L to R: Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey and Daniel Radcliffe as “Bizarre Al” Yankovic in Bizarre: The Al Yankovic Story
Eric Appel on Directing and Casting “Bizarre: The Al Yankovic Story”
Bizarre Alchemy
Nov 04, 2022
Images by Courtesy of Roku
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How bizarre would it not be to play “Weird Al” Yankovic? The “Eat It” and “White and Nerdy” singer is so famend for hilariously reinterpreting hit songs, how may an actor probably reinterpret this singular satirist in a big-screen satire? Or how about portraying Madonna, the icon of all icons, as a treacherous love curiosity and nemesis of the humorist who rejigged her chart topper “Like a Virgin” to “Like a Surgeon”? Seeing as actors Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) and Evan Rachel Wooden bear little resemblance to these real-life huge names, it’d come as a shock that each are being praised for taking part in them within the new movie Bizarre: The Al Yankovic Story.
Director Eric Appel is happy to subvert such expectations along with his boldly solid movie. Appel has been a pal of Yankovic’s ever since he first dabbled within the thought of a Bizarre Al biopic by making a trailer for such a then non-existent movie when he labored at Humorous or Die. Now that he has really made the film (it streams beginning at the moment on the Roku Channel), he tells us about how Radcliffe and his castmates are making audiences chuckle at biopics to the identical extent that the film’s predominant character has made us chuckle at hit songs.
Kyle Mullin (Underneath the Radar): How would you describe the movie?
Eric Appel: It’s a satire of biopics. Not a straight up parody like Scary Film or Bare Gun. And even Stroll Laborious: The Dewey Cox Story. They’re extra joke ahead and gag ahead. Our purpose with this film was to satirize biopics by telling a grounded story that exists in a really heightened world. And have the story actually work. So none of our jokes defy logic. We hit emotional beats and make them land. And we needed it to have the ability to maintain an entire film and never come off like a very lengthy comedy sketch. A part of that was leaning into the drama and having our actors give grounded performances, and never wink at digicam. And I’m pleased with the way it turned out.
On paper, Daniel Radcliffe may not appear to be an ideal option to play “Bizarre Al.” What makes him the appropriate actor for the job?
This complete film hangs on Daniel Radcliffe as “Bizarre Al.” He’s the viewers’s view into this world we’ve created. We couldn’t have landed a extra excellent actor. He’s used to that, as a result of Harry’s eyes are your window into the wizarding world of the Potter movies. Simply the best way he emotes, and the best way he will get comedy and will get what’s humorous and what’s absurd. His emotional intelligence, and letting the comedy come by the script—he actually nailed it.
Inform us about what the actors convey to the movie.
I additionally beloved casting Julianne Nicholson as his mom, as a result of she’s such an unimaginable actress. She was simply coming off an Emmy win for a really dramatic efficiency in Mare of Easttown. We have been shocked and delighted that she agreed to play the mother in our film. It wanted that—the best way the mother appears to be like at her son, whereas his father, performed by Tobias Huss, is berating him for making up humorous phrases to a music. It feels so actual. I keep in mind watching the dailies of her efficiency, and pondering “This so foolish, what we’re doing. And I can’t consider she’s taking part in it so straight. It’s actually working, and I actually really feel for this child!” The extra the emotional beats land, the funnier the scene shall be. It’s this bizarre alchemy.
And Evan Rachel Wooden—her model of Madonna is so arch, which is by design. Once we get to her and Dan, she’s taking part in such an evil model of Madonna, however preserving it grounded. We’re clearly not portraying the real-world model of Madonna. In case you watch the film in its entirety, it’ll be clear by the tip that we’re stepping away from actuality a bit. Nobody is taking part in the correct real-life variations of their characters.
One other nice member of the solid: Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento. Although I’ve learn Patton Oswalt was initially tapped for that function, which is now onerous to think about.
Yeah, and he broke his foot every week earlier than we began capturing. So Rainn was our alternative to switch him, and he fortunately dug the script and stepped in on the final minute. We had Rainn on a listing for different roles.
What different challenges did you face?
Our finances was round $8 million, which is fairly low for a music biopic. And we needed to make it look retro as a result of it was set within the ’80s. So there have been so many costumes. There are tons of characters within the script, and nearly on daily basis we have been capturing in a brand new location. And COVID after all prices cash to cope with. We needed to shoot the film in 22 days, and the script was 100 pages. So we needed to do lots in prep to verify we have been capable of make the times. I needed to be very economical, and know what my photographs have been going to be. And all of the solid was extraordinarily ready. We have been capable of rehearse all of the musical numbers and motion sequences earlier than. And we shot the film in 18 days, although by the tip of the shoot we have been capturing 10 hour days.
It should have been satisfying to drag that off?
Yeah. There have been days the place I left pondering, “I’m 95% certain I obtained all the pieces I wanted to get.” And once I obtained into the enhancing room, that’s once I was really relieved. The enhancing was actually fast too—5 weeks to have the film minimize. I believe we shortly realized in submit what we had. I believe our companions at [streaming service] Roku then began seeing what the film could possibly be. As a result of it’s not likely spoofy. It’s not what you’d anticipate. And that was Al and I’s purpose all alongside—to do one thing extra fascinating within the biopic kind. And I’m glad that it’s now registering.
Daniel’s post-Potter profession has additionally been about defying expectations.
Sure, he has actually good style and picks actually cool tasks. Swiss Military Man and Weapons Akimbo have been such superior motion pictures, and the actual fact he selected them is without doubt one of the causes we went for him. I used to be honored that he was so excited by our script. He put a lot into it, and had a lot focus. I couldn’t ask for something extra.
