Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe stars in the biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

October 05, 2022

Photos: @therokuchannel / @danielradcliffeofficially

In true Weird Al fashion, the 33-year old Daniel Radcliffe wore the singer’s signature Hawaiian shirts, curly locks, sunglasses and ’80s porn-like mustache. “Wearing the Hawaiian shirt is a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly and I’m honored to finally share with the world the absolutely 100 percent unassailably true story of Weird Al’s depraved and scandalous life,” says Radcliffe.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe takes on a unique character far from his boy wizard role.

Last August 30, the first trailer for the biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story dropped with Radcliffe playing the lead role as ’80s comedy singer Weird Al Yankovic, who is known for his chart-topping parody songs such as “Eat It” from Michael Jackson’s “Beat it”, “Like A Surgeon” from Madonna’s “Like A Virgin”, “I Love Rocky Road” from The Arrow’s “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Ricky” from Toni Basil’s “Mickey”.

In true Weird Al fashion, the 33-year old Radcliffe wore the singer’s signature Hawaiian shirts, curly locks, sunglasses and ’80s porn-like mustache.

“Wearing the Hawaiian shirt is a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly and I’m honored to finally share with the world the absolutely 100 percent unassailably true story of Weird Al’s depraved and scandalous life,” says Radcliffe.

Since the Harry Potter film franchise concluded in 2011, Radcliffe has taken on an array of projects, from playing villain roles in Horns, Now You See Me 2 and The Lost City, voicing himself on BoJack Horseman to numerous theater productions to playing Kimmy’s fiancé in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend.

Radcliffe is set to appear opposite Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez in New York Theater Workshop’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Merrily We Roll Along in November.

Produced by Funny or Die and Tango and set to stream on The Roku Channel, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story promises to take “audiences on a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.

“The biopic holds nothing back, exploring every facet of Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle,” according to the official release.

In the released trailer, Radcliffe’s Yankovic said: “I’m tired of people thinking I’m some kind of joke. My whole life, all I’ve wanted, is to make up new words to a song that already exists.”

From there, we see the Yankovic begin to craft “My Bologna,” his 1983 parody of The Knack’s 1979 hit “My Sharona.” Soon, crowds are cheering Yankovic on and Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood) shows up at his mansion.

“I was wondering if you were going to do a parody of my song, “Like a Virgin”? she asks, before telling him the song is autobiographical “except for the fact that I’ve had a lot of sex.”

Their steamy affair, and he impact on him, is just one of the things depicted in the film.

The 62-year old singer said in a statement earlier this year, that he gave the Harry Potter star his blessing, saying at the time that he was absolutely thrilled that Daniel Radcliffe will be portraying him.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that this is the role future generations will remember him for,” Yankovic says.

Born Alfred Matthew Yankovic on October 23, 1959 in Downey, California is an American singer, musician, and actor who is known for humorous songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts.

Since having a comedy song aired in 1976, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (as of 2007), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His work has earned him five Grammy Awards, four gold records, and six platinum records in the U.S.

His first top ten Billboard album (Straight Outta Lynwood) and single (“White & Nerdy”) were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His latest album, Mandatory Fun (2014), became his first number-one album.

In 2017, Yankovic released the 15-album box set Squeezebox: The Complete Works of “Weird Al” Yankovic, which earned him his fifth Grammy.

Yankovic also wrote and starred in the film UHF (1989) and the television series The Weird Al Show (1997). He has also made guest appearances and performed voice acting roles on many television shows and video web content, in addition to starring in Al TV specials on MTV. He has also written two children’s books, When I Grow Up (2011) and My New Teacher and Me! (2013).

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, directed by Eric Appel, will get its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8. It also stars Quinta Brunson, Julianne Nicholson, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, and Jimmy Walker Jr.

It’s available to stream exclusively on The Roku Channel starting Friday, November 4.

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