To the surprise of absolutely no one, WEIRD: The Weird Al Yankovic Story was a pretty fun movie to shoot.
The anti-biopic on the life of musician "Weird Al" Yankovic stars Daniel Radcliffe in the titular role. In a recent chat with Digital Spy, the Harry Potter alum and his co-star Evan Rachel Wood (who portrays Madonna) admitted having had a hard time keeping a straight face on set.
"I remember doing some scenes with Dan and I couldn't stop laughing because I mean, he had like actual tears in his eyes while we were trying to do this scene at the diner," Wood said.
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The Westworld star continued: "He's got the hair and the glasses and the moustache — and he's giving the most heartfelt performance and those were always the funniest moments, when we were taking it as serious as we could."
Radcliffe confirmed, adding: "I remember I needed to give myself a second to prepare for [the scene], and simultaneously feeling like, 'This is ridiculous. What are you doing.'"
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"We were working through tears," Wood then said.
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Also starring Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, Julianne Nicholson and Will Forte, the film from co-writer and director Eric Appel has been co-penned by Weird Al himself. As such, you shouldn't expect a classic biopic.
Radcliffe called it "a parody of biopics," saying: "I feel like it liberated me to, like, go even crazier with my performance than I would have been otherwise."
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As for Wood, she tried to keep it straight to find comedy in the most unusual places, but also gradually leaned into the absurdity of it all.
"You have to just dial it up a few notches. But as the film goes along, it's like you turn it, turn it, turn it turn until it's all the way up at 11."
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is out on Roku on November 4.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
