Daniel Radcliffe is set to appear in an upcoming biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. His upcoming film was ercently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. However, the Harry Potter actor revealed how his parents served as two of his major fitness influences as he geared up to be shirtless in the film. Radcliffe spoke about the fitness inspiration to Entertainment Tonight at the premiere.
The actor shared to the outlet, “There is a bizarre thing that happened this year, I was shirtless more as Al than I’ve been in anything else. An article about the film came out saying that I got in shape for this role, which I didn’t. My parents do CrossFit. They’re in their sixties and they’re insanely fit people, so I’ve just got them to keep up with.” Daniel added, “They’re just setting a crazy bar. We don’t do CrossFit together. CrossFit is their thing. I’m not fit enough, probably, for CrossFit. They are phenoms.”
Just as he may not reach his parents’ level in CrossFit, Radcliffe knows it’ll be hard to live up to Weird Al Yankovic’s skills on the accordion. “The accordion is a nightmare,” Radcliffe admitted of performing it as he played the singer in the biopic. “It’s lovely, it’s wonderful, it is really, really fun, but also it breaks your brain… [It takes] immense practice and talent. It’s wild what he can do.”
The accordion, along with the general task of playing Yankovic, made joining the film “very nerve-wracking” for Radcliffe. “It’s the only time I’ve played someone that I’ve been a fan of. That’s never happened before,” he said. “Luckily he’s an incredibly sweet, kind person and… I’m playing a version of Al. We take some serious liberties with the story and the man in this biopic,” Daniel continues.
While never-wracking at times, the experience of working on the film left Radcliffe feeling “just delighted.” “Honestly, this film from front to back was just one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. “There was no one on this set that was indifferent to Al’s music, everyone on this set loves Al and was so pumped to be there every day. It felt like this amazing sort of honour that we all got to be a part of something so crazy.” Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is scheduled to exclusively release on the Roku Channel on Nov. 4.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a 2022 American biographical parody film directed by Eric Appel from a screenplay by Appel and “Weird Al” Yankovic. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovic, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss, Julianne Nicholson, and Quinta Brunson in supporting roles. Daniel Radcliffe starter upcoming film follows, rebellious and unconventional, singer “Weird Al” Yankovic, who becomes famous for changing the words to world-renowned songs. However, his excessive lifestyle and infamous romance nearly destroy him.
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