A Weird Biopic

Daniel Radcliffe stars as the music-parody superstar in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Launched in 2017 as an extension of the Roku streaming platform, the Roku Channel hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire with its original programming, which has mainly come from the purchase of Quibi’s library of shows after the ambitious streaming service crashed and burned. 

That looks to change with the arrival of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Roku Channel’s biggest original to date—a hilariously skewed biopic of song parodist extraordinaire “Weird Al” Yankovic. Roku ChannelStarring erstwhile Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovic, Weird presents a wildly fanciful look at his rise from polka-obsessed oddball to chart-topping MTV staple thanks to parodies of music videos by the likes of Michael Jackson (“Eat It”) and Nirvana (“Smells Like Nirvana”) that have become just as iconic as the vids he spoofed. 

Imagine a “Weird Al”-style parody of a biopic and you get the gist of Weird, which documents his meteoric rise to the top of the music biz, his torrid affair with Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood), his descent into substance abuse and subsequent full-fledged emotional breakdown—none of which, by the way, actually happened.  Roku ChannelWeird also stars Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento, Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey, and Julianne Nicholson and Toby Huss as Yankovic’s parents, who advise him that “it would be best if you just stopped being who you are and doing the things you love.” 

Yankovic himself was heavily involved in bringing his mostly made-up life story to the screen, having co-written the screenplay and hand-picking Radcliffe to portray him. 

While Radcliffe described the film as “one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life,” Yankovic took to Instagram to gush of the actor: “Wait till you see him in this. He’s even more like me than I am.”  

Roku ChannelWeird: The Al Yankovic Story premieres Friday, November 5 on The Roku Channel