Daniel Radcliffe and Al Yankovic Take to Reddit to Discuss All Things “Weird”

by · November 7, 2022

On Halloween night, fans not otherwise engaged in expelling trolls from their dungeons gathered on Reddit to pelt Daniel Radcliffe and “Weird Al” Yankovic with a wild variety of questions. To be fair, the two had invited the inquiries, announcing days earlier the intent to host an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session to promote their new biopic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. The pair discussed everything from their careers to opinions on Halloween candy. Let’s take a look at some of the best the thread had to offer.

There were plenty of questions on Weird to go around, with one user inquiring about how accurate the story actually is. Yankovic responded in his signature tongue-in-cheek style.

Well, we’re advertising it as being totally 100% accurate, but in all honesty, fact-checkers have determined that it may actually be slightly less than that. Perhaps closer to 27%.

 

 

Radcliffe also received quite a few film-related questions, sharing with one user that his introduction to “Weird Al” happened when he started dating his current girlfriend. She and her family are big fans, and he soon became one as well. This admiration may have added some pressure to his role, which Radcliffe took seriously.

I think when playing a real person, it’s always a major concern to honor them in the film and do right by their story. This film was a slight exception in that we were setting out to honor the spirit of the man rather than necessarily the exact details of their life. But this is definitely the first time I have played someone that I’m a fan of, and that was definitely nerve[-]wracking at first.

Yankovic, for his part, seemed to return Radcliffe’s admiration, reflecting on his first meeting with the Potter alumnus.

[Director] Eric Appel and I both ‘met’ Daniel for the first time on a Zoom call. We had just sent him the script, and we kinda thought we’d need to twist his arm a little bit, but we were surprised to find out that he was immediately on board with the project. He loved the script and totally ‘got’ what we were going for. It was a great meeting – after it was over, Eric and I excitedly texted each other: ‘Did that really just happen?’

With it being Halloween, both took a moment to reflect on the holiday’s most controversial candy. “You know, I actually kinda LIKE candy corn,” commented Yankovic. “I don’t know why it gets such a bad rap. Not a huge fan of circus peanuts or Necco wafers, though.” Radcliffe’s feelings about the treat were unequivocally negative:

Absolute trash. It is not in the UK (that I know of), and I was mystified when I tried it and realized it was regarded as candy. Hard pass.

There were more than a few questions about the pair’s individual careers. One user lauded Radcliffe for his career trajectory post-Potter, commenting that his project choices seem to reflect the actor’s own interests, instead of less original options for the sake of safety. The actor, whose diverse history of work includes decidedly unique cult favorites like Horns, Guns Akimbo, and Swiss Army Man, was appreciative.

Thank you very much. That’s really kind. As long as people keep letting me make this weird stuff that I love, I will continue to do so.

Yankovic fielded questions about his work also, sharing the most unlikely place he’s found inspiration (“Under the sink”), what it was like playing at Carnegie Hall (“That was one of the most special experiences of my life”), and whether or not he would be hosting Saturday Night Live in the future (“I think they’d have to ask me first. That’s always been the biggest obstacle”). One fan ventured to ask if Yankovic would consider returning Radcliffe’s favor by playing him in his biopic. His reply sparked dreams of a movie we didn’t know we needed.

Well, I think that’s only fair, don’t you? I’m sure Dan will let me know when he’s done writing his screenplay.

Check out Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, streaming now for free on the Roku Channel.

 

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