Co-star in cinema’s best worst movie to be in Tacoma Friday to talk about his latest work
Greg Sestero can now add “writer-director” to his resume, which already contains New York Times best-selling author and co-star of cinema’s best worst movie.
Sestero, who rose to cult classic fame in Tommy Wiseau’s so-bad-you-can’t-turn-away 2003 film, “The Room,” is back in Tacoma on Friday to screen that movie and his new horror-thriller flick, “Miracle Valley”.
The author of “The Disaster Artist” will sign books and talk about both films during screenings at The Grand Cinema.
“The Disaster Artist” — about the making of “The Room” — was made in to a Golden Globe-winning film by actor James Franco. It co-starred Seth Rogen, Jackie Weaver, Zac Efron and Dave Franco, who played Sestero.
Sestero was last in Tacoma in December when he screened “The Room” at The Grand.
“Everyone there was awesome,” Sestero said. “We showed the (‘Miracle Valley’) trailer and talked about it. And so we thought this would be an awesome spot to do this.”
‘Miracle Valley’
Sestero has written and acted in films since “The Room,” but “Miracle Valley” marks his first director credit. He also stars in the movie.
Filmed in southern Arizona, the horror/thriller is a campy Manson Family cult meets “The Hills Have Eyes”. The film will be released in September on streaming services and Blu-ray.
“I was living out in Arizona and writing the script,” Sestero said. “I was like, this is a perfect chance to kind of do it all, having just been in this location and knowing it as well as I do.”
Sestero plays David, a photographer who is obsessed with a rare bird. David and his girlfriend receive an invitation for a stay at a rural home in Arizona. Chance encounters with dodgy characters accelerate until the couple realize they are in the midst of a murderous cult.
A longtime horror film fan, Sestero wanted to try his hand at the genre.
“I figure after having survived “The Room” ... this was kind of a fun genre to step into,” he said.
The interactive nature that audiences have with “The Room” influenced Sestero’s goals for “Miracle Valley”.
“I just think nowadays we definitely want movies in a theater that people can interact with and have a good time,” he said. “That’s what’s happened with the test screenings. People have shouted stuff at the screen and quoted things.”
Sestero describes his character as “an idiot” who gets his comeuppance in the end.
Although Wiseau and Sestero are still good friends the famous auteur doesn’t make an appearance in the film. Originally, he was set to play the cult leader.
“But then COVID happened just as we were making it and it just made it a lot tougher to make that work,” Sestero said.
Sestero has started work on his next movie, a UFO-themed film he calls a cross between “Fire in the Sky” and “Ex Machina”.
“It’s kind of bringing a new little voice to the whole UFO genre based on what I’ve researched and gone through,” he said.
Production will begin in 2023 in Texas and Iceland, Sestero said.
If you go
What: “An Evening Inside ‘The Room’ With Greg Sestero”
When: 7 p.m. (“Miracle Valley”) and 9:30 p.m. (“The Room”) Friday, Aug. 19
Where: The Grand Cinema, 606 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma
Tickets: $20-28 at grandcinema.com
