Sestero further postulates that Wiseau based Lisa's explicit conniving on the character Tom Ripley, after Wiseau had a profound emotional reaction to the film "The Talented Mr. Ripley", and matches elements of its three main characters to those in "The Room"; Sestero has likewise indicated that the character Mark was named for the Ripley actor Matt Damon, whose first name Wiseau had misheard. Wiseau also drew on the chamber plays of Tennessee Williams, whose highly emotional scenes he enjoyed acting out in drama school – many advertising materials for "The Room" make explicit parallels to the playwright's work through the tagline "A film with the passion of Williams."