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Daniel Radcliffe was “mystified but excited” when asked to play ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic

By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 22 March 2022

Daniel Radcliffe has said that he was “mystified but excited” when he was asked to play ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic in a new biopic of the comedy musician.

It was announced earlier this year that Radcliffe would star in ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’, with Yankovic himself saying: “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”.

Appearing on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’, Radcliffe said: “When I talked to Al for the first time, I was like, ‘I’m immensely flattered by the idea that you would pick me to play you, but like, why me? I’m mystified but excited’”.

He goes on to explain that Yonkovic told him that it all went back to an appearance by Radcliffe on BBC One’s ‘The Graham Norton Show’ nearly fifteen years ago, where the Harry Potter star sang a Tom Lehrer song.

“I sang ‘The Elements’ next to Colin Farrell and a very bemused Rihanna”, Radcliffe recalled. “I think she was like, ‘Who is this kid, and why is he singing all of ‘The Elements’? And I guess Al saw that and was like, ‘This guy maybe gets it’. And so he picked me. So I’m very, very lucky, and now I’ve gotten to have accordion lessons with Al. I can go to my grave with that”.

Commenting on the film itself, he added: “I’m rarely excited to see the stuff that I’m in. I’m very, very excited to see that. It’s a fully insane movie. It’s one of the most fun things I’ve ever done”.

‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ has been made for The Roku Channel. No release date has yet been announced.