‘Weird’: See the Al Yankovic Biopic Cast vs. Their Real-Life Counterparts
If it was especially weird for you to see an improbably-buff “Weird Al” Yankovic hooking up with Madonna in the trailer for the upcoming Roku Channel film Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, you’re not alone.
Apparently, many others wondered if the real-life Weird Al was once “touched for the very first time” by the “Like a Virgin” singer. “It amuses me to no end that [‘Weird Al and Madonna’] is currently the #3 Google search under my name,” Yankovic tweeted on Saturday, September 3.
But like Yankovic’s many hit songs — including “Amish Paradise” and “Like a Surgeon” — the film is a parody. “There clearly aren’t enough biopic movies about famous musicians, and we were excited to shine a light on the incredibly true, unexaggerated story of Weird Al,” Colin Davis, Roku’s head of scripted programming, quipped in a statement this January.
Yankovic wrote the Weird: The Al Yankovic with Funny or Die’s Eric Appel, who directed the film after helming the 2010 short of the same name. Aaron Paul played Weird Al in that fake trailer, opposite Olivia Wilde as Madonna and Patton Oswalt as famed deejay Dr. Demento. But now Daniel Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood, and Rainn Wilson have stepped into those respective parts, with Quinta Brunson joining the fun as Oprah Winfrey. See how these actors compare to the real deals in the photo gallery below.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Movie Premiere, Friday, November 4, The Roku Channel
Daniel Radcliffe as “Weird Al” Yankovic
“Wearing the Hawaiian shirt is a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly,” the Harry Potter star said in a statement in February. “I’m honored to finally share with the world the absolutely 100% unassailably true story of Weird Al’s depraved and scandalous life.”
“Weird Al” Yankovic
The real Yankovic, seen here in the 1989 comedy film UHF, not only co-wrote and produced Weird but also has a small part as a record executive in the film.
Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna
“It was a specific Madonna,” the Westworld star told Jimmy Fallon in June, reflecting on her Weird role. “It’s early ‘80s Madonna, and early ‘80s Madonna, she’s very nasally, and everything she said was very intentional. And she disarms everyone that interviews her by just sort of looking at them.”
Madonna
The real Madonna — seen here in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan — reportedly pitched the idea for Weird Al to sing “Like a Surgeon” to the tune of her hit “Like a Virgin,” but that Weird sex scene you see in the trailer is a comedic lark, by all accounts.
Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey
CBS Mornings broke the news this July that Brunson, the creator and star of Abbott Elementary, would be playing Winfrey in Weird. “I like Quinta, and I like Oprah, so I’m cheering for her,” said CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, the talk show queen’s close friend.
Oprah Winfrey
Yankovic name-checked the real-life talk show host in three of his songs: 1988’s “I Think I’m a Clone Now” (a spoof of Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now”), 1996’s “Syndicated Inc.” (a riff on Soul Asylum’s “Misery”), and 2003’s “Couch Potato” (a parody of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”).
Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento
Speaking to PopCulture this May, The Office star said he grew up listening to Dr. Demento, the radio DJ he plays in Weird. “It was always like, ‘Oh, hello there, it’s Dr. Demento,’ and you would just hear stuff. I mean, you would hear like ridiculous polka music, but you would also hear Frank Zappa and, like, horror music, weird horror music and soundtracks.”
Dr. Demento
The disc jockey born Barry Hansen, now 81 years old, is the one who discovered Weird Al. “I used to get, like, 25 to 30 tapes every week, and one of the cassettes that came in was this one from ‘Alfred Yankovic: Lynwood, California,’” he told Yahoo Entertainment in 2018. “And I put it on, and though it was crudely recorded, probably with one of those little cassette machines with a self-contained microphone, the balance was right, you could understand his words, the words were funny, and he played the accordion — which by itself was new and unusual at that time, for somebody young to play the accordion, and not a polka, not ‘Lady of Spain’ or anything like that.”
