Director/Co-writer Eric Appel delivers comedic greatness in his first feature film. Weird: The Story of Al Yankovic is a funny satire and parody of musical biopics. “Weird Al” becomes the greatest musician of all time… in a very specific category, fighting Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar and romances with a backstabbing Madonna. Daniel Radcliffe plays Weird Al as the straight man who leads a crazy story. An all-star supporting cast of famous actors and comedians join in. Evan Rachel Wood almost steals the show by playing Madonna as a mean temptress.
Weird: The Story of Al Yankovic started out as a 2010 Funny or Die parody movie trailer. Appel discusses how the success of Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman enabled an adaptation of the short feature film. The ten-year gap allowed him and Weird Al to write a script that captured the short film’s humorous beats. The next step was to put together the star cast. All the players were friends of Weird Al and agreed without hesitation. Appel notes that Radcliffe, who is fantastic here, wanted to know why the filmmakers wanted him. He loved the script and jumped at the chance to rock an accordion.
Appel shot the film in a short eighteen days. Weird: The Story of Al Yankovic was his first feature film, but Appel has a lot of experience directing television programs such as The office, new girland Brooklyn Nine-Nine. His ability to laugh a lot under a time crisis is evident. Appel thoroughly enjoyed the process. He hopes the stars they mock have a good sense of humor and aren’t offended by their spoof characterizations.
Adapting the Funny or Die Short to a Feature Film
Talk about the process of taking the Funny or Die short to a feature film.
Eric Appel: There is a nice ten-year gap between the short film and the film. Al played the fake trailer during his concerts while changing clothes. We always thought it worked well as a three minute short film, but never thought of making it into a movie. Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, this whole bunch of biopics came out. We felt this was the right time to make it lengthy. We had all these beats in the trailer to include in the movie. It gave us a nice template. We wanted to get off the rails. Make something that wasn’t a specific biopic parody. We play out the tropes of biopics. We also wanted a really original, weird and fun story that would surprise the audience. That was our MO to get into the writing process.
The casting is so funny. Radcliffe, Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, Jack Black had me down as Wolfman Jack. How did you get these great comedians and actors for your first feature film?
Eric Appel: (laughs) The Jack Black day was a bit intimidating. There was a lot of talent on set that day. We didn’t have much time to film it. We shot the film in eighteen days. That very big pool party was half a day. We shot in the winter. We had no sunlight. It was a bit cold outside. All those cameos are friends of Al. That made it a bit easier. We had Weird Al with us on set. He introduced me to all these people. We went through Al’s rolodex. Here are all my friends and acquaintances. Let’s choose who makes sense for each character. It was really exciting to have him text their answers. Though it would reach everyone directly. Almost everyone said, of course, yes, I’m in your movie Al.
Casting Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al
How famous was Daniel Radcliffe with Weird Al? Did he have to be convinced to take the part?
Eric Appel: There was no conviction. We sent him the script. About a week later we got a Zoom. He was like, I love this, I want to do it, the script was great. He asked why me. Why do you see me in this role? He is such a great dramatic and comedic actor. All his messages Harry Potter movie choices were so outrageous. We thought he would get the job. We really wanted his character to play it clearly. We needed someone to turn in a dramatic performance, but we had all the humor behind it. Dan was perfect. He plays it so real. He carries all the Harry Potter movies. You will be introduced to the Wizarding World through the eyes of Daniel Radcliffe. Now you are introduced to the Weird World through the same eyes. It works really well.
What’s the best and worst day on the set of Weird?
Eric Appel: The first day we shot the My Baloney scene. Where he stares at the baloney and invents the song. It was so funny. We all knew it. We’re making something really unique and fun here. It carried us through the next seventeen days. The worst day… saying goodbye, packing. I wish we could have shot for another eighteen days. There were some challenges. We had to do things very quickly. The concert scenes, we had one day to record all the performances. The meltdown on stage wasn’t even a full day. But the whole thing was a joyful experience. Everyone had a lot of fun.
You do a great job faking eighties stars. Pablo Escobar’s bit was hilarious. Do you expect a backlash from mocking these people? Hopefully no Colombian drug lords are angry…
Eric Appel: (laughs) Yes, Pablo Escobar’s ghost will haunt me. I’m not worried about a backlash. I don’t think we are cruel to anyone. Madonna plays a nemesis in our movie. I hope Madonna will see this and see the humor in it. Then the real Weird Al isn’t playing. He plays a bizarre movie version. That’s the way it is with everyone. They play lofty, dramatic and bizarre biographical versions.
Weird: The Story of Al Yankovic has an exclusive premiere on November 4 on The Roku Channel.