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A Life In Movies: Greg Sestero · All The Right Movies

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All the right. Movies, everyone, thanks for
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tuning in to all the right movies.
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I know some of you may have been expecting our usual show.
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We were scheduled to talk about All the President's Men today.
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Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we're having to
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delay that release until next week, but we've got something
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fantastic in its place. You're about to hear the latest
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episode of A Life in Movies, our movie interview show.
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Today, I'm talking to the writer, director and actor Greg
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Sestero, probably best known as the star of Tommy Wizzo's
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bonafide cult classic The Room. So tune back in next week for
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All the President's Men, but for now, enjoy my conversation with
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Greg. Hi everyone, welcome to Life and
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Movies, the interview show from All the Right Movies.
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My name is Luke. On the show we talk to people in
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entertainment about three of their favorite films and today
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I'm talking to an actor, writer, producer, director and
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award-winning author of The Disaster Artists, which was
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adapted for the screen chronicling the making of story
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of the cult classic movie The Room, which was directed by the
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enigmatic Tommy Wizzle. It is a joy to welcome Greg
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Sestero. How you doing Greg?
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Good. It's great to be here.
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Thank you very much for joining me.
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Can't wait to hear what films you have in store for us.
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So where are you talking from? Where you're at?
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I'm in Austin, TX at the moment. It is about 100° outside.
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Austin is such a great, it's such a great city with so much
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culture and food, great film festivals.
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Yeah, the summertime you got to just be cautious of when you
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decide to go outside. Yeah, you've got to get that sun
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cream on. Have you been in the UK
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recently? I think I noticed on your
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Instagram you've been up here. I did.
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I tried to come to the UK twice a year.
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I love it there, the people, the culture, the cinema there, the
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crowds there. You know, I was doing some
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anniversary screenings earlier this year and I had a blast.
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I was in Newcastle, Liverpool, spent the day in Durham walking
2:25
around, which is a, which is a really beautiful place.
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And I know I'm going to mispronounce this, but
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Nosborough, Nosborough, Nasbro, Nasbro and just getting a chance
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to get out there and see the, the towns and the, and the, the
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cities. So I had a blast.
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I'm hoping to come back again later this year.
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So I love yeah. Traveling has always been one of
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my passions. It's always been filmmaking and
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traveling. Yeah, yeah.
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I mean Durham, it's about 5 mile from where I am.
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Yeah, I walked the whole day. I did.
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I did the whole the whole mountain and walked around, had
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lunch with a friend on on the river there.
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So. Yeah, I mean, it's beautiful.
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Like there's a real there's a lot of history in those little
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towns. And they filmed some of Harry
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Potter, I think in, in Durham or a few months.
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Yeah, that's. Right.
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Yeah. And in Northumberland they've
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just, well, two recent films or two new films.
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The new Indiana Jones, the new Missing Impossible were both
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filmed in Northumberland. So it's becoming quite the venue
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for shooting. Oh, what's the name of that
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city? Northumberland, it's just north,
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it's kind of on the border of Scotland.
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OK, OK, now another place I got to check out.
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Now I got to come back. OK, so come to you live from
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Austin, TX. We're going to be talking about
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3 movies that Greg has chosen. Are these your all time faves
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Greg, or ones that have just jumped out to you when I asked
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for them? I think there were definitely my
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top ten. My top 10 revolves around
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comfort. Like, do I throw these on
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because I love the score, the vibe, you know?
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How many times can I rewatch them or relive them?
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That's what I gravitate towards when I call a movie one of my
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favorites or one that I love to talk about.
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Yeah, you get the comfort from them.
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Yeah, I'm the same. And you've got a good section of
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films, I think, hitting quite a few genres.
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So let's get into it. What is your first pick, Greg?
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My first film that made the biggest impact on me that I've
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rewatched now for almost 40 years.
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Scary to say that is Back to the Future.
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Fantastic. Yeah.
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I mean, as iconic as they come, this one.
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Robert Zemeckis's 80s classic. Michael J Fox stars as Martin
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McFly, a high school slacker who was sent back to 1955 in a time
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machine. In order to get back home, he
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has to alter the course of history so that he can return
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home with his parents living happily ever after.
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I'm sure everybody listening knows the story.
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So what is it about Back to the Future that you love so much,
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Greg? I think it starts with something
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in that story that we can all relate to.
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Yeah, yeah. The the film was developed by
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Bob Gale, the screenwriter, and he was home visiting his parents
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and he found an old yearbook and he was like, what?
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I've been friends with my dad. That's sort of how it started.
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And then it evolved into this amazing film.
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I saw it at the same theater that I watched Empire Strikes
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Back at. It was the local theater that
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played movies back then. Movies played for sometimes we
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months, sometimes years and saw back in the future with my dad.
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And I remember I came home after seeing him and I didn't, I
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didn't, I had so much like there was just movie magic in that
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cinema and I was like, what do I, what do I do with it?
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What do I do with this? So I, I randomly started playing
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with my Star Wars figures and recreated back to the future,
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the movie with my Star Wars figures.
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It was so bizarre, but I just think it's the idea it was the
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first time it was really time travel was introduced to us in a
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way that was accessible that we could sit here and be like, if I
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went into my car and I was able to go back to a time in my life
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and relive that, what would I do?
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It made it visceral. It made it seem almost possible.
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Another thing I really loved about the film was the
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relationship between Doc and Marty McFly.
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I never would understand why those two guys would be friends,
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and I never judged. I never judged their friendship.
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It wasn't like what's going on between them.
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I just sensed this bond that, that these two people in their
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lives, that they sort of needed each other.
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And there's no real specific reason why.
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It's just that they did and we accepted it.
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And, and, and I, I just kind of, I love the idea of him
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convincing Doc in the beginning. You know, I need to go back to
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1985 and the idea, the fear and the love we have of the future
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of what's coming and what's there.
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And it just sort of, and there's another movie that sent a set of
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benchmark for us looking forward.
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What, what's life going to be like in 2015?
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What kind of things are, are ahead of us?
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What are, what are our lives been if our parents didn't meet?
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So it, it raised so many questions and, and again with so
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many other films as well. Is the the score, the music?
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Is that music? The music lives within your mind
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and you think about it. You can listen to the to the
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soundtrack and then back in the Future over something I watched
7:03
again over time. And then I moved to a place in
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LA called South Pasadena and I had no idea that is where they
7:13
filmed Back to the Future. So I'm taking a walk and I'm
7:16
like, this street looks really familiar and I'm walking down
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the street with the trees over it and I, I literally walk in.
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It was like 9:00 PM at night. The streets were quiet.
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It was like it was beautiful night.
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And I look up and I see the tree that George McFly was on was the
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peeping Tom. And I just remember looking up
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at it and I was like, that's what that's what this movie has
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meant to me. It's sort of travelled with me
7:43
for a lifetime. It it gave me sort of hope when
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I was in LA in the beginning and trying to become an actor and
7:49
trying to find my way. And now I'm living in those
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sets, like I'm living in those neighborhoods.
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And then I found out Doc Brown's house is right like 10 minutes
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away. So I during all these nights, I
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would walk these locations, George Mcfly's house when
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they're like outside and he's talking and he's holding
8:05
laundry. These all these Steven Spielberg
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love South Pasadena. So he films there a lot and all
8:11
these sets were within a few blocks.
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And so it sort of became a movie that to me represented hope.
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Marty McLeod starts out with all these likes, hopes and dreams
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and and you know, he goes through this crazy journey and
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he comes back and you see that look in his eye where he
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appreciates it so much more. And and that always stayed with
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me. So it's been a movie just really
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has followed me my entire life and it's it's just one of those
8:38
movies. Just studying about it, how they
8:40
didn't know what it was going to be.
8:41
They couldn't come up with the right title.
8:43
It was supposed to be like the Man from Mars or something.
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Like that? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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So it was a movie. And I love movies where they
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don't, they're earnest. They don't expect it to be a
8:54
blockbuster. They have no idea what it's
8:55
going to, how it's going to go. And it came out around the 4th
8:58
of July weekend. Like it's coming up for us right
9:00
now. It came out this weekend in
9:02
1985. And so it's a movie with people
9:06
again. Christopher Lloyd had done Taxi,
9:07
I think, and he'd been in, yeah, a bunch of other projects.
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So it was just such a such a one of those movies that hits the
9:14
home run where everybody who's cast is just meant to play that
9:17
part. Yeah, yeah.
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I mean, Michael J Fox is just absolutely irresistible in the
9:22
lead as well. Although Eric Stoltz almost got
9:26
well, he had the part and then he got fired, I think six weeks
9:28
into production because they wanted to.
9:30
Talk He. Was on Family Ties.
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They talk about that too. And it's sort of, you know,
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making a movie is, is takes everything out of you.
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There's so much going on, you doubt yourself.
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You're wondering if you make the right decisions.
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And that was such a bold choice for for the producers because
9:44
you know, they're watching the dailies of this film that
9:47
they've shot a lot of and you you're looking at it and they're
9:52
not we're we're just not getting the laughs.
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Like this is a this is a funny, quirky story and we're not
9:57
getting any laughs. So I think for them to go back
10:00
and reshoot the movie all over again just took so much like
10:04
confidence and and belief in this film and in, in, in Michael
10:08
J Fox, who was meant to play that part.
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So yeah, they're with behind every classic great movie,
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there's always those stories of, of taking risks.
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And I think back to the future, the characters, what they're up
10:21
against, you know, their bodies disappearing on that photo if
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you don't make the right decision, if you don't come
10:26
through this, there's just the high stakes that I love about
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the movie. And of course, in any great
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movie, you need that, that the comedy, you need some of those
10:35
laughs. And that's what it does so well.
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Yeah, I mean, it's absolutely incredible.
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Yeah, and and and something else that's funny again, this movie
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following, following me my whole life.
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When I, when I first moved to LA and I was auditioning, they
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would have pilots audition for for TV pilots on the universal
10:53
lot, right. And on the universal lot, you
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can take a studio tour, you can do the studios.
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So I had a audition at one of the sound stages and I peeked
11:03
back and I see this long pathway.
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I didn't get the damn part. My audition went terrible.
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So I'm like, hey, I'm here. Yeah, I'm just going to, I'm
11:10
just going to start walking. So I start walking and I'm not
11:12
supposed to be back there because it's for studios and
11:15
executives and all that. So I walk all the way around the
11:17
corner. There's carts passing me where
11:20
they're taking people. And I walk in to Hill Valley.
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And you're not supposed to be back there.
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It's closed off. But I got to walk around Hill
11:31
Valley all by myself. Wow.
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Nobody told me leave. Nobody said anything.
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And I was like, you know, I'd been in LA for almost a year.
11:40
I'd only gotten a movie called Retro Puppet Master and a
11:43
soapbox. I was, it was a tough time
11:45
because you know, you got on 6070 auditions and you're,
11:48
you're just trying to keep your hope up.
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But I remember thinking I'd never get anything if I this
11:52
was, this was my purpose to come to LA to walk around Hill Valley
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by myself. It was like that.
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That was worth it. And it was funny how much
11:59
smaller the set felt, felt in person.
12:02
But it was the old school backed feature of the clock tower of
12:05
the town. It was, it was incredible.
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And then a few years later, there's a fire that destroyed a
12:10
lot of it, right? But I really I got a chance to
12:13
have my moment in Hell Valley around that time.
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Cool. Do you have a favorite scene
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from Back to the Future, Greg? I would say I just love just
12:23
from an imagination standpoint. I love when Marty goes back to
12:28
1955 because it's just one of those things, I think.
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I don't know whether it's implanted from that movie or
12:36
imagination, but there's times where you wake up or you go
12:39
somewhere and you wonder, did I just go back in time?
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Like, am I? You're kind of going through a
12:45
Deja Vu feeling. And so when he goes back and
12:48
walks around in 1955, to me as, as someone who loves movies and
12:53
loves creativity of dressing that set and dressing that town
12:57
30 years earlier, it's just so much fun how he, how he has to
13:01
discover he's in a different time.
13:03
And I remember I, I took it kind of far.
13:05
I, I tend to do this when I love movies, but I was, I must have
13:10
been 12:00. So I had the idea of tricking my
13:12
dad into thinking he went back in time.
13:15
So I got up super early one morning and my dad would save
13:19
these front page of newspapers of historic events, right?
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So whether a sporting event or presidential election.
13:24
So I went into his drawer and I found this old headline that
13:30
went back like 10 years. And I went outside, got the
13:34
newspaper and rewrapped it and put it there.
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And then I was like, I'm going to pretend I'm like 7 or
13:39
whatever, or whatever I would have been.
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And so he opens the newspaper and he starts reading it and
13:45
he's like, what the hell. Like what?
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I thought this already happened. And he completely was like
13:51
completely, fully, had no idea I could have thought of that and
13:54
gone that far and done it. And so I just, yeah, I think
13:58
when I, when I think about the future, I think of that, that
14:01
complete mind warp of what that would feel like to be back in an
14:05
era where you're stuck. It's exhilarating, it's
14:08
terrifying. And I think that's when the
14:09
movie to me becomes most exciting again.
14:14
It's a movie that that it has that sort of feeling where you
14:18
want to live inside it. And I think that the the scene
14:20
that really that I always come back to is, is Marty discovering
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his life in 1955? Do you know where 1640 Rivers.
14:28
Are you going to order something, kid?
14:32
Yeah. Give me, give me a tab.
14:35
Tab. I can't give you a tab.
14:36
Let you order something, Right. Give me a Pepsi, free.
14:40
You want a Pepsi, pal? You're going to pay for it.
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Look, just give me something without any sugar written.
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OK, Some of that sugar. OK, now for Film 2, Greg, what
14:51
have you got for us? Film 2 is not quite as uplifting
14:55
as Back to the Future. It's a movie that I saw now in
14:59
high school, so I'm slightly more grown up, and this one has
15:02
a very different tone. It's a movie called Fire in the
15:05
Sky. Yeah, directed by Robert
15:07
Lieberman and based on the true story Fire in the Sky stars DB
15:11
Sweeney, Robert Patrick and Peter Berg, members of a logger
15:14
team who encounter extraterrestrial life form in
15:16
the woods. When one of the crew disappears.
15:18
The remaining team are the lead suspects when the town and the
15:21
police suspect foul play. So what does fire in the sky
15:24
mean to you, Greg? Fire in the Sky.
15:26
I watched it on ABHS late at night, and it's still to this
15:30
day stands as the most terrifying alien abduction scene
15:34
I've ever witnessed. Oh, terrifying.
15:36
It's a movie that it's a movie even that my mom was absolutely
15:40
fascinated by because I think the scenes were done by ILM,
15:45
George Lucas's company. Yeah, it revolves around these
15:49
these dudes that are out in the Arizona desert and there's this
15:54
bright red light that comes out and one of the the loggers goes
15:59
running out. His name was Travis Walton.
16:00
And he stands under it and he gets sacked.
16:03
And then they they get scared, they leave and they come back
16:05
and he's gone. And then so over the next 5
16:08
days, they're being interviewed by the cops.
16:10
They think something tragic happened to them.
16:12
They think, you know, some sort of foul play.
16:15
But they pass all these lie detector tests.
16:17
And then all of a sudden at a gas station late one night, he
16:21
shows up with no clothes on and talking about this insane story.
16:25
So I think it was obviously the back then the the fear of the
16:29
unknown. I mean, I think that movie
16:31
really made you believe in aliens.
16:33
What could happen now? Since then, I've progressed to
16:36
where I interviewed the real life subject, Travis Walton.
16:40
I spoke to him. About.
16:42
We got in touch. A very interesting man.
16:45
He's about my dad's age and he still lives in the same small
16:49
town that he was living in. He's still friends with the the
16:54
guy who who drove off and and and the friendship in that
16:57
story. But we talked about it.
16:59
He tells me that there was even more to the story than that was
17:03
put in the film. And I guess he wrote a book and
17:06
it's talked about a lot of different stories about what
17:08
happened. But to me, what it sounds like
17:11
is they were probably out on property they weren't supposed
17:14
to be out on, probably back in the 70s, doing some sort of
17:18
interesting party paraphernalia that they had and probably had
17:22
to avoid getting targeted or getting in trouble.
17:26
That's what it's kind of sounds like the more you look into it.
17:28
But what I love so much about, what I love so much about the
17:31
film is as the viewer, you're in that car with them.
17:36
You don't know what happened. You obviously know what you saw,
17:40
but you're having to deal with the police and everyone asking
17:43
you and not believing you in a way that makes you frustrated
17:47
and makes you want to know where the hell did Travis go?
17:50
Like So what the film does is then it it it goes back and
17:54
builds up the back story of the friendship of where they were
17:56
and how they became close friends.
17:58
So it makes you care even more about that relationship and you
18:02
wonder where Travis is. You got these guys, these guys
18:04
that come out of nowhere with like a business card that talk
18:06
about UFOs, that talk about what they think they might know what
18:10
happened to Travis. So I think for for me now, and I
18:14
think nowadays, if this film was made presently, I think you'd
18:18
have a lot more influx of the UFO scenes, right?
18:23
So I think, you know, there's there's it's spread out in the
18:26
in, in fire in the sky, but I think you'd have a lot more
18:29
excessive effects and and over the top scenes.
18:33
So what I do like the simplicity of Fire in the Sky, it's it's at
18:37
the end of the day, it's a story about this group of friends and
18:40
can they survive the the doubt that is placed upon them.
18:45
Now I have done a lot of Rd. trips around the American
18:48
Southwest, New Mexico, Arizona and what I love about Fire in
18:53
the Sky is it never left my imagination.
18:55
When I'm down there, when I see late night stars, when I'm in
18:57
those areas, I always think about that story that took place
19:01
and the mystery of did it happen?
19:03
Was it drugs? Was it their imagination?
19:07
And it also it stars Robert Patrick fresh off of Terminator
19:11
2 I think. Yeah, yeah, a couple of years
19:13
after, I think. Yeah.
19:14
And Henry Thomas as well, who was in ET and at that time,
19:19
Legends of the Fall. Yeah.
19:21
Fire in the Skies. Yeah.
19:21
It's one of those movies that was a Paramount film that had
19:25
sort of, you know, it's about 8-8 years after Back to the
19:30
Future, but it still had, it was still, it was movie that was
19:32
shot on film. And so that earnestness and
19:35
sincerity that I think movies did up until that point.
19:38
And like I said, to me, it had the best alien for what we think
19:43
of in our imagination of, of being abducted or what it's like
19:46
to be on a spaceship or what that might look like or feel
19:50
like. You know, there's obviously
19:52
interest in knowing what the visuals might be, but it's
19:55
something about the way they orchestrated that experience was
19:59
such, such a perfect blend of fear of fascination, of wonder,
20:06
of like being abducted, of what that might feel like.
20:08
And it's just crazy because 30 years, I think it came out 30
20:11
years ago. What's going on with movies
20:13
coming out? And on the 1993, I think it was,
20:17
yeah, yeah, yeah. The Jurassic Park as well.
20:20
That's right, yeah. Ten years later, 10 years later,
20:22
we all know what happened. But of course, and it was funny
20:27
because I bring up Fire in the Sky to a lot of film makers and
20:29
a lot of film fans and they always say the same thing.
20:33
That movie was the most terrifying experience of my
20:35
teenagers or, or watching, you know, watching the movie.
20:38
That scene in particular DMA, that is that is terrifying.
20:42
In that scene, that is ABS I had the I had goosebumps.
20:46
I was I was genuinely terrified. It was it was a great horror
20:49
movie scene. Yeah, I mean, because, because,
20:52
because we heard a lot of stories of the animals being
20:55
abducted or cows being abducted or and then we thought, we
20:59
thought what happens to us if we get abducted and they do all
21:02
those weird and weird things to, you know, as, you know, as you
21:06
know, in the movie. And then you wonder what kind of
21:09
damage does that do? And that's so it's so
21:11
interesting. When he returns to Earth, he's
21:13
not really injured, right. So it's like, is there some sort
21:17
of technology that they have or some sort of advanced, do they
21:20
they obviously don't want to kill him or interim.
21:22
So it's like, what is what is that about?
21:24
And then where do they go after that?
21:26
Or there's just so many questions that it that it
21:28
brought out. And being a teenager, I thought
21:30
that was like it said, based on true story.
21:32
I'm like, that happened. Like this is what happens for
21:35
sure. Like you don't think it's an
21:37
account? So it was especially terrifying
21:39
at 14. Anytime you'd see a light in the
21:41
sky or a movement, you always think, stay indoors because that
21:44
could happen to me. Yeah, yeah.
21:46
Great. So do you.
21:47
Is that your favorite scene for the film or do you have another
21:51
one? Greg?
21:51
I think for me, so you have the opening with with the abduction
21:55
scene I always loved as well. And of course the the alien
21:58
stuff is is I think the strongest part of the film.
22:02
But the scene that I really liked was when the guys were
22:06
approached by those weird science planet people.
22:12
Because I think the movie up until that point, you're
22:13
wondering, you're wondering. And then they brought in a
22:15
really nice moan of question of bringing it back to the unknown.
22:21
Because you have so many groups of people that always say, oh,
22:25
for sure, alien exists. Like you got to be, yeah, you
22:28
got to be stupid not to believe that.
22:30
And then you have the flip side of being like, you have no proof
22:33
why? Why would aliens exist?
22:35
It's all hype. It's all, you know, it's all
22:37
fiction. And so just seeing those two
22:39
sides come together of, of those people coming in with the
22:43
knowledge and then opening their eyes.
22:45
And I think it's a really nice moment because now as a viewer,
22:48
you're totally lost of what's coming or you're confused.
22:52
And then, of course, the phone call comes in at the perfect
22:55
moment and that, and that brings it all together.
22:57
But I really love rewatching it. I thought there was way, way
23:00
more alien stuff in it than I remember.
23:02
I think so. Mike Rogers.
23:06
Excuse me, Mr. Rogers. Mr. Whitlock.
23:09
I'm Jarvis Powell. From afar.
23:11
We had a lot of experience in these matters, and I think we
23:15
might be able to help each other out.
23:20
Well, we just wanted to let you know that there are those of us
23:24
out there who know the truth. And finally, Greg, the final
23:32
piece of the jigsaw. What's the third film?
23:36
The third film is my favorite movie of 2022 and that is a
23:41
movie that was released by a 24 called Pearl.
23:46
Fantastic. Yeah, the prequel to Thai W 70s
23:49
said horror movie X Pearl stars the outstanding Mia Goth as
23:53
Pearl, a small town gal with dreams of making it big in the
23:56
world of showbiz. But Pearl's behavior threatens
23:59
all around her as she embarks on a disturbing rampage of
24:02
violence. An outstanding film.
24:05
Why do you love this one, Greg? So I love this movie, obviously
24:09
for many reasons, but I saw it. So I saw X and I really enjoyed
24:14
X for what it was. I thought it was enjoyable and
24:16
and I, I love that that style of horror film.
24:19
So I was in Chicago with some friends and we had a morning to
24:23
kill and I remember seeing the poster of Pearland.
24:26
I thought, whatever, I don't, I didn't need to see it.
24:29
I didn't, I didn't. I was what I whatever on it.
24:31
And so it was a matinee showing. It was about 11:30 in the
24:35
morning. We had time to kill, but like,
24:38
let's just go see Pearl. There was about 7 people in the
24:41
theater. And This is why it's to me, it's
24:43
so important to go see a movie in a theater.
24:45
I sat in there and from the moment it started, I was just
24:49
like, this movie was made for me.
24:51
I love the this the character based story.
24:55
It had a Wizard of Oz feel to him, like one of my all time
24:59
favorites. And it had a, it was just such a
25:03
like isolated feeling that I think is an artist from when
25:08
you're living, you live in a small town or you're from a
25:10
different place. We all feel what she felt.
25:13
We feel like the trying to get away from your, your family,
25:17
your chores, that life is such a hard breakaway.
25:21
And so when she has these like internal moments of darkness of
25:24
wondering, can she make it? Is she great?
25:27
Does she have it? And just the dark, the, the slow
25:31
turn to darkness to me was just so interesting.
25:36
Again, we're watching at 11:30 AM in a in a small theater.
25:40
I didn't know what was coming, but I was so hooked on her
25:44
character. I also thought it was really
25:46
fascinating because we still were going through part of the
25:49
pandemic and they filmed this during the pandemic.
25:51
So they're the people were still wearing masks because they were
25:54
set during the last pandemic. And so it was such a simple
26:00
setup with just these like intense characters that I feel
26:04
like it was a movie we we don't get to see that often.
26:06
We don't get to see sort of a throwback to that era, what that
26:10
be like. And and I love that it took
26:12
risks. I mean, obviously if you saw it,
26:13
the scarecrow scene was like insane made made you made you
26:18
laugh in a way that you're like, they're going for it.
26:22
And it was, to me, it was like X was sort of the traditional
26:27
general horror film, right? Pearl gave you something that
26:31
that was like way beyond that. It was a horror, much harder
26:35
horror film to make that I just was so thrilled with.
26:38
And I I felt the dread coming for every character.
26:43
And I think one of the strongest scenes is the audition scene
26:47
because that's something we can all relate to.
26:49
You know, we go out there and we believe we're something and then
26:52
we're dealt that reality. And that's the way it was shot.
26:54
Mia Goth was such a powerhouse and then having grown up with
26:57
European parents and with the German mom and and the dad, it
27:02
was just something that just was such a creepy element of
27:06
disturbing that who I would just admired in so many ways.
27:12
I mean Mia Goth's performance, it's it's Oscar worthy.
27:16
She is outstanding in well throughout the film, but there
27:19
are about 3 or 4 standout moments, the kind of out of
27:23
place for a horror movie. Kind of accept that horror
27:27
movies the acton's never really that great, but in this and it
27:32
is so much different to X. Like you said, X, it's a great
27:36
horror movie, but this it's gone up another 3 levels and I'm I'm
27:42
just thrilled as well because you wouldn't normally get these
27:45
kind of films. A 24 put a lot of emphasis on
27:49
artistic films and independent films and you know it's paid
27:52
off. Ty W as well.
27:53
He's been slogging in the industry for a while and he's
27:57
made some great films, but this is it's something else, this
27:59
one. Yeah, and it was also, I know I
28:02
think they'd made it because they were down in New Zealand
28:04
during the pandemic. And, and, and So what I, what
28:07
again, I love about this movie is sort of the, the spur of the
28:10
moment creativity, not like just saying, hey, let's, let's go
28:15
make this film. Let's go, let's write it.
28:18
We, we don't need tons of people to do this.
28:21
Let's sit down. Mia Goth and I think it was Ty
28:22
West and they're like, let's just write this together.
28:25
Let's you know, we got this character, we have this time.
28:27
Make the most of this, this moment.
28:29
You don't need a lot to go out and make a film that sometimes
28:32
the planning takes away from that.
28:34
Like that raw movie making moment where you're, you're
28:38
ready to go. Like you just I, I love the
28:40
idea. They just made this during the
28:42
pandemic. Yeah, there was a spontaneity of
28:44
it. Favorite scene for Pearl?
28:47
Greg? Which one is it?
28:48
There are a number of them. I think the monologue at the end
28:51
was, was something that probably I admired the most in the sense
28:54
of acting, because it's really hard to let a camera keep going
28:58
and let that genuine performance come out so unfiltered.
29:02
But I think for me, the, the scene that I like, I've shown
29:06
this movie now to a couple of people and they, they thought
29:10
that for some reason that I said this movie's inspiring.
29:14
That's what they went in watching it.
29:17
And so they're watching it and it gets to the scarecrow scene
29:20
and they look over me and they're like, you're ridiculous.
29:23
I was like, what? This is an inspiring film, but I
29:28
love the, oh, something else I didn't touch on.
29:31
I also love the relationship with the film projectionist that
29:35
to me has sort of an underbelly feel of darkness of where the
29:40
Wizard of Oz could have gone. Like this could be a prequel to
29:43
The Wizard of Oz. That relationship, I thought, I
29:46
loved how it represented a lot of toxic relationships in the
29:51
film industry. That desperation of of, of of
29:55
clinging and why, you know, I thought that was really, you
29:59
know, I thought that was very, very well done.
30:01
But I said my favorite scene has to be the audition that goes
30:05
very, very poorly. And then the play out of that
30:07
with the with the blonde girl who then goes to see Pearl.
30:12
I think that section to me is when it's just it's, it's, it's
30:16
a scene I can watch over and over because you can feel the
30:20
dread coming. What's in the suitcases?
30:23
All my things I need for going on the road.
30:26
Wow, you're confident. Rumour has it they may only be
30:31
taking one gallop per town. It has to be me.
30:40
I don't think you meant to say that out loud, Pearl.
30:43
Well, if it's not me, then I hope it's you, Right?
30:46
It has to be me. So Greg, you've got a lot going
30:51
on in your world at the moment, keeping very busy obviously.
30:54
I'd be remiss not to bring up The Room, which I believe is
30:57
celebrating its 20th anniversary this week.
31:00
It's was the 27th of June was the 2003 was the premiere.
31:05
Yeah, premiere in LA on June 27th, 2003.
31:08
It was a night I'll never forget.
31:09
It was a movie that obviously I had Avhs rough cut of it and I'd
31:14
showed my friends and family and we had enjoyed it and talked
31:17
about it and laughed about it and quoted it.
31:19
So it became a different reality when all of a sudden now the
31:21
public was going to see this film.
31:24
And then that became super interesting because in LA, Tommy
31:27
had put up billboards like he was going for it.
31:29
And so now we got a theater full of people.
31:31
I'm now seeing it with the crowd for the first time.
31:34
And people just had a blast. They laughed, they started even
31:40
quoting it the first night. And you saw this masterpiece of
31:44
of comedy or whatever it was come to life.
31:46
We were all just super confused because we had no idea what the
31:49
hell with it, what it was. And, and Tommy, where Tommy saw
31:54
there was a draw and he stuck to it and he kept the Billboard up.
31:58
There were screenings of it. And, you know, it just built up
32:02
this huge cult following in Los Angeles and kept growing.
32:08
And so here we are 20 years later.
32:09
And I went from thinking, oh, you know, I, I don't know what
32:13
people think of The Room when they see me in it.
32:14
Is it something I, I should steer away from?
32:17
But now, 20 years later, I'm like, no, this is a movie that
32:19
has done what so many film makers would really hope that
32:22
their films do. It's got longevity, it's
32:24
timeless. It's now travelled through
32:27
generations, it's travelled the world.
32:29
And that's something that I've, over 20 years, have come to
32:32
appreciate and admire in a lot of ways.
32:36
Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a it's an incredible story as well,
32:39
Like the the story of the production and the story of how
32:42
it's grown over the last 20 years and and up through all
32:46
your trials and tribulations. You're obviously still friends
32:48
with Tommy. You've you've been in a few
32:51
movies together. You obviously still love working
32:53
together. Yeah, I think with The Room it
32:55
was a different experience because Tommy, it was, you know,
32:58
his brainchild, he masterminded it.
33:00
So you were sort of existing on Tommy's planet making The Room.
33:04
But from meeting Tommy in that acting class, I met him in 1998
33:07
in San Francisco in an acting class and I immediately was
33:10
drawn to his persona, his character, his comedy.
33:15
He's just, he's just a larger than life character.
33:17
And so when we became friends, I was always engaged with how he
33:22
saw the world. So a few years, a few years ago,
33:25
I wrote and produced a movie called Best Friends.
33:27
And Tommy's in that movie and he plays a a vampire mortician.
33:32
And we did some screenings in the UK.
33:34
We actually Lionsgate released it worldwide on streaming.
33:37
And so therefore working with him on that project, I really
33:40
enjoyed it because you could tap into his persona, his character,
33:44
his strengths as an actor. And I think that's what I've
33:47
really enjoyed, is being able to embrace that.
33:50
Grace Yeah. And I was very interested to
33:52
find out doing a bit of research that there is a a remake of
33:55
sorts on the way, Star and Bob Odenkirk and yourself reprising
33:59
the role of Mark. Can you tell me a bit more about
34:01
that? Oh yes, so so for the 20th
34:03
anniversary they did this. They did a stage reading for
34:05
charity on a green screen and Bob did the lines of Johnny, I
34:10
did the lines of Chris R and it's supposed to come out
34:13
sometime this year, but it's, yeah, it's a reading for for
34:16
charity. And Bob Odegreu's one of my
34:18
favorite actors. I mean, you look at the last 10
34:21
years of of TV and he's given us just endless amount of of
34:26
incredible work. So it was a fun time.
34:29
And anytime you get to get to be around you're some of your
34:32
heroes, it's it's really fun. And especially getting to see
34:34
him read some lines as Johnny was great.
34:37
Yeah, fantastic. And the charity, the charity is
34:39
called acting for a 'cause that's when they recreate the
34:43
great they did The Great Gatsby, Julius Caesar, classic works of
34:48
cinema. So how the room ended up in
34:50
there is pretty interesting, but.
34:53
I think it fits perfectly. So I would rewatch The Disaster
34:57
Artist. How much kind of artistic
34:59
license was taken in the film compared to, you know, real life
35:04
and how it was for you and in your book as well?
35:07
So the book The Disaster Artist, for me, it was the obviously
35:11
telling the story of my journey coming to Los Angeles, making
35:14
the room, my friendship with Tommy.
35:17
And you know, if you're going to turn that into a film, there's a
35:23
lot of crazy moments of Tommy's back story, you know, explaining
35:27
my my journey through the friendship.
35:29
So I think with the with the adaptation, it's much more
35:34
condensed version of, of the friendship of two guys following
35:37
their dreams. So I think the book is
35:39
definitely like, darker and weirder and more, more insane in
35:43
a lot of ways. So I think they kind of made it
35:46
more cohesive in a story that people don't love, you know,
35:49
don't love making up movies, don't know the room.
35:51
They can sit down and watch it and still enjoy it.
35:54
And that's what's. So yeah, that's what's so cool
35:57
is over the years, like all around the world, people saw the
35:59
disaster artists and they loved it and it inspired them and they
36:03
wanted to find out more about it.
36:04
So the movie was Disasters was not an easy movie to make.
36:08
And you got to just give so much credit to James Franco and Seth
36:11
Rogen, the screenwriters. We did a great job really
36:14
thinking it through. What?
36:15
What can we make something that's a timeless story about
36:18
the making, you know about? Yeah.
36:20
A story about Hollywood. Yeah, it's a great film.
36:23
And you working on a new film right now, Forbidden Sky.
36:26
I've noticed today that it's just been 100% funded on
36:29
Kickstarter, which is absolutely incredible news.
36:31
You've got to be excited about that.
36:33
Yeah, I saw. I So I made Best Friends Volume
36:36
1 and 2 with Tommy. Then I made a movie called
36:39
Miracle Valley, which is a again, it's sort of got an X
36:41
quality. Somebody was telling me when
36:43
they they saw Miracle Valley, I wrote directed star produce.
36:47
Sounds familiar, but they said it was a seven.
36:50
It was a 70s horror eccentric vibe.
36:52
And and so they said reminded them of X, which is obviously a
36:56
big compliment. So again, I love genre stories.
36:59
So I'm I the next thing I want to work on is a movie called
37:03
Forbidden Sky about a UFO abduction.
37:07
And oddly enough, I'm trying to get Travis Walton from Fire in
37:10
the Sky, the real life subject to have a cameo in this film.
37:14
And we're going to make it in Roswell, NM.
37:16
But we, yeah, we teamed up with Kickstarter.
37:18
I'd never done anything like this before, but with those
37:20
being The Room's 20 year anniversary, I thought what a
37:22
great chance to involve all those fans who have supported
37:25
you for 20 years now. To give them the chance to be in
37:28
the film and be part of production calls and see what
37:30
it's like to to get out there and make a film.
37:33
So we're hoping to make it early next year.
37:35
Yeah, it's called Forbidden Sky. The Kickstarter campaign is
37:37
still live for I think 2 more days.
37:40
We have some crazy stretch goals we're trying to get.
37:43
So the idea is that the stories about a small town radio host
37:47
who used to be an actor in a really bad sci-fi TV show think
37:52
kind of Galaxy Quest. And so so the show got cancelled
37:55
and he was like, wait, the show was really saying something.
37:57
People don't get it. So he's kept living as that
38:00
character in his life that he played in the show.
38:03
So now all of a sudden he's like, he's a radio host for a
38:07
really crazy conspiracy show that nobody listens to.
38:10
But late one night this alien race comes down to earth and
38:15
they only want they're orbiting Earth and they only want to
38:17
speak to him. So all of a sudden he's this
38:20
important figure in this thing. So within the movie is a is is
38:24
flashbacks to a really bad sci-fi TV show.
38:27
So we're trying to get some cameos, maybe get like a guy
38:30
like, I don't know if you know, Neil Brain getting other.
38:33
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's kind of like a kind of like
38:37
an underground director. Sure, sure, sure.
38:39
So let's try to incorporate different, you know, obviously
38:43
we're making, you're going out and trying to make a good film,
38:45
something of a fire in the sky or something that stands on its
38:49
own, but also working in these kind of undercurrents of cult
38:53
weirdness as well. I've seen the the artwork for
38:57
what? What may be the provisional
38:59
artwork for Forbidden Sky and is that an homage to Fire in the
39:03
Sky? The the one sheet for Fire in
39:05
the Sky. So the poster is I'm working
39:08
with this artist in Spain. He's great.
39:10
He did he did the covers from Miracle Valley as well.
39:13
But we're going for just sort of a vintage aesthetic.
39:16
I don't think he's ever seen fire in the sky, but maybe just.
39:19
The. Soul of what we're trying to
39:21
make, I think is there, but yeah, I think we're going to try
39:25
to tie in a few of these movies that I love.
39:27
Another another 824 film I love was Ex Machina and that was
39:31
another big inspiration for this as well.
39:34
Cool, so you're filming the start of next year.
39:36
When can we expect to see it? Probably, I'd say late 2024, you
39:41
know, we don't get abducted, you know, yeah.
39:45
Or 2025. We'll, we'll see how we how we
39:47
do. But it's one of those projects
39:48
to be really fun to take your time with it and and do it
39:51
right. Great.
39:52
Yeah, excited to see it and hopefully I'll be able to see
39:55
that remake of The Room. That sounds.
39:56
That's really interesting and it's your birthday in a couple
39:59
of weeks, Greg. That's is that right?
40:01
That's right. That's right.
40:02
That's right. Yeah.
40:03
July 15th. Many happy.
40:05
Returns to do. Thank you very.
40:08
Much. OK.
40:09
Well, thanks so much for coming on the show, Greg, and talking
40:11
movies with us. It's really been great to have
40:14
you on. Anytime.
40:15
Thank you. Big thanks to Greg for stopping
40:24
by. Don't forget to check out his
40:25
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