Athena Cinema to host author and cult film actor, Greg Sestero of 鈥淭he Room鈥�

The Athena Cinema will welcome Greg Sestero for a special event titled 鈥淥h, Hi Mark! An Evening Inside 鈥楾he Room鈥� with Greg Sestero.鈥� The evening will feature two special screenings of his cult classic film 鈥淭he Room鈥� on Saturday, April 23, with a Q&A prior to each showing. The screenings will take place at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

An actor, producer, director and writer, Sestero is most widely known as the author of The New York Times bestseller 鈥淭he Disaster Artist鈥� and for his role as the traitorous 鈥淢ark鈥� in the film 鈥淭he Room.鈥� Sestero reunited with the creator of 鈥淭he Room,鈥� Tommy Wiseau, for 2017 and 2018鈥檚 dark comedy thriller 鈥淏est F(r)iends, Volume One and Two,鈥� as well as for his most recent work, 鈥淢iracle Valley,鈥� a new horror film in which he makes his directorial debut.

The 鈥渟o-bad-it鈥檚-incredible鈥� brainchild of the enigmatic Wiseau, 鈥淭he Room鈥� is revered by fans for its confounding storytelling, over-the-top performances, and nonsensical filmmaking that few films can dare match.

Retold in Sestero鈥檚 book 鈥淭he Disaster Artist,鈥� which was later adapted to an Oscar-nominated film directed by and starring James Franco, 鈥淭he Room,鈥� started as an earnest attempt from amateur auteur Wiseau to make a dramatic feature film. The reality on-set was that Sestero and others were just as puzzled by what they were making as the audiences who would eventually see the finished product.

鈥淭he thing with 鈥楾he Room鈥� is that you can鈥檛 really ever talk about acting because you鈥檙e saying stuff you would normally never say,鈥� Sestero told podcaster Chris Van Vliet in a recent interview. 鈥淚 mean, you can鈥檛 really call that acting. We鈥檙e surviving that dialogue.鈥�

After a few years as an underground punchline, 鈥淭he Room鈥� blossomed into a wildly popular fan favorite after word spread online about what a riot it was to watch. Soon after, forums were abuzz with musings on the mysteries of its creation and how the film got made.

Today, 鈥淭he Room鈥� draws sell-out crowds in theaters as it continues to pique the curiosity of the uninitiated and bring people together for 91 minutes of wall-to-wall incredulous laughter. For the past decade, Sestero has happily visited theaters throughout North America to answer audiences鈥� most burning questions and introduce the film that jumpstarted his career鈥攁lbeit in a way he never intended.

鈥淚t went beyond just a role,鈥� Sestero explained. 鈥溾€橳he Room鈥� taught me so much, it鈥檚 introduced me to so many great people, and it鈥檚 brought me around the world鈥� All of that would have never happened, and it鈥檚 a movie that people genuinely love. In the end, I think things were meant to be.鈥�

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased .  

For more information contact Alexandra Kamody, director, Athena Cinema, at kamodya@ohio.edu (opens in a new window). The Athena Cinema is one of downtown Athens unique historic treasures. Its mission is to bring the finest independent film to Southeastern Ohio and create a shared space for dialogue. For more on this event, visit