Over the weekend, ThecounT.com attended the LA International Short Film Festival in Hollywood. We were there supporting our dear friend Bethany Bassler, who starred in the film “Commited.”
After exiting the festival it was off to dinner at “Sushi Dan” which is located on the same floor as the festival. While seated in the outdoor dining area, we noticed people forming a line, starting with a sign that read, “The Room”. Throughout dinner, we noticed the line multiplying like crazy! By the time we were finished eating, the line was wrapped full circle around the complex.
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Suddenly, a man jumped up on a riser outside the theater and yelled, “5, 4, 3, 2…”! The crowd roared with excitement! The Count’s jaw dropped as if he’d seen a UFO, then a light bulb went off, “Oh my gosh! That’s the guy! That’s ‘Lisa! You’re tearing me apart!’ the guy from the movie!” Then it hit me, it was Tommy Wiseau, the star of the cult film “The Room”!
We already knew of “The Room”, however, we couldn’t believe our eyes! Why were so many people lined up for this movie and not sitting on their couch watching the DVD? Our reporter instincts kicked in, Count and I quickly made our way over to the theater and peeked inside, the doors were locked. We could see seated inside, the stars of the movie, Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero. We waved through the glass to get their attention to come outside; and guess what? They did! Tommy was super nice! We snapped pictures and chatted with the guys.
“It’s been crazy. The turnout for the movie has been unreal. We just got back from Comic-Con in San Diego and fans showed up from from all over the world.” Said Sestero. “I pitched in as a casting director and I also acted in it. We all did what we had to do to make this film happen.”…
Tommy got an instant kick out of my name being “Lisa”, just like the famous quote from his movie, “Lisa, you’re tearing me apart!” Tommy chuckled and said, “Ohhh…Lisa hehe.” As if he were flashing back into the now infamous scene in his movie! (insert Twilight Zone music here.)
Now it was time to interview some of the fans who had waited hours to be first-in-line. After all, it’s the fans who are making this a ‘cult’ film, not to mention also making it a big success. Here’s what “the cult” had to say about the phenomenon of “The Room”:
“It’s a cult film and the audience is really involved with it. That’s the coolest part. This is my fifth time seeing it. I love the mentality of it. It’s great.” Said Fred, a big fan who was standing first in line.
Fred’s friend Andre then said, “It’s my first time here. He brought me. He’s [Fred] really in love with it. He doesn’t stop talking about it.”
We noticed that Fred was holding a box of plastic spoons. We curiously asked, “what’s up with the spoons?” Fred told us, “Every time a spoon is on screen, we grab a handful of spoons and throw it at the screen and yell ’spoon!’. There are spoons throughout the movie, we don’t know why, but we just throw the spoons when they show up in the movie.”
Fred went on to talk about Tommy Wiseau being loved by all the fans. “You gotta love Tommy, he’s so involved. He loves his job so much. You gotta give him that respect. He always shows up. He loves his fans.” Fred shows up to “The Room” screening on the last Saturday of every month. Guess who’s there every time? Tommy and Greg! Go here to plan the Saturday that you will attend.
Tommy and Greg were so great. We had a ball meeting them and they were nice as can be. Stay tuned with an exclusive interview with “The Room” Star, Greg Sestero coming soon.