50 Fun Facts About The Room (2003 Film)

Which objects do fans of The Room throw at screenings, echoing a framed photo in Johnny's home?

Plastic spoons fly whenever the unexplained framed photo of a spoon comes into shot. The habit began among the first fans, who went back to mock the film during its original 2003 run.

In which city is The Room set, even though most of it was filmed on a Los Angeles soundstage?

San Francisco appears mainly in second-unit footage. Even the rooftop where so much of the story happens was a studio set, with the skyline added behind the actors.

Greg Sestero recalls a planned subplot of The Room where Johnny's flying car revealed him as what?

A vampire was the planned twist, because Tommy Wiseau was fascinated by them. He asked the crew to work out how Johnny's Mercedes-Benz could fly across the skyline.

What are Johnny and his friends wearing when they toss a football in an alley in The Room?

Tuxedos are never explained, and nothing in the scene affects the plot. Asked about it for the DVD, Tommy Wiseau said only that playing football without protective equipment is fun and challenging.

The Room's line "You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" copies which actor Tommy Wiseau tried to emulate?

James Dean shouts "You're tearing me apart!" in Rebel Without a Cause. Wiseau modelled himself on all four of these stars, and above all on Dean's performance in Giant.

Which Hollywood advertisement for The Room did Tommy Wiseau keep paying for over five years?

A billboard on Highland Avenue showed Tommy Wiseau's face in extreme close-up with one eye in mid-blink. It stayed up so long that it became a minor tourist attraction.

Film professor Ross Morin famously called The Room the bad-movie equivalent of which classic?

Citizen Kane was the comparison he reached for, in the phrase "the Citizen Kane of bad movies". Entertainment Weekly joined in by calling Tommy Wiseau "the Orson Welles of crap".

Which actor directed The Disaster Artist and won a Golden Globe for playing Tommy Wiseau in it?

James Franco cast his younger brother Dave as Greg Sestero. The story follows the friendship that produced The Room.

Tommy Wiseau said he funded The Room partly by importing which goods from Korea?

Leather jackets were his answer when Entertainment Weekly asked about a budget of roughly $6 million. Otherwise he has stayed secretive about where the money came from.

Audience rituals at The Room screenings are often likened to those for which older cult film?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the usual comparison. Fans of Tommy Wiseau's film dress as its characters, toss footballs to each other and yell its lines back at the actors.

Dan Janjigian, The Room's menacing Chris-R, competed in which sport at the 2002 Winter Olympics?

Bobsleigh took him to the Salt Lake City Games for Armenia, where his two-man sled finished 33rd. With no track to train on, he had practised on a wheeled sled in the streets of San Jose.

With which greeting does Johnny begin almost every conversation in The Room?

"Oh, hi!" opens nearly every exchange Johnny has, usually followed by the other character's name. Much of the dialogue is just as repetitive, and Johnny's most of all.

In The Room, which diagnosis does Lisa's mother announce in passing, never to be mentioned again?

Breast cancer comes up halfway through a chat about planning a party. Lisa says everything will be fine, and the illness is never raised again.

In The Room, what does Johnny attach to the downstairs phone to find out who Lisa's lover is?

A tape recorder captures Lisa's intimate call to Mark at the end of the story. Johnny had set the trap after overhearing her admit the affair to her mother.

At Johnny's birthday party in The Room, which false announcement does Lisa make to distract him?

She is pregnant, Lisa claims, and Johnny proudly tells the whole party. She soon admits to her friends that there is no baby, saying she told him that "to make it interesting".

In The Room, what is the occupation of Chris-R, who pulls a gun on Denny on the rooftop?

A drug dealer, Chris-R wants money that Denny owes him. The story never explains the debt or how the two ended up fighting on the roof.

Adult Swim aired The Room three times between 2009 and 2011 as programming for which occasion?

April Fools' Day became the movie's regular slot. In 2012 the channel played only its first twenty seconds, then switched to the long-retired Toonami block as that year's prank.

A 2016 documentary concluded that the secretive Tommy Wiseau was born in which European country?

Poland, in the city of Poznań in 1955, was the documentary's finding. Wiseau had long claimed an American upbringing, and only in 2017 confirmed that he was originally from Europe.

After audiences laughed at The Room, Tommy Wiseau began describing his romantic drama as what?

A black comedy is how he later described it, claiming the laughs were intended. Audiences and some of the cast still regard it as a poorly made drama.

During The Room's first run, which two-word sign did one theater post inside its ticket window?

"No refunds" hung beside a review blurb reading "This film is like getting stabbed in the head." A Variety reporter wrote that most viewers asked for their money back within 30 minutes.

During the party fight in The Room, Johnny taunts Mark by calling him which animal?

"You're just a chicken!" Johnny yells, then follows it with a string of "cheep, cheep" noises. The fight starts after Mark and Lisa flaunt their affair in front of the guests.

Where did Greg Sestero first meet Tommy Wiseau, years before the pair made The Room together?

They met in an acting class, where Sestero came to admire his classmate's boldness. Wiseau promised him a co-starring role if he ever raised the money for a movie.

In The Room, what is the profession of Peter, the friend Mark nearly throws off the rooftop?

Psychologist Peter guesses that Mark's secret lover is Lisa, and Mark answers by hanging him over the edge. Seconds later Mark apologises and the two carry on talking as if nothing had happened.

Greg Sestero says Mark in The Room was named for which actor, whose first name Wiseau misheard?

Matt Damon had starred in The Talented Mr. Ripley, the thriller that moved Tommy Wiseau to start writing. He borrowed the actor's name for Johnny's best friend and got it slightly wrong.

Adverts for The Room promised a film "with the passion of" which playwright admired by Tommy Wiseau?

Tennessee Williams wrote the highly emotional chamber plays that Wiseau loved performing in drama school. The tagline on the advertising managed to misspell the playwright's first name.

Which word completes Mark's insult in The Room: "Leave your stupid comments in your..."?

"Leave your stupid comments in your pocket!" comes straight after Mark complains "You don't understand anything, man." The film's leading lady has named it her favourite line in the whole movie.

What was Greg Sestero allowed to keep on while filming his bedroom scenes as Mark in The Room?

His jeans stayed on because Sestero was uncomfortable shooting the sex scenes. He had only taken the part after Tommy Wiseau fired the original Mark on the first day of filming.

Which actress played Lisa in The Room after first being cast in the smaller part of Michelle?

Juliette Danielle moved up to the lead when the original Lisa was dismissed. She left the profession soon after the release, then returned in 2012 once the movie had found its cult audience.

Which producer of The Disaster Artist also plays Sandy Schklair, a key member of The Room's crew?

Seth Rogen also produced the adaptation through his company Point Grey, which bought the rights to the memoir in 2014. He was also among the original movie's celebrity fans.

The Room's rooftop was a soundstage set; which technique put the city skyline behind the actors?

Green screen let the crew drop in exterior views of the city afterwards. Greg Sestero blames such built sets, for scenes that could have been shot on location, for inflating the budget.

The Room's 2010–2011 international tour was named after which saying Johnny quotes in the film?

"Love is Blind" echoes Johnny's line "You know what they say, love is blind!" The tour took the movie to Britain, Germany, Denmark, Australia and India, often with Tommy Wiseau there in person.

Greg Sestero says which studio turned down distributing The Room within 24 hours of receiving it?

Paramount Pictures answered in a day, when a reply normally takes about two weeks. Tommy Wiseau then hired a publicist and released the movie himself in two Los Angeles theaters.

Sandy Schklair, who later claimed he had really directed The Room, was hired in which crew role?

Script supervisor Schklair says Tommy Wiseau was too wrapped up in his own performance to direct, so he was the one calling "Action" and "Cut". He set out his case in a 2017 book titled Yes, I Directed The Room.

In The Room, Mark shaves his beard so Johnny can call him which nickname Wiseau gave Greg Sestero?

Babyface was Tommy Wiseau's own name for his co-star. Sestero says he was made to shave on set purely so the line could be used, and the reveal of a beardless Mark was meant to be "a moment".

Which actor plays Dan Janjigian, the man behind The Room's Chris-R, in the film The Disaster Artist?

Zac Efron joined a cast that also includes Josh Hutcherson as Philip Haldiman, the performer behind Denny. The real Greg Sestero appears too, as an assistant casting director.

In the film The Disaster Artist, Greg loses a part on which sitcom because Tommy insists he shave?

Malcolm in the Middle star Bryan Cranston plays himself, offering Greg a lumberjack part because of his facial hair. Tommy refuses to delay the scene in which Mark's beard comes off.

The Disaster Artist, about the making of The Room, earned an Oscar nomination in which category?

Best Adapted Screenplay was the nomination, shared by writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. The pair had earlier written The Fault in Our Stars.

Despite his European accent, Tommy Wiseau has claimed he grew up in which American city?

New Orleans is his usual answer, and he has spoken of having "an entire family" in the nearby suburb of Chalmette. Greg Sestero's memoir says he arrived there from France to live with an aunt and uncle.

Greg Sestero says Tommy Wiseau built his surname from the French word for which animal?

Bird is "oiseau" in French, and Wiseau swapped the O for the W of his birth name. Sestero traces it to the nickname "The Birdman", earned selling toy birds to tourists.

Greg Sestero joked that taking credit for directing The Room was like having engineered which craft?

The Hindenburg was his punchline: he likened it to "claiming to have been the Hindenburg's principal aeronautics engineer". He still agrees that a crew member ran many scenes when Wiseau could not.

IFC likened Tommy Wiseau's voice in The Room to Borat doing an impression of which actor?

Christopher Walken "playing a mental patient" was how the quip ended. A Guardian writer reached instead for a blend that included Ed Wood and R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet.

Which actor plays Johnny in The Room Returns!, a remake whose profits were pledged to AIDS research?

Bob Odenkirk insisted the remake was no joke and treated the original material seriously. Greg Sestero is the only cast member to return, this time playing Chris-R.

In The Room, Steven says he feels like he is sitting on what, "waiting for it to go off"?

"I feel like I'm sitting on an atomic bomb waiting for it to go off!" is Steven's line. He is the friend who catches Lisa and Mark kissing at the party, though the movie never introduces or explains him.

Besides playing Mark, Greg Sestero held which behind-the-scenes job on The Room?

Line producer was only one of his extra duties: he also helped with casting and worked as Tommy Wiseau's assistant. Sestero described the doubling up as sandwiching two roles into one.

Which writer co-wrote the memoir The Disaster Artist with The Room actor Greg Sestero?

Tom Bissell had written about the movie for Harper's Magazine in 2010 before signing on as co-author. The book won Best Non-Fiction at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards in 2014.

Tom Fulp, who released a 16-bit style Flash game tribute to The Room in 2010, founded which website?

Newgrounds staff supplied the artwork for the adventure, which is played entirely from Johnny's point of view. Its music was transcribed from the movie's own score.

Greg Sestero points out what oddity about Drew Caffrey, an executive producer credited on The Room?

He had already died in 1999, years before the cameras rolled. Sestero says Caffrey had been a business mentor to Tommy Wiseau, while the other credited executive producer was Wiseau's English tutor.

Which newspaper advice column unknowingly printed a 2015 hoax letter based on The Room's plot?

Ask Amy ran the letter with phrases from the movie's dialogue still in it. Columnist Amy Dickinson then talked about the hoax on the radio quiz Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

Which sitcom created by Tommy Wiseau reached Hulu in 2015, years after he shot its first pilot?

The Neighbors casts Wiseau twice, as building manager Charlie and, in a blonde wig, as the petty criminal Ricky Rick. Hulu released four episodes in March 2015 and two more that May.

Which comedian spoofed The Room in a fake infomercial on his 2009 DVD My Weakness Is Strong?

Patton Oswalt gave Jon Hamm a cameo in the spoof. He later made a short with Greg Sestero, playing a mailman bringing a suspicious delivery.