Weird: The Al Yankovic Story started as a Funny or Die short in 2010 and is now a feature-length biopic starring Daniel Radcliffe. Since the movie, which clocks in at one hour and 48 minutes, is about the accordion-playing parody master, many people are curious about the lengths Radcliffe went to get into character. Does Radcliffe sing in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story? Moreover, does he play the accordion? The actor took to Reddit to give Weird Al fans clarity.
‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ releases on Nov. 4 on Roku
Some Weird Al fans already saw Weird: The Al Yankovic Story when it was released at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 8, 2022. The biopic explores the parody artist’s rise to fame through a wildly exaggerated, primarily fabricated, always hilarious lens.
The movie’s broad release is Nov. 4, 2022. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is available to stream through the Roku Channel — there’s no word yet on whether or not there will be a theatrical release.
Daniel Radcliffe sang on the set of ‘Weird,’ but Weird Al’s voice is used in the movie
Yankovic and his fictional counterpart Radcliffe participated in an AMA on Reddit ahead of the Weird release. One fan wondered if Radcliffe’s voice was used to sing Weird Al’s songs in the film.
“I sang all the songs live on set, but it was always the plan that we would dub me with the real Al,” he explained. “I think when people watch The Al Yankovic Story, they want the songs to be sung by the real thing. Also, we really wanted to take the piss out of musical biopics that do this.”
Daniel Radcliffe plays the accordion in ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’
According to his website, Weird Al has played the accordion since he was seven. “His first lesson was on the day before his 7th birthday [and] after three years of accordion lessons, he quit, deciding to continue learning on his own.”
Radcliffe learned to play the instrument for his role in Weird. “I started learning probably two months before we started filming, maybe two and a half,” the actor said on Reddit. “I remain not very good but I enjoyed trying.”
Radcliffe’s ability to play even in the slightest helped director Eric Appel not have to “shoot around or away from [Radcliffe’s] hands as much during the performance scenes.” The Harry Potter actor also said he plans to continue playing the accordion, much to the “mixed emotions” of his girlfriend Erin Darke.
Daniel Radcliffe’s girlfriend inspired him to play Weird Al Yankovic
As Radcliffe explained to another fan on Reddit, his girlfriend introduced him to the musical stylings of Weird Al. “My proper entry into Al’s music happened when I started dating my girlfriend a decade ago,” he commented. “Her whole family [is] huge Al fans, and so I got educated very quickly.”
Fans can catch Weird: The Al Yankovic Story beginning Nov. 4 exclusively on the Roku Channel.
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