Fails the Bechdel test

The Disaster Artist

Name: The Disaster Artist
Released: 2017

2017. Directed by James Franco, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and Greg Sestero.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
33 women characters. 19 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

With The Disaster Artist, James Franco transforms the tragicomic true-story of aspiring filmmaker and infamous Hollywood outsider Tommy Wiseau--an artist whose passion was as sincere as his methods were questionable--into a celebration of friendship, artistic expression, and dreams pursued against insurmountable odds. Based on Greg Sestero's best-selling tell-all about the making of Tommy's cult-classic disasterpiece The Room ("The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made"), The Disaster Artist is a hilarious and welcome reminder that there is more than one way to become a legend--and no limit to what you can achieve when you have absolutely no idea what you're doing.

Released: 08 Dec 2017
Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 76 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 32 wins & 84 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Tommy 399 lines, man
Greg 295 lines, man
Sandy 39 lines, man
Amber 37 lines, woman
Raphael 24 lines, man
Mrs. Sestero 15 lines, woman
Juliette 14 lines, woman
Peter 13 lines, man
Jean Shelton 12 lines, woman
Bryan Cranston 9 lines, man

Full cast, 102 people

Dave Franco as Greg / 'Mark'
James Franco as Tommy / 'Johnny'
Seth Rogen as Sandy
Ari Graynor as Juliette / 'Lisa'
Alison Brie as Amber
Jacki Weaver as Carolyn / 'Claudette'
Paul Scheer as Raphael
Zac Efron as Dan / 'Chris-R'
Josh Hutcherson as Philip / 'Denny'
June Diane Raphael as Robyn / 'Michelle'
Megan Mullally as Mrs. Sestero
Jason Mantzoukas as Peter
Andrew Santino as Scott Holmes / 'Mike'
Nathan Fielder as Kyle Vogt / 'Peter'
Joe Mande as Todd
Sharon Stone as Iris Burton
John Early as Chris
Melanie Griffith as Jean Shelton
Hannibal Buress as Bill
Lo Mutuc as Safowa
Jessie Ennis as Receptionist
Peter Gilroy as Laemmle Employee
Lauren Ash as Florist 'Erin'
Karen Macarah as Casting Director
Sugar Lyn Beard as Actress #2
Bob Odenkirk as Stanislavsky Teacher
Brian Huskey as Teller 'James'
Megan Ferguson as Jessie
Randall Park as Male Actor
Steven Liu as Waiter
Tommy Wiseau as Henry
Casey Wilson as Casting Director #2
Jerrod Carmichael as Actor Friend
Xosha Roquemore as Actress #3
Kelly Oxford as Amy - Makeup
Kether Donohue as Actress #6
Jeffrey C. Goodell as Todd's Assistant
Dree Hemingway as Female Guest #2
Angelyne as Angelyne
Tom Franco as Karl
Zoey Deutch as Bobbi
Ike Barinholtz as Ike Barinholtz
Kevin Smith as Kevin Smith
Keegan-Michael Key as Keegan-Michael Key
Adam Scott as Adam Scott
Danny McBride as Danny McBride
Kristen Bell as Kristen Bell
J.J. Abrams as J.J. Abrams
Lizzy Caplan as Lizzy Caplan
Bryan Cranston as Bryan Cranston (uncredited)
Judd Apatow as Judd Apatow (uncredited)
Zach Braff as Zach Braff (uncredited)
David DeCoteau as David DeCoteau (uncredited)
Dylan Minnette as Dylan Minnette (uncredited)
Kate Upton as Kate Upton (uncredited)
Brett Gelman as Acting Teacher (uncredited)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Sid (uncredited)
Jason Mitchell as Nate (uncredited)
Greg Sestero as Casting Agent (uncredited)
Eliza Coupe as Erica Chase (uncredited)
Erin Cummings as Female Guest (uncredited)
Michelle Arthur as Theatre Participant (uncredited)
Ricky Mabe as Casting Person (uncredited)
Shane Ryan-Reid as Front Row Premiere Attendee (uncredited)
Tamzin Brown as Tommy's Date at Premier (uncredited)
Cate Freedman as Actress #1 (uncredited)
Amechi Okocha as Mama's Boy (uncredited)
Cameron Brinkman as Actor at Premier (uncredited)
Nicole Gordon-Levitt as Girl in Red Dress (uncredited)
Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber as Girl on Phone (uncredited)
Jenna Curtis as William Morris Agent (uncredited)
Frederick Keeve as Bartender (uncredited)
Slim Khezri as Actor at Premiere (uncredited)
Corey Weber as Door Man / Bouncer (uncredited)
Katherine Neff as Coco (uncredited)
Taylor DeVoe as Auditioning Actress (uncredited)
Johnny Meyer as Guy Driving Alfa Romeo (uncredited)
Tearra Oso as Jarrod's Friend (uncredited)
Vince Chavez as Movie Premiere Attendee in Blue Shirt (uncredited)
Krista West as Auditioning Actress (uncredited)
Aidiye Aidarbekov as Guest (uncredited)
Kara Gibson as Actor at Premiere (uncredited)
Reşit Barker Enhoş as Actor at Premiere (uncredited)
Tudor Munteanu as Crew Member, Hans (uncredited)
Frank Lui Geo as Premiere Analyst (uncredited)
Bill Rojas as Movie Premiere Actor (uncredited)
Mark Anthony Petrucelli as Jeff (uncredited)
Zhubin Rahbar as Zsolt Magyar (uncredited)
Javi Sánchez-Blanco Boyer as Movie Premiere Guest (uncredited)
Jolie Mitnick Salter as Model Party Guest (uncredited)
Ramona Tibrin as Trophy Wife (uncredited)
Vincent Marinelli as Bartender (uncredited)
Adonis Simmons as Cast and Crew (uncredited)
Elena Cristiean as Auditioning Actress (uncredited)
Cerra Angela Vallentine as Movie Premier Guest (uncredited)
Danny Finneran as Blonde at Casting (uncredited)
Eloho Josephine Okujeni as Hooker (uncredited)
Dan Byelich as Movie Premier Actor (uncredited)
Cynthia Natera as Costume Girl (uncredited)
Jordan Daem as Waiter (uncredited)
Max Valentine as Romano (uncredited)
Michael Rousselet as Movie Premiere Guest (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 108

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 3	17	31
4 to 6	0	47
7 to 9	0	33
10 to 12	0	24
13 to 15	1	44
16 to 18	14	15
19 to 21	0	15
22 to 24	0	25
25 to 27	2	15
28 to 30	0	5
31 to 33	8	23
34 to 36	4	23
37 to 39	5	12
40 to 42	0	28
43 to 45	0	25
46 to 48	0	30
49 to 51	0	42
52 to 54	15	25
55 to 57	0	33
58 to 60	0	21
61 to 63	0	5
64 to 66	14	20
67 to 69	5	26
70 to 72	9	67
73 to 75	19	45
76 to 78	8	42
79 to 81	0	18
82 to 84	0	12
85 to 87	0	39
88 to 90	1	8
91 to 93	0	1
94 to 96	0	19
97 to 99	0	4
100 to 102	0	2
103 to 105	1	1
106 to 108	6	23

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 13 are women's.

129 lines from women, 848 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

33 women and 45 men in the cast. 19 women and 27 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 155 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 16% of the words (1,291), men 84% (6,934). Women have 13% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.

Exhibit D: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: James Franco (man)
Written by: Michael H. Weber (man), Scott Neustadter (man)
Produced by: Vince Jolivette (man), James Weaver (man), James Franco (man), Seth Rogen (man), Evan Goldberg (man)
Shot by: Brandon Trost (man)
Edited by: Stacey Schroeder (woman)
Music by: Dave Porter (man)
Production design by: Chris L. Spellman (man)
Costumes by: Brenda Abbandandolo (woman)
Cast by: Rich Delia (man)