Why Daniel Radcliffe Was Initially Confused by Weird Al Biopic Offer

Daniel Radcliffe says was initially confused as to why he was asked to portray 'Weird Al' Yankovic in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Radcliffe said he was not sure why he was asked to read for the role of the musician due to their vastly different appearances. It all clicked into place when he read the script, however, as the Harry Potter star soon realized that Weird: The Al Yankovic Story was meant to be a parody of biopics. "I was already a big 'Weird Al' fan, and I was confused about why they would ask me to play him in a movie of his life because I was like, 'I don't look very much like him,'" Radcliffe explained. "But then I read it, and I was like, 'Oh, right. It's fine. We're not doing that. We're doing something different, and it doesn't matter.'"

The fact that a 'Weird Al' biopic could be nothing else other than a parody of its very genre was something that Radcliffe quickly accepted. "Seeing that and seeing how well they'd like done that joke, and then talking to them and being like, 'Yeah, [director] Eric Appel is lovely. Al seems lovely,'" he said. "You just want to make a movie with these guys."

Yankovic also had nothing but good things to say about Radcliffe's portrayal of him, praising the actor's comedic chops and saying he had the "right energy" to do the film justice. "I'm a big fan of Dan's. He does amazing dramatic acting and amazing comedic acting, and he gets it," he said, "I mean, I knew that he's a huge comedy fan. He's a huge nerd, just like me, and I knew that he would just really lock into the tone that we were going for in this movie, which is so important."

Directed by Eric Appel, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story features an almost entirely fictional, highly-exaggerated telling of Yankovic's life and career, from his humble beginnings as a accordion player to the megastar audiences know and love today. Alongside Radcliffe, the cast includes actors such as Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna; Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento; Toby Huss as Nick Yankovic, Al's father; Arturo Castro as Pablo Escobar; Julianne Nicholson as Mary Yankovic, Al's mother; and Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey. The movie has received positive responses from critics, with praise especially directed towards Radcliffe's performance and its humor.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is available to stream on Roku.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter