The casting of Daniel Radcliffe in the upcoming Al Yankovic biopic came as a surprise to many, and the star has finally revealed, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the reason why he will get to star in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. It turns out the cause was a moment with Rihanna.
He said on the U.K. talk show that “The Elements” writer Tom Lehrer was one of the funniest men of the 20th century, and kind of his hero. The British star then belted out a tune which helped him to learn all the elements in the periodic table by heart. He told Fallon he thought Rihanna was puzzled by what he was doing,
When I talked to Al for the first time, I was like, ‘I’m immensely flattered by the idea that you would pick me to play you, but like, why me? I’m mystified but excited.’ [In 2010 on the Graham Norton Show] I sang ‘The Elements’ next to Colin Farrell and a very amused Rihanna. I guess Al saw that and was like, ‘this guy maybe gets it.’ So, he picked me. So, I’m very, very lucky.
He also explained how, while he was preparing for the role, he got to try out Yankovic’s accordion.
“I got to have accordion lessons with Al. I got lent Al’s accordion for a month. I was very sad to say goodbye to the accordion. On day two I broke one of the straps, but thankfully he is like the nicest guy. If he was furious about it he kept that to himself.”
The film does not yet have a release date as of this story being filed, but will come out exclusively on The Roku Channel. In keeping with Yankovic’s humor, the piece is said to look at his “torrid affairs” and “depraved lifestyle.”