Daniel Radcliffe
“Harry Potter” actor will play “Weird Al” Yankovic
Daniel Radcliffe (left) will have to help with the curls of “Weird Al” Yankovic.
© Landmark Media./ImageCollect.com / Billy Bennight/AdMedia/ImageCollect.com
This role should even make “Harry Potter” forget: Daniel Radcliffe becomes “the greatest music legend of all time” – “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Since Daniel Radcliffe (32) hung up the magic robe from “Harry Potter”, the actor has developed a soft spot for weird roles. So it doesn’t seem surprising that he should play a comedian in a biopic who even has “weird” in his name. “The Hollywood Reporter” reportsthat Radcliffe will play comedian and musician “Weird Al” Yankovic (62) for a production by The Roku Channel.
Yankovic made a name for himself primarily through his pastiches of world-famous songs. For example as a well-fed wannabe Michael Jackson in “Eat It” (instead of “Beat It”) or with “Amish Paradise”, his comedic answer to Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”. Alfred Matthew Yankovic, as the musician’s real name is, has already won five Grammys.
The slightly different biopic
Yankovic co-wrote the script for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” with Eric Appel, according to the report. Appel is quoted as saying, “The first time Weird Al held me against my will to tell me his life story, I didn’t believe it. But I knew right away that we had to make a movie out of it.” According to the description, the film will “hold nothing back and tell every facet of Yankovic’s life […] – from gifted child prodigy to greatest music legend of all time”.
Yankovic said he was “absolutely thrilled to have Daniel Radcliffe play me in the film. I have no doubt that this will be the role he will be remembered for for generations to come.”
It is not yet clear when the biopic will appear. However, Yankovic hints that it will still be the case in 2022. Roku is a provider of streaming players, which have also been available in Germany since the end of last year.