“We have got the Tommy responses and they are… bizarre,” says James Franco of hearing from The Room writer-director-star Tommy Wiseau.
This morning Franco was nominated for his portrayal of Wiseau in the A24 comedy The Disaster Artist, which also earned a best picture, musical or comedy nomination.
“He sent some texts. He says, ‘Whoah what a day.’ And he said, ‘Can you imagine. What Next?’ And then the final one, which I really don’t understand: ‘We don’t need panic cinema. We might buy cinema in Paris ha ha ha.’ I don’t know what that means.”
The actor says that Wiseau was inspired to make The Room on Golden Globes night when he was stuck in traffic because of the ceremony. “He was like, ‘Ugh, all of these limos. I will show them. I will make better movie!’”
Franco says that Wiseau ended up pulling over and he saw The Talented Mister Ripley, which the nominee notes parallels Wiseau’s own personal journey. “It’s about this outsider who wants to break in to this exclusive world and he thinks if he does his life will change and be better.”
Of what The Disaster Artist means to him, personally, Franco says, “This movie is so bizarre, but is really earnest. The fact that I got to do it with my brother and sister-in-law and one of my closest friends ever of more than 20 years.” He concluded: “It feels like the culmination of everything I started 20 years ago with Freaks and Geeks.”
