The queen of pop herself, Madonna, in a wild affair with the king of parody, ”Weird Al” Yankovic?
That’s a truly bizarre plotline in the ridiculously entertaining biopic, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
But what does Madonna herself have to say about it?
”We’ve heard zero from the Madonna camp,” Al, 63, tells TV WEEK from Los Angeles.
”We didn’t get anybody’s permission ahead of time, as far as characters go. We were told by our legal team they’re public figures, so they’re fair game. Just go and shoot your script as written … and hopefully they’ll be fine with it.”
The real ”Weird Al” with Evan and Daniel.
(IMAGE: Supplied)In the movie, Madonna, played by Evan Rachel Wood, seduces Al (Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe) to boost her career.
”We dearly hope Madonna is OK with it and understands it’s a joke,” Al implores.
”Honestly, I don’t know. I’d like to think she’s at least heard of it [the movie].
Or maybe it’s not even on her radar.”
Is that you, Harry? Daniel Radcliffe plays Al as his star rose in the 1980s.
(IMAGE: Supplied)Almost certainly, the Material Girl would know about the movie, which last month scooped two awards – Best Made For Television Movie and Best Actor for Daniel Radcliffe at the Critic’s Choice awards.
Truth is, Madge and Al have a history together dating all the way back to his 1985 hit, ‘‘Like A Surgeon”, a humorous take on her worldwide hit song, ”Like A Virgin”.
If you believe Al, Madonna actually had a hand in his song.
”Madonna was talking to a friend of hers one day and wondered out loud, ‘I wonder when Weird Al is going to get around to doing ‘Like A Surgeon’,”’ Al recalls.
”Her friend knew my manager and relayed the story back to me. I thought, ‘That’s not a bad idea – maybe I will.’
”So, she’s indirectly responsible for that parody.”
In the new movie, Al and Madonna are in love.
(IMAGE: Supplied)The movie tracks Al’s life from his humble beginnings as an accordion-playing outsider to pop parody superstar and eventually a crazy run-in with a crime cartel.
The genesis of the movie can be traced to a trailer for a fake Al biopic he and director Eric Appel did for comedy site Funny Or Die in 2010.
The project took flight after Al saw the success of 2018 Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and 2019’s Rocket Man, based on the life of Elton John.
At the time, Al bemoaned to Eric that the films were ”taking liberties with the truth, changing facts and messing with the chronology of events”.
Al told Eric they should make a ”Weird Al” movie, ”but just have it go completely off the rails, and not even pay attention to the facts”.
Daniel looks very different here…
(IMAGE: Supplied)According to Al, Daniel was the perfect guy to play him, because they needed someone who knew how to do comedy, but who could also ”play it completely straight”.
”We wanted it to have the feel of a serious Oscar-bait biopic,” Al says.
”Daniel had the right energy for that.”
WATCH NOW: Daniel Radcliffe interested in new Harry Potter movie. Article continues after video.
Next month, Al is bringing his band to Australia for a series of anticipated shows playing four decades worth of material. Given the success of his movie, could we see more of him – or someone playing him – on our screens?
”My knee-jerk response is of course not,” he says.
”But Eric is already floating the idea of a sequel [to the movie]. We could be the first biopic in history that ever got a sequel.”
That would be suitably weird.
