When we see Daniel Radcliffe play Weird Al in the Weird: The Al Yankovic Story we can expect to the actor rock some funky fits and epic spectacles. We can also expect to see him sing Weird Al’s greatest parodies and play the accordion. Something you may not expect, he'll be shirtless for quite a bit of the film. Even just in the trailer, we see him “half-naked,” as Radcliffe described it, quite a bit. You can see he is rocking abs in the trailer, and he has explained how he got in such shape.
In a recent interview with EW, Radcliffe spoke about what prepping for this movie was like. The journalist conducting the q and a, noted that the Harry Potter actor is shirtless a lot in the movie. Radcliffe then went into detail about it, and how he got in such good shape.
There's an article that makes it sound that I really got in shape for this film, like a mental choice. I'm like the cliché of the person who has stopped drinking and transferred that energy to something else. My parents are, like, insane CrossFitters in their sixties so there's an obsessive part of me. And I was randomly more half-naked as Weird Al than any other character I've ever played.
I kind of love that it was his parents who inspired him to get fit. Cross Fit is no joke so it makes sense that Radcliffe’s mom and dad are in such good shape. His parents seem like a great inspiration to exercise, especially with their physical achievments, as Radcliffe described:
I don't do CrossFit, no. I do my own sort of thing, but that's just in terms of the bar that my parents have set. My parents are in their sixties and they're fitter than me and it's mental. My mom can do handstand press ups and she's, like, 60.
That's so impressive, no wonder Radcliffe feels the need to stay in shape. It's an added motivation that he had to be shirtless in this biopic.
Not only is this character “more half-naked” than any other character Radcliffe has played, it also sounds like the weirdest (pun intended) character he’s ever taken on. He went so far as to say Weird might be weirder than Swiss Army Man, which means it’s about to be really wacky movie.
While Radcliffe got in shape and learned the accordion, his co-star Evan Rachel Wood spent her prep time binge-ing Madonna interviews and music videos to nail her impression of the pop icon. Both Wood and Radcliffe have been praised for their performances in Weird. Our own Mike Reyes said that Radcliffe “reaches new heights of unhinged lunacy” in his review of the film.
Personally, I can’t wait to see Radcliffe in Weird, and it's a pleasant surprise that he's unexpectedly jacked in the movie (thank you Mr. and Mrs. Radcliffe). Out of the 2022 movie releases, the Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is bound to be a fun one, especially with all this fun behind-the-scenes info about how the actors prepped for the film. You can check Weird out on November 4 on The Roku Channel.
