Greg Sestero

Greg Sestero
Greg Sestero
Born	(1978-07-15) July 15, 1978 Walnut Creek, California
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actor, Model

Greg Sestero (born July 15, 1978) is an American actor, model and writer. He is best known for his role as Mark in the cult film The Room.

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, which was filmed in Romania. He followed this with a recurring role on the television soap opera Days of our Lives.^[1]

The Room

Sestero's best known role to date is as Mark, the best friend to Tommy Wiseau's Johnny in the cult film The Room, released in 2003.

Sestero met Wiseau at an acting class in 1998. 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 helped Wiseau with auditions and casting. However, when the original actor who was cast as Mark was fired, Sestero stepped in. Sestero has said that he made the film assuming no one would see it and that it would go direct to video.^[2][3]

The film was immediately lambasted by critics and fared very poorly at the box office as well. Ross Morin, an assistant professor of film studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, called it "the Citizen Kane of bad movies", and Entertainment Weekly referred to Wiseau as "the Orson Welles of crap".^[4]

Despite the poor showing, Sestero remained humorous and typically deflected much of the criticism of the movie. For example, in one interview, when asked about one of the movie's many plot holes, the sudden disappearance of the character "Peter", who is seemingly replaced in Johnny's and Mark's social circle by the character "Steven" without any explanation, Sestero responds; "We were going to add in that character Steven, but once Peter left, he kind of took over. Peter had other clients he had to tend to as a psychologist, so he couldn't be at the party. [Laughs.]"^[5][6]

The movie 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. 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. This attention grew into what was dubbed The Room's 2010-2011 "Love is Blind" International Tour, with the movie being screened in not just the U.S. but also in the U.K, 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 as well.^[7]

Later work and appearances

In 2006, Sestero appeared in the television series Fashion House, opposite actress Bo Derek, and an uncredited role in Accepted.

In 2010, Sestero 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.

In July 2010, Sestero was featured in a 5-Second Film End Zone directed by Michael Rousselet, one of The Room's original fans who helped propel the movie to cult status.^[4][8] Sestero then 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.^[9]

The July 2010 edition of Diablo magazine labeled Sestero, along with others including Carlos Santana and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, as "The Best of the East Bay Stars and Standouts."^[10]

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.^[11]

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

Sestero continues to model and has appeared in ads for Tommy Hilfiger, Armani, and Ralph Lauren, among others.^[5]

Book

In May 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 the numerous questions he has fielded from audience members over the years. The book, titled The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room was released on October 1, 2013.^[13][14][15]

Filmography

Films

Television

Internet

Personal life

Sestero was born in Walnut Creek, California and grew up in Danville, California. He speaks both French and English.^[1] At the age of 12, Sestero wrote a screenplay, a sequel to the 1990 film Home Alone, with a leading role for himself opposite actor Macaulay Culkin. Sestero submitted the screenplay to Hughes Productions and received a commendatory letter from filmmaker John Hughes.^[2]

During his junior year of high school Sestero began modeling, working in locations such as Milan and Paris for designers such as Giorgio Armani and Gianfranco Ferre, and many others. He returned to the United States to focus on acting, enrolling in the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. Sestero eventually signed on with Hollywood agent Iris Burton, which prompted his eventual move to Los Angeles, California.

Sestero continues to make his residence in southern California.^[5]

References

External links

• Greg Sestero at the Internet Movie Database
• Greg Sestero on Facebook