Daniel Radcliffe is probably the only person on the planet who could follow up a decade of playing the world's most famous wizard by portraying a guy who fights drug lords with an accordion. Honestly, it’s a vibe. When people first heard about Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al in the 2022 biopic WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story, the collective internet reaction was basically a giant question mark. Why him? He’s British. He doesn’t look like Al. He’s about a foot shorter than the real "Weird Al" Yankovic.
But that’s exactly why it worked.
This wasn't your standard, tear-jerking Oscar-bait movie. It was a parody of biopics themselves, which means casting the most earnest actor in Hollywood to play a "depraved" version of a polka legend was a stroke of absolute genius.
How a 2010 Talk Show Appearance Changed Everything
You’d think the casting process involved high-level agents and months of auditions. Nope. It actually started because of a novelty song about the periodic table.
Back in 2010, Radcliffe appeared on The Graham Norton Show and performed "The Elements" by Tom Lehrer. He did it flawlessly. Sitting right next to him was a very confused-looking Rihanna. Years later, when Al Yankovic and director Eric Appel were looking for their leading man, Al remembered that clip. He saw a guy who was willing to memorize a three-minute list of chemicals just for the hell of it and thought, "Yeah, he gets it."
Radcliffe was baffled when he got the call. He’s gone on record saying he was "mystified but excited" that Al personally picked him. It turns out that being a nerd is the best career strategy if you want to play a parody icon.
The Accordion Training Was a Nightmare
If you think playing the accordion looks easy, you've never tried to coordinate your lungs and your fingers at the same time. Radcliffe didn't just mime it. He actually took lessons from Al himself.
"It’s a nightmare instrument," Radcliffe joked in interviews. He spent weeks trying to master the "squeezebox" so he wouldn't look like a fraud on camera. While he didn't quite become a virtuoso—he admitted he could never do a full solo—he learned enough to play the left-hand part of "My Bologna" pretty effectively.
Al actually gifted him an accordion after the shoot. Radcliffe apparently still keeps it at home, though he's promised he won't be touring with a polka band anytime soon.
18 Days of Chaos: The Filming Reality
Most Hollywood movies take three to six months to shoot. WEIRD was filmed in 18 days.
Let that sink in.
They were basically sprinting from scene to scene. Radcliffe has talked about how the breakneck speed actually helped the performance. There was no time to overthink the absurdity of fighting Pablo Escobar or having a torrid, fictional affair with Madonna (played by a very game Evan Rachel Wood).
💡 You might also like: Lose Yourself Clean Lyrics: Why Eminem’s Masterpiece Still Works Without the Profanity
The crew was essentially a group of fans having a fever dream. Because the shoot was so fast, Radcliffe performed the songs live on set to capture the energy, even though he knew Al’s actual vocals would be dubbed over him in post-production. It gave the performance a raw, frantic quality that you just don't get in big-budget productions.
What Was Actually True? (Spoiler: Not Much)
The movie is a masterpiece of misinformation. That’s the point. It treats Al’s life like he's Jim Morrison or Elvis, full of "rock star" tropes that the real Al never actually touched.
- The Accordion Sale: Real. Al's parents actually bought his first accordion from a traveling salesman because they thought the world needed one more accordion-playing Yankovic.
- The Bathroom Recording: Real. "My Bologna" was actually recorded in a public bathroom at Cal Poly because the acoustics were great.
- The Madonna Affair: Totally fake. They never dated. She didn't lead a cartel.
- The Assassination: Obviously fake. Al is very much alive and was actually on set playing a record executive who tells his fictional self that he’ll never make it.
Why Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al Still Matters
We’re living in an era of "prestige" biopics that take themselves way too seriously. WEIRD was the antidote. It showed that Daniel Radcliffe has one of the best "post-franchise" careers in history. Since Harry Potter, he’s played a farting corpse, a guy with guns bolted to his hands, and now, a parody king.
He isn't trying to be a leading man in the traditional sense. He’s looking for the weirdest stuff he can find, and he brings a level of 100% commitment to it that makes you believe the insanity.
📖 Related: Why the House on Fire Show is the Only Thing People Are Talking About Right Now
If you haven’t seen it yet, you're missing out on a performance that is somehow both a joke and a tribute at the same time. It’s a love letter to being an outsider.
What to do next:
If you want to see the performance that started it all, go find the 2010 clip of Radcliffe on The Graham Norton Show. Once you see him rattle off the periodic table, his casting as Weird Al will finally make total sense. After that, watch the film on The Roku Channel—it’s free, and it’s the best 108 minutes of accordion-based action you’ll ever see.