Tommy Wiseau is a European actor and filmmaker with a very mysterious private life. Learn about his movies, net worth and more here.
Who is Tommy Wiseau?
Tommy Wiseau is an actor and filmmaker best known for his work directing the cult classic movie ‘The Room’, as well as the television series ‘The Neighbors’. He is most recently the center of public attention thanks to James Franco’s portrayal of him in the comedy ‘The Disaster Artist’. James Franco just recently won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for this performance. Little else about Tommy Wiseau’s is known, as he keeps details about his personal and private life under wraps. We do know that he was born in Europe, but the exact date and location is unknown, although he has admitted to being of Polish descent. In interviews following the release of ‘The Room’, Wiseau claimed to be an age which would indicate that he was born in either 1968 or 1969, however other insiders claim to have seen his U.S. immigration papers, which show that he was born in the 1950’s in an Eastern Bloc country. Wiseau spent some time living in France before immigrating to America, working as a dishwasher and adopting the name of “Pierre”. His decision to move to America came after he was wrongfully arrested at a friend’s party and terribly mistreated by the French police. When he arrived in America, Wiseau first lived with family members in Chalmette, Louisiana, just outside of New Orleans. He later moved to San Francisco, attending Laney Community College in Oakland and working a variety of different jobs, including busboy and hospital worker, around the area. Wiseau eventually got into buying large retail spaces which he rented out to businesses, making him independently wealthy before he pursued a career in acting and film directing.
Tommy Wiseau’s Movies
According to Greg Sestero, actor in Tommy Wiseau’s movie ‘The Room’ and author of the 2013 non-fiction book ‘The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made’, Tommy decided to pursue his dreams of acting and directing movies after being involved in a serious car crash which left him hospitalized for several weeks. ‘The Room’, based on a lengthy unpublished book written by Wisea, was his debut in 2003. It was quickly put down by critics as being perhaps the worst movie ever made. Surprisingly, fans took to it, making it a cult classic seemingly over night. Just after this, in 2004, Tommy Wiseau produced and appeared in a short documentary, entitled Homeless in America. Homeless in America sheds light on the homeless and those who help them. Wiseau has appeared in an actor in several other films including ‘The House That Drips Blood on Alex’, ‘Bump’, ‘Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance’, ‘Cold Moon’ and in television series including ‘Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!’, ‘The Tommy Wi-Show’, ‘Tommy Explains it All’ and ‘The Neighbors’. Most recently, Wiseau had a cameo in the 2017 film adaptation of the book written by Greg Sestero about filming ‘The Room’, called ‘The Disaster Artist’ as Henry. He is also the star of a film yet to be released this year called ‘Best F(r)iends’, alongside Greg Sestero. ‘Best F(r)iends’ was written by Sestero and taped secretly in Lost Angeles.
Tommy Wiseau and Tonya Harding made waves at the Golden Globes ceremony by taking this photo together. Tommy was there because actor James Franco was up for a Golden Globe for his performance portraying him in the film ‘The Disaster Artist’, while Tonya Harding showed up to support Allison Janney, who played the character of Tonya’s abusive mother in the film ‘I, Tonya’.
Net Worth, Facts to Know About Tommy Wiseau
Here are some more facts to know about Tommy Wiseau, including his net worth: 1. Wiseau speaks French fluently, thanks to his time spent living in France as a youth. 2. It is reported that Tommy Wiseau has a net worth of $500,000 thanks to his work on ‘The Room.’ 3. Tommy Wiseau states that he is greatly influenced by the films ‘The Guns of Navarone’ and ‘Citizen Kane’, specifically the actors James Dean and Marlon Brando. His other influences include Tennessee Williams, Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor, and Alfred Hitchcock. 4. Wiseau’s documentary ‘Homeless in America’ earned him the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival Award for Best Social Documentary. 5. ‘The Room’ is still shown in late night showings around the world to this day, with fans showing up wearing wigs and dressed like their favorite characters, interacting with the dialogue on screen, and throwing items around the the theater in response to certain prompts in the movie. Screenings were held in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Australia, India and other locations, dubbed The Room’s 2010–2011 “Love is Blind” International Tour.
Final Thoughts
Tommy Wiseau may be one of the biggest mysteries in Hollywood, but his on screen personality is always good for a laugh. Who knows what this intensely private man has brewing for us next? We’ll just have to wait and see…
Tommy Wiseau poses with James Franco in this photo.
