Sophia Michaels
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story star Daniel Radcliffe says shooting a scene where a fictionalized Weird Al Yankovic goes on a drug trip and hatches from an egg is the second strangest thing he’s ever done onscreen.
In a new interview with The New York Times, Radcliffe compared the scene to his work in Swiss Army Man, noting that “maybe only Paul Dano riding me like a Jet Ski in Swiss Army Man comes close to the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.”
The actor, who was hand-picked to play Yankovic in the musician’s forthcoming Roku biopic, out Nov. 4, added, “There was definitely a freedom in the version of Al that is in the script. And it is so insane.”
Yankovic, who wrote the film with its director Eric Appel, noted that the intention is to be satirical and nonfactual. “I hope this confuses a lot of people,” Yankovic said in the interview. “We want to lead them down a path and think, Is this a real biopic? Is this the real story? The movie starts out pretty normal. Then it progressively goes way off the rails.”
The musician explained that he became interested in the idea of a feature-length biopic after the success of films like Rocketman, about Elton John, and Bohemian Rhapsody, about Queen. He recalled being annoyed by unnecessary changes to real-life history in some of the films, like in Rocketman when the fictional John chooses a new name after glimpsing a portrait of the Beatles that features John Lennon.
“Everybody who’s an Elton John fan knows it was inspired by Long John Baldry,” Yankovic said. “I guess they thought nobody knows who Long John Baldry is.”
Seeing those changes inspired him to craft his own fictionalized storylines in Weird, including how he came up with his song “My Bologna.” “I did record it in a bathroom but not in a bus station,” Yankovic confirmed. “Why did we change it? Just ’cause that’s what biopics do.”
Weird also features Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, who did not participate in the film. “I’m amazed the lawyers let us get away with this movie, frankly,” Yankovic said. “But they’re like, Oh, yeah, all public figures — go for it.”
In 2010, Yankovic and Appel released a three-minute mock trailer for a film that they also called Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. The clip featured Aaron Paul, Gary Cole, Olivia Wilde, Mary Steenburgen, and Patton Oswalt. The film version stars Rainn Wilson as Yankovic’s mentor Dr. Demento, and Julianne Nicholson and Toby Huss as the musical funnyman’s parents.
The project was announced back in January, with some typically irreverent comments from Yankovic, who said: “When my last movie, ‘UHF,’ came out in 1989, I made a solemn vow to my fans that I would release a major motion picture every 33 years, like clockwork. I’m very happy to say we’re on schedule, and I am absolutely thrilled that Daniel Radcliffe will be portraying me in the film. I have no doubt whatsoever that this is the role future generations will remember him for.”
