See the First Picture of Daniel Radcliffe as ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic
The artist formerly known as Harry Potter is sporting Al’s trademark Hawaiian shirt.
Daniel Radcliffe as 'Weird Al' Yankovic in The Roku Channel's 'Weird: The 'Weird Al' Yankovic Story.'
Since his days at Hogwarts as the world’s most famous young wizard, Daniel Radcliffe has spent his movie career playing characters that are weird, wonderful and a world away from Harry Potter. For his latest film, the accent is firmly on the ‘weird’, as he’s portraying “Weird Al” Yankovic in a biopic of the comedy music icon. And the first picture of Radcliffe in character has arrived.
Written and directed by Eric Appel, ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ purports to hold nothing back, exploring every facet of Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle. Yes, as you can imagine, nothing is quite sensible about this one.
Probably best known for his parodies of songs by Madonna and Michael Jackson, “Weird Al” Yankovic has enjoyed quite the career is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time. A five-time Grammy winner, his 2014 release ‘Mandatory’ Fun was the first comedy album in history to debut at #1 on Billboard’s Top 200. He is one of only three artists to have had their own top 40 hits in each of the last four decades (the other two being, coincidentally, Michael Jackson and Madonna). On August 27, 2018, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded Weird Al with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has also popped up in a host of movies, shorts, and TV series, either as himself or other characters, and might be best known for indie comedy movie ‘UHF’, which was released in 1989.
“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,” says Yankovic in a statement. “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.”
Daniel Radcliffe as 'Weird Al' Yankovic in The Roku Channel's 'Weird: The 'Weird Al' Yankovic Story'
“Wearing the Hawaiian shirt is a huge responsibility that I don't take lightly, and I'm honored to finally share with the world the absolutely 100 percent unassailably true story of Weird Al's depraved and scandalous life,” says Radcliffe, who seems thrilled at the opportunity.
“When Weird Al first sat me down against my will and told me his life story, I didn’t believe any of it, but I knew that we had to make a movie about it,” Appel adds.
Radcliffe is definitely not the first person we’d have imagined playing Yankovic, but he has certainly thrown himself into every out-there movie role he’s picked since he hung up his wand. He’s played such unusual characters as a farting corpse (in ‘Swiss Army Man’), a man with pistols bolted to his hands (‘Guns Akimbo’) and Igor (‘Victor Frankenstein’). He’ll next show up as a billionaire obsessed with a hidden treasure in ‘The Lost City’, which arrives in theaters on March 25. The Yankovic film doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet, but it’ll debut on the Roku Channel.
