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The Boy Who Lived is now officially the Boy Who Became a Worldwide Superstar by Playing Polka-Inflected Parodies of Hit Songs.
In the just-released trailer for the Roku Original film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Daniel Radcliffe, best known for his portrayal of the title character in the Harry Potter series, is practically unrecognizable as the curly-haired accordion player.
The comedic biographical film directed by Eric Appel, which is set for a free November release on the Roku Channel, charts the musician's rise to fame—and bumps along the way—as arguably the most famous parody artist of all time. It's slated to open the Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness series on September 8.
In addition to revealing a brand-new Radcliffe, the preview also shows a darker side of the artist responsible for songs like "White & Nerdy." Radcliffe as Yankovic is seen enduring a rough childhood, having the sort of meltdowns usually reserved for rock stars and A-list actors, engaging in hedonistic romps with Madonna—"I think Madonna's a bad influence on you," his mentor Dr. Demento tells him—and even smugly putting out his lit cigarette in the palm of a cameo-ing Will Forte.
"Your dad and I agreed it would be best if you just stopped being who you are and doing the things you loved," Mary Yankovic tells her young son in the trailer. He keeps getting caught at polka parties, you see, and his parents simply won't stand for that sort of rebellion.
"My whole life," Weird Al narrates, "all I ever wanted was to make up new words to a song that already exists."
Yankovic climbed the charts in the 1980s with sendups like "Eat It," set to Michael Jackson's "Beat It"; "Like a Surgeon," based on Madonna's "Like a Virgin"; and "My Bologna" as a counter to the Knack's "My Sharona." He won his first Grammy for 1984's "Eat It."
The real Yankovic co-wrote the script, and eagle-eyed fans will notice him in the trailer, too. The film also stars Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey, The Office's Rainn Wilson as radio DJ Dr. Demento, James Preston Rogers as Hulk Hogan and Julianne Nicholson as Yankovic's mother.
In 2017, Yankovic released the 15-album box set Squeezebox: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic, which earned him his fifth Grammy.
Since the Harry Potter film franchise concluded in 2011, Radcliffe has taken on an array of projects, from voicing himself on BoJack Horseman to numerous theater productions to playing Kimmy's fiancé in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend. He's set to appear opposite Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez in New York Theater Workshop's production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Merrily We Roll Along in November.
