We spoke w/ rainnwilson about 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' and that 'Boogie Nights'-inspired pool scene.
Co-written by “Weird Al” Yankovic and director Eric Appel, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is the People's Choice Award-winning, appropriately parodied musical biopic of the man himself. Featuring an ensemble cast portraying a full roster of celebrity cameos, this hysterical movie chronicles Yankovic’s “very true,” and at times challenged, rise to satire stardom. In the film, Rainn Wilson portrays Dr. Demento, Yankovic’s mentor of sorts who aids the young man in his quest for comedy.
COLLIDER: You won't remember this, but way back in 2007 when Collider was a nothing site on the internet, I did an interview with you at Sundance for The Last Mimzy, and I just wanted to say back then getting people to talk with us was more of a challenge. And I just want to say a sincere thank you for talking to us back then when the site was not much, and I will always appreciate that.I want to start with a sincere congratulations on this.
So as soon as I read it, I wanted in. I thought it was just brilliant how it, in a kind of Airplane-like fashion, satirizes the musical biopic without getting silly, and goofball, and broad. So I was really excited to be a part of it. Plus, Weird Al is a hero of mine. In the same way that Ron Howard started out in the Roger Corman world, a lot of the great comedy directors start out in doing those sketches and then moving to TV, and then when they get 18 whole days and a couple of million dollars, they're like, "Okay, let me at it. We can do this." And he knew how to move the camera in ways, and cut, and just a lot of movement and life and music, and it really made it feel like a big movie.
It was interesting because they had told me originally that they modeled Dr. Demento's character after Burt Reynolds' character in Boogie Nights, kind of this impresario behind-the-scenes puppet master bringing people together. So that was like a Boogie Nights scene. I mean it was like a scene from Boogie Nights. Only it just happened to have Peewee Herman, and Tiny Tim, and Divine and Gallagher, and Salvador Dalí in it. Just so much fun, such great imagination and humor.
I ask this of a lot of people. If someone has actually never seen anything you've done before, what is the first thing you want them watching and why?
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