Daniel Radcliffe recently learned that “Weird Al” Yankovic was impressed with a new song he performed over a decade ago, although it’s unclear how Rihanna felt about it.
The Harry Potter star attended The Tonight Show on Friday, where host Jimmy Fallon asked about Weird, a Roku biopic starring the Lost City actor as a parody song expert. Curious about how the casting went, Fallon asked if Radcliffe had previously dated Yankovic, to which the guest replied in the negative.
“When I first spoke to Al, I said, ‘I’m really flattered that you would choose me to play you, but why me? I’m puzzled but excited,” Radcliffe recalled.
He went on to explain that in November 2010 he was on The Graham Norton Show and recited every word of humorist Tom Lehrer’s new song “The Elements” by heart. For those not in the know, the song lists all the elements of the periodic table in rhymed order, and is sung to the tune of Major General’s Song from The Pirates of Penzance. At the time, Radcliffe’s other guests Graham Norton, Colin Farrell and Rihanna didn’t seem to quite know what to make of the feat.
“I sang The Elements with Colin Farrell and a very funny Rihanna,” said Radcliffe. The actor added that he felt like Rihanna “is like who is this kid and why is he singing all of ‘The Elements’?”
He continued, “I think Al saw it and thought, ‘Maybe this guy got it.’ And so he chose me. So I’m very, very lucky and now I have accordion lessons with Al.”