the same time. He also outright purchases the filming cameras (which is extremely expensive) instead of just renting them, which Greg points out is something not even major studios do because what is considered a cutting-edge camera at the time can be rendered obsolete in a year.

* ArtisticLicenseFilmProduction: Tommy had ''zero'' idea in how to make a film. For instance, Sestero ended up as his line producer, which is a very time-consuming job as a line producer is responsible for the daily operations of production that the director cannot be bothered with (such as setting up casting calls and ordering food for the crew), and has him be a lead actor at the same time.

* AFatherToHisMen: Both Raphael and Graham (their first Director of Photography and his short-lived successor) are this to their respective crews, trying to keep them properly healthy and hydrated, wrestle their paychecks away from Tommy, and trying to shield them from his abuse whenever possible. The latter is all the more impressive because of how young he was, and yet nevertheless was willing to directly confront Tommy on his bullshit and call him a "filthy fucking liar" to his face. Sestero even notes that he can tell whenever a DP is respected by his crew, because [[UndyingLoyalty wherever he goes, they follow]], and when he leaves, [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere they leave.]]

* BoisterousWeakling: Tommy possesses both a remarkable amount of bravado and absolutely no ability to defend himself when backed into a corner. He writes an absurd threatening letter to CAA, one of the biggest agencies in L.A., saying that they don't have the "guts" to take on a potential superstar like him as their client, and acts like a total jerk to everyone around him. Whenever someone intimidating like Dan or Greg's mother calls him on his bullshit, however, he quickly caves. What makes this even more strangely amusing is that Tommy is not a small or physically weak man by any means, he works out on a daily basis and Sestero, who's not a small or weak man himself, describes him as having a vice-like grip and "cyborg-level strength". The infamously pathetic "[[WimpFight brawl]]" between Mark and Johnny at the climax of the film is perhaps the ultimate example of this trope in action, while even Sestero himself will admit that "[[InsultToRocks grade school fights have been more brutal]]", in reality Wiseau was still [[RealityIsUnrealistic gripping Sestero's arm so hard he left major bruises there.]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Although Sestero himself casts doubts on the backstory [[UnreliableNarrator Tommy gives]] when he's willingto share anything (about escaping from an unspecified Communist country in Eastern Europe and suffering PoliceBrutality from the authorities in the process), it's clear that ''[[NoodleIncident something]]'' has happened to Tommy to leave him [[FreudianExcuse such an emotionally damaged person.]] Even Sestero's mother, who is one of Tommy's most aggressive critics, notes to her son that whatever else Tommy is, he's clearly "been put through the wringer."

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Dan Janjigian, the actor who played Chris-R, InUniverse. An actor with no previous experience, he walked onto the set, got into character, nailed his performance, and walked off again, impressing ''everyone''... except for Tommy, who ended up calling him back weeks later to film the same scene on a different set when he suddenly decided he didn't like the original take. Even on short notice, Janjigian returned to set and nailed the scene ''again.''
** Robyn Paris aka Michelle, also InUniverse. Despite playing a second-string character to a second-string character, she charms the entire crew from pretty much the moment she shows up, is one of the only people who immediately [[GenreSavvy grasps what kind of shitshow she's entering]] and starts taking steps to prepare, and wins the heart of every man on set pretty much immediately.

* EscapistCharacter: Greg Sestero eventually realizes that [[AuthorAvatar Johnny]] is this for Tommy, being a successful "American" version of himself who has a beautiful wife, a job he's great at, and many young friends.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: InUniverse, Greg on occasion questions whether Tommy is actually a human being once or twice. His strange accent and mysterious origins were already well-known before this book came out, what the public didn't know were things Sestero disclosed like Tommy's ability to ''put himself to sleep and then wake up at will'' moments before arriving at their destination (something that Tommy would always explain as being a "vampire trick"), or the fact that Tommy managed to locate Greg and send him a supportive telegram while Sestero was staying ''in a hotel in Romania'' despite the fact that Greg [[ParanoiaFuel never told Tommy where he was going.]]

* HiddenDepths: Tommy. He's rude, manipulative, jealous, and childish (he throws a tantrum when being caught in a lie about a badly-needed generator). However, Sestero spends time discussing how Tommy was genuinely passionate and driven [[HighHopesZeroTalent despite having no talent]], and how he has a nice and supportive side to him. Gradually, Sestero also finds out how lonely and melancholic Tommy really is, culminating in [[spoiler:a VERY startling phone message that Sestero (probably accurately) takes to be a suicide note, not that anything happens. Plus the backstory for Tommy that may or may not be fake.]]

* LackOfEmpathy: Wiseau, in spades, especially when harried or sullen. This culminates in him dictating a new scene for the movie directly inspired by Greg's break-up with his girlfriend... mere hours after said break-up occurred.

* ItsNotPornItsArt: Tommy insisted on screen-testing potential actresses for Lisa, his character's future wife, by having them make out with him. Most of the actresses simply walked out at this point; the rest were only convinced to stay when Greg assured them that this ''was'' a legitimate film, not a porno.