This wizard is getting weird. Daniel Radcliffe stars as the titular comedian in WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, and the movie will live up to its title.
The film is based off a short Al Yankovic made for Funny or Die in 2010, and the star-studded video poked fun at dramatic rock star biopics, exaggerating the comic’s life with sex, drugs and emotional breakdowns. The first teaser trailer, released in May 2022, reveals that the movie is set to have a similar tone, with Roku advertising it as “the untold true story” of the “Eat It” singer — as well as his “torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle.”
Radcliffe is a big fan of the Grammy Award winner, but the Lost City star revealed in a March 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that he was surprised when Yankovic specifically chose him for the role — despite having never met.
“When I talked to Al for the first time, I was like, ‘I’m immensely flattered by the idea that you would pick me to play you, but like, why me? I’m mystified but excited,’” the Harry Potter actor recalled.
He explained that Yankovic saw a November 2010 episode of The Graham Norton Show where Radcliffe perfectly performed every word of Tom Lehrer’s song “The Elements,” which covers the entire periodic table of elements.
“I sang ‘The Elements’ next to Colin Farrell and a very bemused Rihanna,” Radcliffe explained. “I guess Al saw that and was like, ‘This guy maybe gets it.’ And so he picked me. So I’m very, very lucky, and now I’ve gotten to have accordion lessons with Al.”
The Swiss Army Man star took up the humorist’s iconic instrument of choice.
“I got lent Al’s accordion for the month,” he said. “He gave me his own accordion to practice on for the month. On day two of that, I broke one of the straps … and then immediately got them replaced. Thankfully, he’s like the nicest guy.”
He said while on The View later that month that the movie was “an incredibly fast shoot” for him, with only a few weeks in front of the camera.
“It was 18 days, but it was one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life,” he explained. “[Al is] just the best. He’s the nicest human and he was on set every day so it was just a real pleasure.”
Yankovic has teased that the Miracle Workers actor gives quite a performance in the flick. “That is a WRAP on Mr. Radcliffe! Wait till you see him in this. He’s even more like me than I am,” he shared via Instagram in March.
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