Daniel Radcliffe on 'Weird' role in new Al Yankovic biopic: 'We're off on our own insane thing'
TORONTO â Daniel Radcliffe grew a mustache, put on a well-curled wig and Hawaiian shirts and even learned the accordion to play âWeird Alâ Yankovic in a new comedy biopic.
But itâs the real Yankovic (and not Radcliffe) who sings the lyrics of the 1980s musical iconâs song parodies, including âMy Bolognaâ (after The Knack'sâ âMy Sharonaâ) and âEat Itâ (Michael Jacksonâs âBeat Itâ), even though the âHarry Potterâ star has performed on Broadway.
âI wasn't particularly like, âOh, no, I want to sing these songs,' " Radcliffe, 33, told USA TODAY, hours before âWeirdâ (streaming on the Roku Channel Friday) had a Midnight Madness world premiere in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. âOn set, I was singing more or less full-out because I find it very hard to lip-sync when you are trying to give the full performance. But we want the full trope of the other person's voice clearly coming out of this person's mouth.â
'Her life must have been misery':Daniel Radcliffe drove his girlfriend mad learning 'Weird' accordion
Fittingly, âWeirdâ is a parody of musical biopics such as âBohemian Rhapsodyâ and âRocketman,â sticking loosely to the script of Yankovicâs real-life childhood and rise, âthen halfway through it turns and now we're off on our own insane thing,â Radcliffe says.
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He prefers the more gonzo approach: âYou can throw this back in my face in a few years when you're interviewing me for a traditional music biopic, but a lot of the time, traditional biopics of any figure where you are trying to take an entire life and condense it, they never really feel satisfying to me.â
The film runs through most of Yankovicâs greatest hits, and Radcliffe is still earwormed â or as he puts it, âpleasantly hauntedâ â by them.
âThe whole crew, whatever the last musical number we had done basically was, you would hear everybody just going around humming it for the rest of the day.â And there are Easter eggs to various aspects of Weird Alâs pop-culture career. Radcliffe spends quite a number of scenes shirtless, seemingly a throwback to the muscle suit Yankovic wore in the 1989 comedy movie âUHFâ to poke fun at Sylvester Stalloneâs Rambo.
While being impressively ripped âwould've been a slightly strange, but maybe funny choice,â thatâs also just how Radcliffe rolls these days.
âMy parents are both CrossFit people," he says. "They're in their 60s and they still do that. And I'm the classic example of a person who stopped drinking and transferred that energy onto (fitness)."
Hours after the announcement of Queen Elizabethâs death, he calls it "inconceivable right now. Me and my parents have never known a country without her as the queen. I just can't picture or imagine what that world is yet.â
In addition to Yankovic, other, exaggerated versions of real figures in âWeirdâ include Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood); Oprah Winfrey (Quinta Brunson); and Yankovicâs mentor, radio host Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson).
âParts of this movie (are) like âThe Muppet Movie,ââ Radcliffe says. âAl was pretty much able to cast this film by just going, âHey, would you like to go and work for me, your childhood hero, for half a day in LAâ? There's very few people that will say no.â
While he didnât get to belt out his own versions of Yankovicâs anthems, Radcliffe is singing again: He starts rehearsals in mid-October for a production of Stephen Sondheimâs âMerrily We Roll Along,â scheduled to open in December, but Radcliffeâs âdoing work on my own with it at the momentâ in New York, he says. âThere's no way I can go into a Broadway show and just walk into rehearsals. The only thing that can control my anxiety in the run-up is if I'm doing work on it. It's still at a nice phase where it's far enough away and I'm not panicking, but it's something to work on.â
However, Radcliffeâs loyal fans shouldnât hold their collective breath for a solo album: âI get sick of actors who are in bands. Not all of them; there are some that are amazing, like (Jack Black in) Tenacious D. There are people who do it really well, but I don't think the world needs another actor (turned singer)."
By appearing in the 2011 Broadway musical âHow to Succeed in Business Without Really Tryingâ and the âSwiss Army Manâ movie soundtrack, âyou get to dip your toe in without actually doing it.â