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Generally speaking, weird Al Yankovic and Daniel Radcliffe can never be mistaken for each other. Yankovic is a skinny, long-haired Southern California man who became an accordion master and a pop music master who became a parodist. Radcliffe, a more compact London-born ‘Harry Potter’ movie wonder, has carved out an eclectic acting career since his graduation.
Still, this winter, during the production of a new movie “Strange: The Al Yankovic Story” Their mutual presence on set was occasionally confusing. When the crew called “Weird Al,” they wanted an actor to play him, i.e. Radcliffe. ”, but further confusion was inevitable.
As Yankovic explained in a recent conversation with Radcliffe, “Every time I walk by the ‘Weird Al’ sign on your trailer, I’ll be. Not me.” “
This is the effect the creators of “Weird” hope to have on audiences when Roku releases the biopic on November 4th. This is a very satirical and very unrealistic retelling of Yankovic’s rise from a nerdy young accordionist to a beloved performer.hit songs such as “My Bologna” “The other one gets on the bus.” When “Eat it,” It’s embellished with tales of sex, drugs, and jungle battles that never happened to him.
“I hope this confuses a lot of people. ‘We want to get them on their way and think. Is this a true biography? Is this a true story?’ It starts normally, and then it gradually goes off track.”
Central to fulfilling that premise is the casting of Radcliffe, an avid Yankovic fan who doesn’t look like the musician and doesn’t want to impersonate him.
Radcliffe said he appreciated “Weird” because of all the attention he brought to it. It was an exact allocation.
Radcliffe began. unusual about it. “He was simply asked about playing Jankovic even before he read the script.
During a breakfast interview at a restaurant in downtown Manhattan last month, Yankovic, 62, and Radcliffe, 33, showed their endearing affection for each other. There were many exchanges of “go ahead” and “no, continue”. It was as if neither man knew who was the celebrity and who was the admirer.
They said there was a similar energy in Jankovic’s first video chat in winter 2020 when he pitched Radcliffe the idea of being in the movie. You can have real problems with it,” said Radcliffe. “Just squirt a lot. I repeat very, very much.
‘Weird’ was a very passionate project for Yankovic, who has only appeared in one film despite releasing 14 studio albums since 1983. 1989 cult comedy “UHF”.
In 2010, Appel wrote and directed the film. joke trailer For non-existent films, also called “weird”. The video, which starred Aaron Paul (“Breaking Bad”) as his version of Yankovic’s Hard His Party Her, was released on Funny or His Die and was a viral success.
Over the years, Jankovic has shown fake trailers at concerts, which some fans believed were promoting the real film.
“People would say, ‘We should make the whole movie,'” Jankovic said. “I was like, ‘No, this is a trailer. That’s what it’s supposed to be — it’s a gag.'”
More recently, however, following the success of other rock biopics such as “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Rocketman,” Yankovic began to seriously consider the idea of a feature-length version of “Weird.”
He was also upset by what he felt were unnecessary changes to the fact-based stories of the rock stars portrayed in these other films. A scene from Rocketman When Elton John impulsively chose his new surname after finding a portrait of The Beatles and focusing on John Lennon.
“Any Elton John fan knows it inspired him. long john baldry‘ said Jankovic, raising his voice slightly. “They thought no one knew who Long John Baldry was.”
Initial attempts to market “Weird” in Hollywood fell through, with the studio more directly satirizing existing biopics in the same way Yankovic’s songs parodied other hit singles. I was hoping for a movie. “People thought it was going to be more of a spoof, like ‘naked guns’ or ‘scary movies’ than it really is.
So he and Jankovic sat together in a coffee shop and watched trailers for other biopics looking for common storytelling tropes. Facts can be arbitrarily changed just to change them.”
Whatever “strange” describes, Jankovic did not compose his song “My Bologna” in a spontaneous moment of inspiration from outside the body. He also said: why did you change it? Because that’s what biographies do. “
Their movie still needed a lead man and I was thinking of Radcliffe. Tom Lehrer.
It turns out that Radcliffe also liked Yankovic’s music, as did his longtime girlfriend and actress Erin Darke.
(On the first video call about “strange,” Radcliffe said in an excited whisper.
More importantly, Radcliffe has demonstrated the artistic freedom he has sought in films such as the biopic Kill Your Darlings, which cast him as the poet Allen Ginsberg, and the dark comedy Swiss Army Man. said he felt it offered “weird”. He played a very versatile corpse.
“Whenever I get the chance to throw myself into something, I do it,” said Radcliffe.
Comparing it to a scene in “Weird,” in which the fictional Yankovic embarks on a psychedelic drug trip and hatches from a giant egg, Radcliffe remarks: Paul Dano rides me like a jet ski in ‘Swiss Army Man’ Getting closer to the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.
He said, “There was definitely freedom in Al’s version in the script, and it’s just so insane.” many Man. “
“Not many,” Jankovic replied. “Hardly.”
With Radcliffe on board, Roku picked up the movie. However, the company only agreed to shoot for 18 days, so the project had to do a few musical numbers (Yankovic’s original lip-synching of his vocals) and a few action sequences, which was incredible. It’s been a tight schedule.
“In Potter, one of these scenes could take 16 days,” said Radcliffe.
So he spent pre-production time learning his lines and choreography to get himself in top physical condition. (“More than anything I did, I found myself shirtless in a Weird Al movie,” he said.
And when the cameras started rolling, everyone held on tight. “Covid has all been terrifying, especially for me and Eric,” Radcliffe said.
Even before filming began, comedian Patton Oswalt, who had a pivotal role as Dr. Demento, the radio host who gave Yankovic his early airtime, broke his leg. There was talk about whether Oswalt could play the role on crutches, but Rainn Wilson (“The Office”) took over at short notice.
The production was also aided by the dedication of Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”) as Madonna. of her song.
“Frankly, I’m surprised the lawyers got this movie off the ground,” Jankovic said. “But they’re like, oh yeah, all celebrities — do it.” (Madonna’s rep didn’t respond to a request for comment.)
Appel said Yankovic and Radcliffe were especially important in setting a professional tone with everyone working at breakneck speed. While on tour, Appel was in close contact with Yankovic.
“When we were mixing the movie, he was using Zoom with us all day, every day from another city,” says Appel. “He texted me in between songs saying, ‘I think the backing on this song he needs to turn up the vocals a bit.’ I have to go to
“Weird” comes at a troubling time for the streaming industry, which is in a period of revaluation and contraction after years of expansion, and for Roku, whose stock has crashed after failing to meet its earnings targets this summer. I’m here.
While this may seem like it puts more pressure on the film to get an audience out there, the filmmakers could only shrug and say they were just grateful for making it.
“This is new for them,” Yankovic said of Roku. “Hopefully this works out for them.” Radcliffe said he’s encountered more curiosity about “Weird” than the Harry Potter reunion special, which hit HBO Max this past January. “I still can’t believe people didn’t jump at the chance to make your movie,” Radcliffe told Yankovic. “They will regret it now.”
Radcliffe was preparing for a revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” at the New York Theater Workshop, and Yankovic was scheduled to continue his concert tour in Toronto that evening. (“We’re on the homestretch now. He’s only three months away,” he said sarcastically.)
But they were always united by their time together on “Weird” and the unique opportunity Radcliffe had to learn the accordion from Yankovic.
“It just seems like a wasted opportunity not to make a good, honest attempt when playing Al,” said Radcliffe.
Yankovic said, “I’m always disappointed whenever I see someone playing the accordion on TV or in a movie.” Mary Steenburgen, he said he “can actually play”) “Dan made an effort,” he said. “I don’t know if he can perform solo.”
Radcliffe answered immediately. But “My Bologna” can play the left hand quite effectively. On the one hand, I learned the necessary parts of the song. ’” he added with a laugh.
audio produce Tully Abekasis.