‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ Trailer: Daniel Radcliffe Sings About Baloney in a Quest for Stardom
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Daniel Radcliffe rhymes surgeon with virgin alongside Evan Rachel Wood’s Madonna in the latest trailer for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”
While the Roku Channel original film, premiering at TIFF before streaming November 4, certainly lives up to its “weird”-ness, the real-life Yankovic co-wrote the film alongside director Eric Appel. Radcliffe stars as the musician who dreams of stardom by parodying famed songs.
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“I’m tired of people thinking I’m some kind of joke,” Radcliffe as Weird Al says in the trailer. “My whole life, all I wanted is to make up new words to a song that already exists.”
Later, Radcliffe tells a crowd, “Be as weird as you want to be.”
Produced by Funny Or Die and Tango, with Will Ferrell and Rainn Wilson co-starring, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” is the “unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time,” Yankovic himself. Per the official synopsis, from a conventional upbringing where playing the accordion was a sin, Al rebelled and made his dream of changing the words to world-renowned songs come true. An instant success and sex symbol, Al lives an excessive lifestyle and pursues an infamous romance that nearly destroys him.
That infamous romance turns out to be with Madonna, played by Evan Rachel Wood, who asks Weird Al to parody her famed song “Live a Virgin,” which Yankovic turns into “Like a Surgeon.” With Wood’s first role since documentary “Phoenix Rising,” the actress appears opposite Radcliffe in a fiery romance fueled by sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. The real-life Madonna is also similarly working on her own biopic, with Julia Garner cast as the “Lucky Star” singer. Madonna is writing and directing the feature film. Garner underwent a “grueling” performance boot camp to be able to play Madonna onscreen.
To become Weird Al, Radcliffe transformed into Yankovic as part of the “weirdest thing” he’s ever had to do on set.
“I did one shot the other day and Al walked up to me afterward and was like, ‘Is that the weirdest thing you’ve ever had to do?’” Radcliffe recalled to The New York Times. “I was like, ‘It’s top two, with the only other one being Paul Dano riding me like a Jet Ski at the beginning of ‘Swiss Army Man.'”
“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” premieres November 4 on The Roku Channel.
Check out the trailer below.
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