Greg Sestero

Greg Sestero

Sestero in 2011
Born Gregory Sestero
(1978-07-15) July 15, 1978
Walnut Creek, California, United States
Occupation Actor, model, author

Gregory "Greg" Sestero (born July 15, 1978) is an American actor, model, and author who holds both American and French citizenship.[1] He is best known for his role as Mark in the 2003 cult film The Room, and for writing the critically acclaimed best selling 2013 book The Disaster Artist about his life and experience making The Room.

Early life

Sestero was born in Walnut Creek, California. His mother is of French and Sicilian descent.[2] At the age of 12, he wrote a sequel to the 1990 film Home Alone with a leading role for himself.[2] He submitted the screenplay to Hughes Productions and received a commendatory letter from filmmaker John Hughes.[2][3] During his junior year of high school, Sestero began modelling, working in locations such as Milan and Paris for designers such as Giorgio Armani and Gianfranco Ferre. He returned to the United States to focus on acting, enrolling in the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. He eventually signed with Hollywood agent Iris Burton, which prompted his eventual move to Los Angeles, California.

Career

Sestero's early acting work included minor roles in the television show Nash Bridges and the films Gattaca (1997) and Patch Adams (1998). In 1999, Sestero was cast as the lead in Retro Puppet Master. He followed this with a recurring role on the television soap opera Days of Our Lives.[1]

Sestero's best known role to date is as Mark, the best friend to Tommy Wiseau's character Johnny, in the 2003 cult film The Room. Sestero met Wiseau at an acting class in 1998.[2] Wiseau told Sestero that if he was able to raise the funds to make the film, he would hire him as his co-star; Sestero arrived on set, only agreeing to work behind the scenes and help Wiseau with auditions and casting. However, Wiseau wanted the original actor cast as Mark out of the film, and formulated an elaborate plan to replace him with Sestero.

Sestero has said that he made the film assuming no one would see it and that it would go direct to video.[3][4] The film was immediately lambasted by critics and fared very poorly at the box office as well. In Sestero's book, The Disaster Artist, he revealed that Wiseau had sent a copy of the film to Paramount Pictures in an effort to gain wide distribution and was denied by the studio within 24 hours (the typical response time is 2 weeks). Ross Morin, an assistant professor of film studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, called it "the Citizen Kane of bad movies",[2] and Entertainment Weekly referred to Wiseau as "the Orson Welles of crap".[5] Despite the poor showing, Sestero remained humorous and usually deflected much of the criticism of the film.[6][7]

The film quickly began to receive attention from audience members because of its poor production values rather than in spite of them; it soon became a "cult classic" with late-night showings at theaters around the United States.[2] Audience members typically arrive wearing wigs resembling their favorite characters, interact with the dialogue on screen, and throw plastic cutlery and footballs around the theater.[2] This attention grew into what was dubbed The Room's 2010-2011 "Love is Blind" International Tour, with the film being screened in the UK, Germany, Denmark, Australia, France and India, among other locations. Sestero appears at many of these events, posing for photographs with fans and often addressing them before the screenings.[8]

In 2006, Sestero appeared in the television series Fashion House and had an uncredited role in Accepted. In 2010, he appeared in Miranda Lambert's music video "White Liar", which won the Country Music Television and the Academy of Country Music award for best video and song of the year; the video was also nominated for best video at the 2010 Country Music Association awards. Later that year, Sestero was featured in the 5-Second Film End Zone, directed by Michael Rousselet, one of The Room's original fans who helped propel the film to cult status.[2][5][9]

Sestero starred with NYC comedians Jason Saenz, Nick Turner, and Travis Irvine for a sketch comedy video in which Sestero turned into the "new" Jason Saenz via jaw surgery.[10] The July 2010 edition of Diablo magazine labeled Sestero as one of the "Best of the East Bay Stars and Standouts".[11]

In July 2011, Sestero teamed with comedian Patton Oswalt in "You Got Mail", a 5-Second Film that features Oswalt as a mailman and Sestero waiting for his suspicious delivery.[12]

On November 12, 2013, Sestero made a cameo appearance on an episode of the Nostalgia Critic internet review show, which had previously reviewed The Room, reprising his role of Mark.[13]

Sestero continues to model and has appeared in ads for Tommy Hilfiger, Armani and Ralph Lauren, among others.[6]

Sestero costarred in Dude Bro Party Massacre III (2015) from the creators of 5 Second Films. The film also stars Patton Oswalt and Andrew WK. The film premiered at Los Angeles Film Festival on June 13, 2015.

In June 2011, it was announced that Sestero had signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to write a book based on his experiences making The Room, Tommy Wiseau, and his journey of trying to become an actor. The book, titled The Disaster Artist, was released in October 2013.[14][15][16]

It was announced in February 2014 that Seth Rogen's production company, Point Grey Pictures, had acquired the rights to a film adaptation of The Disaster Artist, with James Franco attached to direct and possibly star as Wiseau.[17]

On September 8, 2014 it was announced that screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber would write the script for The Disaster Artist.

On November 23, 2014, The Disaster Artist won for Best Non-Fiction at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The judges praised the book, stating "The Disaster Artist is not only a hell of a good read, it will make a great film if ever adapted. It's equal parts Ed Wood, American Hustle and demented Citizen Kane — with a dash of Monty Python thrown into the mix".[18]

On February 11, 2015, The Disaster Artist audiobook, narrated by Sestero, was nominated for Best Humor Audiobook at the 2015 Audie Awards.[19]

On October 15, 2015, it was announced Seth Rogen will play a role, Dave Franco will play Sestero and cinematographer Brandon Trost will serve as the DP for The Disaster Artist.[20]

On October 29, 2015, it was announced that Warner Bros and New Line Cinema would distribute The Disaster Artist. Shooting is tentatively slated to begin December 7th, 2015.[21]

Personal life

Sestero lives in Southern California.[6] In addition to English, he is fluent in French.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Gattaca Gattacan Citizen Uncredited
1998 Patch Adams Jaime Uncredited
1999 Retro Puppet Master Young Toulon
1999 EDtv Roach Uncredited
2003 The Room Mark Line producer
2004 Homeless in America Himself Documentary
Executive producer
2006 Accepted Frat Guy Uncredited
2009 Alien Presence Ash
2009 The Pit and the Pendulum Alicia's Boyfriend
2015 Dude Bro Party Massacre III Derek
2016 The Masterpiece Casting Agent

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Days of Our Lives Jules 1 episode
2006 Fashion House Model 2 episodes
2013 The Blessed Ignorance of Men Fr. Mark Pilot

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Nostalgia Critic Mark Episode: "Dawn of the Commercials"
2014 Shut Up and Talk Himself Talk show

References

  1. 1 2 Greg Sestero Resume
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sestero, Greg (2013). The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room. Simon & Schuster.
  3. 1 2 Kozlowski, Carl (August 7, 2009). "The Room to Improve". Pasadena Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  4. ↑ Heisler, Steve (July 24, 2009). "The Room's Greg Sestero, Best Friend Extraordinaire". A.V. Club, Chicago. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  5. 1 2 Entertainment Weekly "The Crazy Cult That is the Room"
  6. 1 2 3 Hicks, Tony (October 7, 2010). "Worst Movie Ever". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Popgun Chaos". Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  8. ↑ "The Room Official Movie Site". Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  9. ↑ Collis, Clark (July 30, 2010). "5-Second Comedy Short". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Your Free Comedy". Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Diablo Magazine". Retrieved March 12, 2011.
  12. ↑ Collis, Clark. "Watch bad movie fan Patton Oswalt and bad movie icon Greg 'The Room' Sestero in a five-second film". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  13. ↑ Thatguywiththeglasses.com
  14. ↑ Collis, Clark (May 26, 2011). "'Room' actor Greg Sestero to write memoir". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
  15. ↑ "CNN Entertainment (extended cut)". Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  16. ↑ Turner-Dave, Kieran (February 15, 2013). "Understanding ‘The Room’: An interview with the stars of ‘the worst movie ever made’". The Independent (U.K.).
  17. ↑ Slash Film
  18. ↑
  19. ↑
  20. ↑
  21. ↑

External links

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