Tommy Wiseau’s five favourite films
Much speculation surrounding the private life of Tommy Wiseau continues to circulate. He is famed for writing, producing, directing and starring in The Room, the 2004 cult film noted for potentially being the worst film of all time.
Wiseau’s background remains unverified, though a 2013 book, The Disaster Artist, attempted to clarify some of the details. A film adaptation of the book came out in 2017 and starred James Franco. However, still very little was revealed about the man behind those sunglasses. He may not be the greatest actor or director of all time; however, his opinion on cinema is as valid as any movie lover’s.
Thankfully, we have that opinion as Wiseau once revealed his five favourite films of all time. When Wiseau named his favourite films, he said that one of them was Sonny, a 2002 film starring Franco and Nicolas Cage – also directed by Cage in his directorial debut.
Pertaining to Sonny and the reason that Franco got the role in The Disaster Artist, Wiseau said, “The reason I support [Franco’s] role, because we didn’t have a choice at the time. We picked him because originally – I don’t know if you knew the story here that The Disaster Artist is based on the great storybook Disaster Artist, right? And he basically optioned the book, optioned to produce the movie. But people ask me who would I like? Who’s supposed to play me?”
He added, “We had a conversation with James. I said, ‘That’s a good idea, because he did the movie Sonny, which I like.’ And for some reason, the critics think differently, or public, whatever. But this is related to my life as well. The Room, basically.”
Another of Wiseau’s top choices is the 1942 black-and-white classic Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The film centres on an American ex-pat who experiences a dilemma between going with his love for a woman or helping her and her husband in escaping Casablanca in Morrocco.
Wiseau said, “You see, Casablanca remind me what we have within The Room, some of the phrases. For example, I say, ‘Oh, you make my day,’ or, ‘You are tearing me apart,’ or whatever. I’m talking about the other movie as well, just paraphrasing some of those phrases. You see, The Room, people never give us credit, okay? And now everything turns around because people now, and especially the critic, which can be very tough as you probably.”
He added, “It is wrong when people started doing not just a critique but get into sort of hatred mode. You know what I’m saying? So I think it’s very important to understand the structure of what I present, related to The Room now, I presented 14 years ago, based on my vision, which people did not expect, this kind of vision, because basically, it was different cookie cutter from Hollywood.”
Wiseau’s final favourite film of all time is A Streetcar Named Desire. The film came out in 1951, directed by Elia Kazan, and is a film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ play of the same name. Wiseau noted the melodrama in the film is what he is fond of.
He said, “I just want to put it there. All these movies that I’ve listed, including Casablanca, have flavours, which I like it. Drama. Comedy. And again, we may argue back and forth about what is drama, what is a comedy, right? What is melodrama? The Room never did melodrama.”
Rounding off Wiseau’s favourite films are Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and George Stevens’ 1954 film Giant, starring James Dean. Check out the comprehensive list of Tommy Wiseau’s favourite films below.
Tommy Wiseau’s favourite films:
- Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
- Giant (George Stevens, 1954)
- Sonny (Nicolas Cage, 2002)
- Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951)
