Background and career
Greg Sestero (born July 15, 1978) is an American actor, filmmaker, model and author. He is best known for his role as Mark in the 2003 cult film The Room, as well as for his well-received memoir The Disaster Artist, detailing his experiences making The Room, which was itself later adapted into a 2017 film.
Sestero was born in Walnut Creek, California on July 15, 1978 to Marie-José (née Citro) and Richard Sestero. His father is American of Italian and Irish descent, and his mother is French from Grenoble, and is of French and Italian (Sicilian) heritage. He was raised in Danville, California, where he attended Monte Vista High School. Sestero has said that he wrote a sequel to the then-recently released Home Alone at the age of 12, titled Home Alone 2: Lost in Disney World, which included a leading role for himself alongside Macaulay Culkin's Kevin McCallister. He submitted the screenplay, along with a provisional poster, soundtrack suggestions and a request for a cross-promotional deal between 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Pictures, to Hughes Entertainment, and eventually received a commendatory letter from John Hughes. Sestero credits Hughes' gesture with inspiring him to pursue a professional acting career. During his junior year of high school, Sestero began modeling, working in Milan and Paris for designers such as Giorgio Armani and Gianfranco Ferré. He returned to the United States to focus on acting, enrolling in the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. His signing with Hollywood agent Iris Burton prompted his eventual move to Los Angeles.
Sestero's early acting work included minor roles in the television show Nash Bridges and the films Gattaca (1997) and Patch Adams (1998). In 1999, Sestero was cast as the lead in the horror movie Retro Puppet Master. He followed this with a one-episode role on the television soap opera Days of Our Lives.
Sestero's best known role to date is as Mark, the best friend to Tommy Wiseau's character Johnny, in the 2003 cult film The Room. Sestero met Wiseau at an acting class in 1998 held by Jean Shelton. Wiseau told Sestero that if he was able to raise the funds to make the film, he would hire him as his co-star; Sestero arrived on set, only agreeing to work behind the scenes and help Wiseau with auditions and casting. However, Wiseau wanted the original actor cast as Mark out of the film, and formulated an elaborate plan to replace him with Sestero. Sestero has said that he made the film assuming no one would see it and that it would go direct to video. The film was immediately lambasted by critics and fared very poorly at the box office. In Sestero's book, The Disaster Artist, he revealed that Wiseau had sent a copy of the film to Paramount Pictures to gain wide distribution and was denied by the studio within 24 hours (the typical response time is two weeks). Ross Morin, an assistant professor of film studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, called it "the Citizen Kane of bad movies", and Entertainment Weekly referred to Wiseau as "the Orson Welles of crap". Despite the poor showing, Sestero remained humorous and usually deflected much of the criticism of the film.
The film quickly began to receive attention from audience members because of its poor production values rather than in spite of them; it soon became a "cult classic" with late-night showings at theaters around the United States. Audience members typically arrive wearing wigs resembling their favorite characters, interact with the dialogue on screen, and throw plastic cutlery and footballs around the theater. This attention grew into what was dubbed The Room's 2010–2011 "Love is Blind" International Tour, and the film was screened in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Australia, France, and India, among other locations. Sestero appeared at many of these events, posing for photographs with fans and often addressing them before the screenings. Sestero appeared in a remake of The Room that was released in October 2025; originally, it was set for 2023, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the original's release.
In June 2011, it was announced that Sestero had signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to write a book based on his experiences making The Room with Tommy Wiseau. The book, titled The Disaster Artist, was released in October 2013. On November 23, 2014, The Disaster Artist won Best Non-Fiction at the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The judges praised the book, stating "The Disaster Artist is not only a hell of a good read, it will make a great film if ever adapted. It's equal parts Ed Wood, American Hustle and demented Citizen Kane—with a dash of Monty Python thrown into the mix." On February 11, 2015, The Disaster Artist audiobook, narrated by Sestero, was nominated for Best Humor Audiobook at the 2015 Audie Awards. In 2014, Seth Rogen's production company, Point Grey Pictures, acquired the rights to a film adaptation of Sestero's book. In the film, also titled The Disaster Artist, Dave Franco played Sestero, and James Franco starred as Wiseau and directed, for which he won a Golden Globe. Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber wrote the script. New Line Cinema produced the film, and distribution rights were later acquired by A24. Shooting began on December 8, 2015. The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2017 and began a wide theatrical release on December 8, 2017. In December 2017, The Disaster Artist made its debut on the New York Times Bestseller List for Paperback Nonfiction.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
