Movies

James Franco Is Answering The 'Disaster Artist' Phone Number

The Disaster Artist phone number
By Ben Pearson/

Oh, hai readers. I hope by now you know all about The Disaster Artist, James Franco's tribute to the making of The Room (one of the best worst movies of all time) and in many ways a classic Hollywood story about following your dreams. It's out in limited release right now and expanding wider this weekend, and you should definitely seek it out if it's playing near you.

In addition to directing, Franco also stars as Tommy Wiseau, the enigmatic creative force behind The Room. As part of A24's marketing campaign for the movie, they've recreated a billboard that the actual Wiseau paid to display in Los Angeles years ago, complete with a phone number that Tommy himself used to answer. But now Franco is answering calls in-character, and below, you can listen in to a bunch of those calls to The Disaster Artist phone number with Franco speaking with a wide selection of (often-confused) fans.

Seth Rogen, who produced and co-stars in The Disaster Artist, recently tweeted a video transcription of one of those conversations:

But that's not the only time he's done this. Looking back through the film's official Twitter account, Franco's Tommy has spoken with a couple of birthday girls...

...a woman who had a couple of drinks...

...and a few people from New Jersey...

...and a guy who couldn't quite tell if he was talking with Franco or the real Tommy Wiseau:

The number is still active, so if you call it, you could be the next subject of one of these video tweets.

In the coming days, I'll have interviews with actor Paul Scheer (who portrays a composite of The Room's four directors of photography in The Disaster Artist) and co-writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, who told me all about adapting actor Greg Sestero's book of the same name, the true antics of the real Tommy Wiseau, and what it was like watching James Franco direct The Disaster Artist in character as Tommy. So stay tuned for those conversations, and in the meantime, be sure to read our own Jacob Hall's review of the movie from this year's SXSW Film Festival and Josh Spiegel's editorial on how The Disaster Artist and Tim Burton's Ed Wood are excellent companion pieces.

The Disaster Artist is in limited theaters now, and expands wider on December 8, 2017.

Recommended