Warning: SPOILERS for a cameo in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story are in play. If you’re looking to avoid such knowledge, this is a friendly warning.
Typically, people will tell you “truth is stranger than fiction.” Those people clearly don’t know the humor of Weird Al Yankovic, especially when it comes to the fiction he and co-writer/director Eric Appel have pumped into the new movie release Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
With the Roku Channel original now streaming for the masses, it feels like a good time to reflect on some of the most ridiculous moments from this faux biopic. More specifically, I’d like to draw attention to the scenes that stars Evan Rachel Wood and Daniel Radcliffe highlighted as their absolute favorites. As spirits were high during the press day for this wild/critically-enjoyed comedy, it was clear that this was one of the best questions to ask in the moment.
I say this because upon asking that very question, Wood doubled over for a brief moment with pure laughter. After composing herself, but still smiling about the Weird memories this query had triggered, Evan Rachel Wood described her favorite moment of absurdity to CinemaBlend as follows:
There were a couple of places I couldn’t stop laughing. One is where you’re getting the phone call about “Eat It,” and you’re like smashing the phone. That was such a hilarious scene to shoot. I can’t give the cameo away, the waiter, but when you knocked the food out of his hand … that whole day was so epically ridiculous.
If you’re sensitive to plot and/or cameo spoilers for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, feel free to skip ahead a couple of paragraphs. I say this because while it’s a sin to spoil anything that happens in this movie, the context of the moment above is key to why the moment gives Evan Rachel Wood such joy.
The scene in question is one of the first dates that Al and Madonna go out on in their fictional relationship, purely cooked up as part of Eric Appel’s original Funny or Die short. With a crucial call coming during their dinner date, Weird Al is eventually informed that Michael Jackson is about to drop a new single parodying “Eat It,” Al’s latest musical triumph. Through this emotional journey, Daniel Radcliffe’s exaggerated portrayal of Weird Al wails on a host’s stand with the receiver, obviously mad such news has come his way.
What’s even worse is, as Evan Rachel Wood described above, Al takes out part of his frustrations on a poor waiter trying to serve him food. Slapping down his Filet Mignon in anger, the man trying to serve Al is played by none other than singing superstar/comedic jokester Josh Groban.
He’s just one of the many notable cameos you’ll see in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. So if you happened to have this moment spoiled for you, there’s plenty more where that came from, one of which involves a star of the original Weird comedy short.
Speaking of more ridiculousness, Daniel Radcliffe’s pick for his favorite moment of absurdity is something that isn’t as spoilery. If you’ve seen Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’s trailer, you know of the moment where his Weird Al is seen in a moment where he’s jamming out on a guitar. That may not sound ridiculous on its own, but when that scene involves a drug trip where Al sees himself breaking out of a gooey egg, the line is absolutely crossed.
As you’ll read below, the entirety of Weird made it hard for Radcliffe to even pick a moment to describe:
That’s the thing. It’s so hard to pick. The moment where I’m coming out of an egg, covered in goo, naked, playing a guitar. That was definitely one of those [moments] where you think, ‘Wow. This is pretty out there.’ That’s the thing, you almost did get desensitized to it, because every day brought something, and something new. That was part of the joy when I read the script. You could just read that and go, ‘Oh, this is going to be fun. This is obviously going to be incredible fun to make.’
There’s plenty to like about Weird, no matter what sort of audience member you are. If you’re looking for how many cameos you can count, it’s going to be fun to see how many you get on the first try. Should you be a person who likes to see just how absurd a movie can get with its premise, that too will be on display.
And if you’re someone who buys into that whole package, with room for some more surprises as the film goes on, you’re practically ready to watch Weird: The Al Yankovic story! Which you can totally do, free of ads, courtesy of The Roku Channel. Not to mention, if you want to add some more fun to your entertainment diet, Weird Al’s previous cinematic triumph UHF is also available on that same platform.
