Daniel Radcliffe revealed the surprising reason he was chosen as the strange Al

Daniel Radcliffe told Jimmy Fallon that, in 2010, he appeared on the BBC’s late-night show “The Graham Norton Show”, alongside Colin Farrell, Rihanna and comedian Rhod Gilbert. During that appearance, Radcliffe performed an acapella version of the song “The Elements” by Tom Lehrer, as he noted when introducing the song to an audience in the late 1960s (via YouTube), only is simply a list of entries in the periodic table. to the tune of “The Major-General’s Song” from “The Pirates of Penzance.”

Radcliffe’s version of “The Elements” video is also available on YouTube and shows Rihanna teasingly looking at her watch, then bursting into laughter as Radcliffe casually tries to play a parody of Lehrer’s classic. At one point, the “Weird” star forgot the lyrics and made the audience, who were reacting clearly, applaud the song.

According to Radcliffe, Yankovic (who was apparently a Lehrer’s fans) watched that performance “and was like ‘This guy gets it.'” And while it’s possible their connection to Lehrer had sparked Yankovic’s interest, Radcliffe’s talent and enthusiasm would be what makes “Weird” worth watching. The upcoming Roku biopic will also be well worth watching, if only for its supporting cast. Although a release date has yet to be announced, we do know that Evan Rachel Wood will appear as Madonna and Rainn Wilson will play the new radio DJ Barret “Dr. Demento” Hansen, who helped launch Yankovic’s career. (via The Oklahoman).