Evan Rachel Wood Is Crossing Her Fingers That Madonna Is Still ‘Cool’ With Her After Her ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ Performance

As the Weird Al Yankovic biopic makes it’s debut at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, Evan Rachel Wood is hoping that Madonna is “cool” with her performance as the legendary pop star. In a new interview for Weird‘s TIFF premiere, Wood revealed that she’s actually interacted with Madonna over the years, which helped prepare her for taking on the iconic role in the Daniel Radcliffe-fronted film.

“I love Madonna,” Wood told IndieWire. “I’ve met her before. We’ve been very friendly. So I think we’re cool. I’m hoping we’re cool.”

Working in Wood’s favor is the fact that the film is heavily fictionalized, and also, Madonna has a pretty busy schedule these days:

“The good news is nothing in this movie actually happened, so I’m a little safe there.”

Plus, Wood is doubtful that Madonna will address her portrayal of her short-lived romance with Weird Al, who co-wrote and produced the film. “I don’t think she’s going to respond at all,” Wood said. “She has other things on her mind and other things to do.”

On top of being one of the biggest pop sensations in the world, Madonna is currently working on a biopic of herself. The film, which Madonna will also direct, locked down Ozark‘s Julia Garner for the title role. However, it wasn’t an easy process. Garner faced tough competition (Florence Pugh and Odessa Young were among the top contenders.) and everyone who auditioned reportedly had to take part in a grueling “Madonna boot camp,” which Wood wisely dodged by going the comedy biopic route.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story starts streaming November 4 on The Roku Channel.

(Via IndieWire)

Wow, Check Out The Pretty Good Madonna Voice Evan Rachel Wood Is Doing In The New Weird Al Movie

Evan Rachel Wood might be in the midst of promoting the new season of Westworld, but that doesn’t mean she can’t show off her pretty impressive vocal skills. While stopping by The Tonight Show on Thursday, Wood not only opened up about her upcoming role as Madonna in Roku’s Weird Al Yankovic biopic, but she gave the audience a taste of how well she can channel the iconic girl by belting out a performance of “Material Girl” at Fallon’s request.

According to Wood, she’s become prone to using her Madonna voice to “disarm” interviewers. As for taking on the iconic role, she felt much better playing the singer in the Weird Al movie than the full-fledged Madonna biopic that stars Julia Garner in the coveted role, which she deemed “too much pressure.” Regarding her casting, Wood added, “Honestly, like I thought I was gonna take a break the rest of the year, and then I got an email and the first thing I read is ‘You’ve been offered the role of Madonna,’ and I just burst out laughing like…. you just spit your drink out when you read that. Like, you’re not expecting that as a Tuesday.”

As for when you can see Wood play Madonna in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Roku has yet to provide a release date for the biopic that stars a surprisingly ripped Daniel Radcliffe in the title role. However, the film is scheduled to premiere some time this year, which is already halfway over, so the wait shouldn’t be too long.

(Via The AV Club)