Celebrity
How Rihanna (Sort Of) Helped Daniel Radcliffe Land His Weird Al Biopic Role
“[She] was like, who is this kid, and why is he singing all of the elements?”
When “Weird Al” Yankovic handpicked Daniel Radcliffe to play him in an upcoming biopic, the Harry Potter alum had questions. “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,’” Radcliffe recalled on March 18’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. As it turned out, the decision might have had a little something to do with Rihanna’s reaction to a novelty song he performed in front of her on The Graham Norton Show in November 2010.
During the British talk show, the actor showed off his “party trick,” singing a rendition of “The Elements” by musical humorist Tom Lehrer, alongside Colin Farrell and “a very bemused” Rihanna. Sung to the tune of “Major-General’s Song” from The Pirates of Penzance, the musical number is essentially a rhyming recitation of the periodic table of elements. As the actor joked to Fallon, Rihanna “was like, who is this kid, and why is he singing all of the elements?”
Either way, the “White & Nerdy” musician was apparently impressed. “I guess Al saw that and was like, ‘This guy maybe gets it,’” Radcliffe added. “And so he picked me. So I’m very, very lucky, and now I’ve gotten to have accordion lessons with Al.”
When the Roku Channel announced Weird: The Al Yankovic Story earlier this year, the five-time Grammy winner reacted to the titular casting in a statement. “I am absolutely thrilled that Daniel Radcliffe will be portraying me in the film,” Yankovic said of the Harry Potter alum, also joking, “I have no doubt whatsoever that this is the role future generations will remember him for.” Filming only took 18 days after production began in early February, but the Roku Original film doesn’t yet have a release date.
Currently starring in The Lost City with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, Radcliffe has no plans to return to the wizarding role that launched his career, however. “I think I was so able to go back and enjoy [the reunion] because it’s not a part of my day-to-day life anymore,” he recently told The New York Times. “I’m getting to a point where I feel like I made it out of Potter OK and I’m really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life.”
Another role he’s not playing — yet, anyway — is that of Marvel’s Wolverine. Also explaining on Fallon that the rumors have come up “every so often for the last few years,” Radcliffe said he thinks speculation has arisen “‘cause Wolverine in the comics is fairly short” and people know him as a “short actor.” (For the record, he’s around 5 feet, 5 inches tall.) Though he insisted that there are no plans for him to join the MCU anytime soon, he appreciates the idea nonetheless, adding, “I mean, anything that implies the fleeting-est similarity to Hugh Jackman is incredibly flattering.”
