Man Attempts to Get Ahead by Claiming He Actually Directed "The Room," World Laughs

Tommy Wiseau

Man Attempts to Get Ahead by Claiming He Actually Directed "The Room," World Laughs

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Nick Hanover

In what is undoubtedly the worst attempt at getting your name out there in the history of the world, Sandy Schklair is now claiming he is in fact the true director of the The Room, not Tommy Wiseau, according to an upcoming EW feature that Slashfilm has gotten a sneak peek at. For those of who you who aren't already a part of the cult of The Room, the film is widely regarded as the worst movie of all-time, even more inept than predecessors like Plan 9 From Outer Space and Manos: The Hands of Fate.

Released in 2003 to little fanfare, The Room evolved into something much larger after critics and audiences were blown away by the weirdness of its writer, director, producer and star Tommy Wiseau. Wiseau, who looks a little like what would happen if the Hulk grew greasy longhair and melted, filled his film full of truly bizarre plot developments and lines, turning what should have just been a terrible drama into the absolute pinnacle of cult filmdom. Characters enter and exit with no introduction or reason, side plots like a cancer diagnosis and a run in with a drug dealer are abandoned with no explanation and everyone speaks and interacts in a way that is totally alien. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to do so immediately.

But even without seeing the film, it should be immediately clear that it's not the type of thing most people would be proud to have their resume. While the film has achieved some level of notoriety and pop culture infamy, it's for all the wrong reasons. Yet Schklair, who it should be noted has a new series from TNT on the way, appears to think it's exactly the type of project he should take credit for. Schklair was hired on as a script supervisor for the film, meaning he's the guy who not only allowed lines like "You're tearing me apart, LISA!" and "Do you understand life?!" to make it through but may have added to their ridiculousness.

Schklair claims that his job quickly became more than just script supervision, stating that the actors on set begged him for direction and line alteration because Wiseau was so inept. Absolutely no one who has seen The Room will claim Wiseau isn't inept but if you've heard Wiseau speak then it should be clear why it's odd for anyone to claim they had more of a hand in The Room's genesis than Wiseau did. The film basically is Wiseau. Nonetheless, an unnamed actor from the film does assert to EW that a script supervisor wound up directing the film because Wiseau was too busy "acting," though they don't explicitly name Schklair.

Tellingly, Schklair was only a part of the production for a month, quitting long before the project was finished and Slashfilm is quick to question the fact that he waited nearly eight years (and until he had a tv show to promote) to claim credit for the production. Schklair states that actor Malcolm McDowell urged him to speak up about it and that's the cause for the delay. Even so, Schklair's version of events, as Slashfilm also points out, would only be enough to get him a First Assistant Director credit on most production. Wiseau has already denied Schklair's claims, though he unfortunately did not do so by shouting, "I did not hit him! I did nawwwttt!!!"

We'll keep you updated as details emerge about this truly fascinating story.