Daniel Radcliffe to Play ’Weird Al’ Yankovic In Upcoming Biopic
Look, everyone loves Harry Potter, but let’s be real: The guy is kind of a nerd. He’s got glasses, he loves to read books of spells, he hangs out with an owl — kind of a dork when you get right down to it. So that makes this casting perfect: Daniel Radcliffe has signed on to play the world’s greatest (and coolest) musician and song parodist, “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Radcliffe will star in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which will debut on the Roku Channel. If the title sounds familiar, that is because the same filmmaker, Eric Appel, made a short with that title several years ago for Funny Or Die. That version, which was pitched as the trailer for the full film, starred Aaron Paul as the extremely weird rock star and poked fun at musical biopic clichés:
Here as Yankovic’s comment on the announcement, via Deadline:
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. 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.
As a child of the ’80s, and a guy who grew up listening to Weird Al — Even Worse was the first album I ever bought with my own allowance money — I have been waiting those 33 years for another Weird Al movie. I just hope Daniel Radcliffe takes this role as seriously as it deserves, grows out his hair, and learns the accordion so he can do his own songs in the film.