Actor in Weird Al Biopic 'Almost Unrecognizable'

You've probably never seen Daniel Radcliffe quite like this before
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 30, 2022 7:55 AM CDT

You may never see Daniel Radcliffe the same way again. The actor transforms into Weird Al Yankovic in a trailer for the upcoming Roku Channel biopic of the singer, released Monday. Radcliffe—sporting a "curly brown mop of hair, wire-rim glasses and bushy mustache—is almost unrecognizable," per CNN. "My whole life, all I've wanted, is to make up new words to a song that already exists," he tells friends in the trailer, per People. It chronicles Weird Al's rise with "My Bologna," his 1983 parody of the Knack's 1979 song "My Sharona," followed by a stumble attributed in the movie to his seduction by Madonna, played by Evan Rachel Wood. (No, this didn't happen in real life, notes GQ.)

In the film, Madonna turns up at Weird Al's mansion, asking if he'll parody her 1984 song "Like a Virgin," which she notes is autobiographical "except for the fact that I've had a lot of sex." Yankovic’s 1986 version, "Like a Surgeon," is one of numerous hits touched on in the biopic, also starring Rainn Wilson as mentor Dr. Demento. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story—directed by Eric Appel and produced by Funny or Die and Tango—"holds nothing back," exploring the singer's "torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle," according to an earlier press release. It will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 8 before its exclusive Nov. 4 release on the Roku Channel. (More Weird Al stories.)

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