"The Room" is a not bad movie. Bad movies are nothing special to Hollywood; one or two are guaranteed to come out pretty much every weekend. No, "The Room" is more like an unholy miracle of awful filmmaking, a movie that fails so incredibly hard it becomes an almighty success in the process. 

Released all the way back in 2003 – despite looking maybe a decade older – "The Room" is about a couple teetering on the edge of oblivion, but pay no mind to that. Its tale of scotchka-fueled passions and chicken-cheeping betrayals zigs and zags in ways the human brain has not evolved to comprehend. As writer Tom Bissell geniusly described, "it is the movie an alien who has never seen a movie might make after having had movies thoroughly explained to him."

One character announces she has cancer. It is never spoken of again. Another character gets involved in a high-stakes drug deal. It is also never spoken of again. In between all of the questionably focused scenes of D-grade Skinemax sex, loose interpretations of playing football – in tuxedos, obviously – tracking shots making their way across the Golden Gate Bridge, couple breaking into houses for the most uncomfortable chocolate-related foreplay since the invention of chocolate lingerie, thoroughly awkward conversation starters ("So anyway, how's your sex life?") and baffling performances, a tragedy is unfolding, one that eventually turns deadly. You'll just be too busy laughing to notice.

What transforms "The Room" from bad to brilliant is that, underneath all of the ineptitude, there's a clearly felt drive to make a true work of genius. "Sharknado" and its like were made to be crappy; "The Room" just ended up that way despite its lofty intents. "Sharknado" is cynical and sad; "The Room" is genuine. "Sharknado" is just bad; "The Room" is brilliant in its badness.

The man behind it all – literally, as writer, director, producer and star – is Tommy Wiseau, who is almost as enigmatic as his masterpiece. His backstory, where his odd slurry of a broken accent came from and more is mostly unknown or left vaguely hinted at. He'll be in Milwaukee this weekend at the Oriental Theatre – possibly rocking two belts and his own line of underwear – for two midnight showings of "The Room."

Before then, I got a chance to ask Tommy some questions. No, not "What kind of money?," "What kind of drugs do you take?" and "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Instead, we talked about the film's reception, James Franco's upcoming adaptation of "The Disaster Artist," France and his upcoming project, an educational drama/comedy about foreclosure. 

OnMilwaukee.com: What was your first reaction to the public’s response to the film?

Tommy Wiseau: Well, you know my plan was to make a movie, move onto next one, but in a way, it come out better, because we still talk about it after 12 years. So to respond to your question, you know, we had certain reactions from people, but not too extreme. It was a little disappointing, but at the same token, I always say I have original material, so I created "The Room," and I think eventually people understand what "The Room" is about. That was my vision in the beginning.

OMC: A lot of that early reaction was very personal, in terms of attacking your scripted interactions with people and your co-star Greg Sestero's behind-the-scenes tell-all "The Disaster Artist." A lot of people talked about the movie and you as though they were one in the same.

TW: Yeah, you’re right, but again, right now, in the past two or three years, I’ve been very open about who I am and what I do. Some of it, you know, I will say this way to be nice, I think some people are trying to discredit my creativity. That’s basically what happened. That’s a sad story to say about actors, who actually some of those people say that the script did not exist. I know if you go to tommywiseau.com, and you will see some of the footage behind the scenes of "The Room," and you can see the script of this. Actually, I released the script; you can buy the script. So this is one of those examples in the past 12 years, in the beginning of "The Room," I don’t think people give me that credit. But it is what it is, you know? As long as the audience enjoys it, I enjoy myself, so that’s the story with that.

OMC: Was it always, from the beginning, intended as a black comedy? The early promotional material hints more toward it being a drama.

TW: Well, yeah, so basically, still today, some people don’t understand production. My background as an actor is a stage actor. If I do originally what the standard Hollywood approach on "The Room," "The Room" will not be called "The Room" in the first place. I don’t know if you know, but I changed the crew five times, actors three times, et cetera, et cetera.

So (Greg Sestero) write a book about it, and you know, it’s pure garbage if you ask me, OK? Because the thing is that any filmmaker – I don’t care who you are; small, big, large, whatever – still, you need the preparation. And the people, as you probably know, over the past 12 years and still today, they don’t understand what transpired on "The Room." You can see, on the behind the scenes on the Blu-ray or DVD, perfect proof what transpired on the set.

In the end, movies, my take on that, is that it’s extremely difficult to produce a movie, that’s number one. Actually to present it to the audience, you know. I was a stubborn guy at the time when I shot "The Room," because there were a lot of people who did not support my vision the way I wanted. It’s not a question of having an ego on it. I wanted to create something people would have fun with.

So to respond to your question, it’s categorized as a black comedy/drama. I don’t know if people understand what definition of drama is. Drama also leads to comedy and vice versa. Some people assume that I don’t know what I was doing; that’s completely nonsense. I had the backgrounds, and I wanted a certain style the way I visualized. 

OMC: Was there a moment where you went with that more, when you saw the crowd heckling and thought, "Yeah, let’s go with this." Or was it that way from the beginning?

TW: No, no, no, no, no, no. That was from the beginning, from my class. You see, if you look at Greg Sestero’s book – I don’t know if you read it or not – he didn’t indicate too much about it. He gave some examples of my acting class; I really wanted people, whenever I said, I said the words in a certain way to have fun with it.

So to respond to your question, definitely, from the beginning I said, hey, this doesn’t affect me. You have to give the public some kind of space and let them express toward your art, whatever the art will do. In this case, the art is the movie. To create something when people relate to it is extremely difficult, because how many movies are produced? I rest my case, you know.

In the past 12 years, people have been debating in schools and stuff about "The Room," and hey, I’m here. Ask the question if you want. You don’t have to analyze assuming something when your assumption is incorrect. Any production, any person will say the same thing I’m saying, you have to prepare yourself for whatever you do, one way or another. 

OMC: A lot of people who claim there was no script might point at some elements of the story, like the breast cancer that gets referenced just once in the film or the fact that the room is called "The Room," but there is no particular room of the title. You’ve said that it’s based on a novel you’d written. In that, were those elements more fleshed out, or was that the way you wanted it to be?

TW: The script, I released it online. This is an original third edition script, and you can see I didn’t take one single page out. This is the same script that you see in the behind the scenes footage of "The Room" on the video. You see, again, people have short memory – especially actors that say, "Oh, we only get three pages." Well, why should I print 124 pages for you when you have a scene that’s only one page? Doesn’t make sense.

Long story short, I did not change anything except we did, during the production, certain pages we cut in half because of the cost. This is all typical. You can see the script, it’s almost word for word, almost 90 percent what you see in the script is in the movie, although some of the scenes were adjusted accordingly based on the production. Because keep in mind, we also used two cameras. That’s another aspect people don’t understand: why I did the two cameras. To experience something different, which I’m very proud of it.  

OMC: Was there an idea of expanding on some of those ideas, though?

TW: If you look at the Claudette scene, all the characters – including the cancer – are absolutely in the book much more precise. Keep in mind, "The Room" is 99 minutes, and my idea was to put as much different issues: drugs, cancer, relationships, betrayal, how far a person can go, two is better than three, three is a crowd. That was my idea from the beginning; I call it Caesar salad. (laughs) You have all those ingredients, and that’s the finished product. I wish "The Room" could be … if I was shooting today, I’d probably divide it into four parts, with each one 99 minutes, so then we could talk about Chris R. and other issues within "The Room."

OMC: In the AMA from earlier this year, you mentioned the possibility of a "The Room" prequel or sequel. Is there any momentum on that?

TW: Yeah, definitely, but at the same token, I also would like to put it on Broadway, because "The Room" can be on Broadway very easily, and I think people would enjoy it. That’s the bottom line. If you look at why people are attached to "The Room," directly or indirectly, like I said in the past two or three years, I’ve been very open about my interests. I read one time that Tommy has a lot of DVDs, but he never watched the movies. Well that’s called simply false. I like Clint Eastwood, and I like his movies. James Dean, too.

I don’t know if you know this, but some of the articles about "The Room," they repeat the same thing over and over instead of contacting me and asking questions. So once again, I rest my case. I’m not here to criticize anyone. For example, Johnny from "The Room" can’t be naked, right? But Richard Gere can be naked. I rest my case. (laughs)

This is one of the examples where I’m laughing because I think it’s pretty funny when people who write things didn’t figure out the vision. Same with the script. People say the script didn’t exist, but the script is here. So again, we talk about the Blu-ray. We have a couple of languages, one of the best Blu-rays as far as I’m concerned. We have four different languages, but nobody talks about the positive things. Everything is negative. I rest my case, I guess. 

OMC: Are you able to say at all what your connection is with James Franco's adaptation of "The Disaster Artist"?

TW: Generally speaking, I’m connected to James Franco’s production. That’s what they want me to say; that’s what I’m saying. He has the live rights to my life, actually. We see what he was creating. I think he’s a very talented person; we talked to him. We brainstormed some stuff. They are writing the script, and I think they completed it. I think it’ll be shooting at the end of this year to next year.

OMC: Are you concerned in any way of how you’ll be portrayed at all?

TW: I’ll be honest with you, it’s like this: Whatever happens, it’s up to the producer. You can spin it the way you want to spin it, but then truth will prevail. Eventually, my idea is that, if I don’t like the movie, after five years – I think the contract says after five years or whatever – I’ll actually be doing my own movie of my life, basically. People have a tendency toward exaggeration, but I don’t know; James Franco and Seth Rogen are good people. If they go based on the Greg Sestero book, which was incorrect, that’s up to them. When I talk to them, I can say that. He said he’ll be very respectful.

I’m American. I’m very proud of it. I came from France a long time ago to Louisiana. What I say to the press, what I say to others, it’s a story. I make money on real estate, as well, business retail stuff. And I go back to retail; believe it or not. I’ve designed my own underwear. I think that this is my country. America is a very unique country. I travel a lot, and I notice we have such a unique culture. When you go to Indiana, it’s definitely different from when you go to Los Angeles or New Orleans, you know? New Orleans is slightly different from New York, et cetera, et cetera.

We don’t spread enough words about the U.S.A. abroad. Like the UK, for example, or Canada or France – I used to live in France – people don’t understand that we have such a great, unique culture that’s valuable. That’s why a lot of people want to come to this country. I think our U.S. government, I don’t think they’re doing a good job, to be honest and straight forward with you. We’re a very rich country and we’re a very unique country, and some of our resources, we are putting in the wrong direction if I may say that.

I did "Homeless in America." I’m very aware of a certain issue that relates to our culture. We, as a group, can do a better job, and I think that’s what the beauty of our country is. We can sit down together – we don’t kill each other – and we say, hey, let’s just brainstorm and see what we can do. Even though I personally think we don’t get enough credit overseas what America is about.

OMC: Are you originally from France?

TW: Well, you know, I used to live there a long time ago, but I traveled from New Orleans to France back and forth, so I consider myself American. That’s what I consider myself. I don’t consider myself any kind of different country or origin or whatever people want to sell. "Oh, where’d he come from? Oh my god, what’s his accent?" I mean, I speak several languages.

But to respond, yeah, I used to live in France a long time ago. I mean, for me, France was such a unique country. But at the same token, this is my take on that, they’re a little behind schedule. They’re stealing our music; I don’t like that. I’ve been to Paris about two years ago – three years ago actually – and I saw they were playing all of our American music. I wanted them to pay for license; never mind about that.

But they have a unique culture too. For example, in France, they actually borrow our culture, like they have Kentucky Fried Chicken and different restaurants, etc. And they blame America for damaging culture, but it’s up to them what they want to do. It’s like in San Francisco, 24th Street, they don’t want a McDonald's … so they don’t have a McDonald's! So blame yourself, France!

OMC: You’ve got "The Neighbors" on Hulu, but you’ve also talked about maybe doing a slavery movie, this "Foreclosure" movie, a vampire movie. What’s next for you?

TW: As you know, we completed the music video. "The Neighbors" had six episodes, and we are working on the next six episodes. And then next one will be "The Foreclosure," and then I really want to come back to "The Room" on Broadway or we do the sequel. I’m not sure yet. "The Foreclosure," right now, we’ll be shooting hopefully next month if I’m lucky.

 OMC: What's that about?

TW: "The Foreclosure" is based on the factual real life in America that people lose their homes, and one of the characters, Richard, has a home, and his house is foreclosed due to the fact that he hasn’t paid his mortgage. But the fact is that the bank made a mistake with the paperwork, so he’s taking sort of justice into his own hands. He goes to the bank, there’s a hostage situation, etc., end of the story is that he is the winner because actually the bank admits that they make a mistake, but they didn’t want to admit it. That’s the bottom line.

You see, this is a similar situation to what happened to many people in America – and maybe the world. Sometimes you sign a certain paper, and 90 percent of the time, you’re not the winner, because if something happens, you lose everything. So "The Foreclosure" is dealing actually with the foreclosure of a house and the banks are losing big time, but I want to present it where it’s also sort of an educational-slash-drama/comedy that’s actually for young people, that hey, you know what, conduct yourself. Read your contract: That’s basically what the message is. Or, if you don’t understand, ask questions. Because we don’t ask questions. That’s the story.