How 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' Pulled Off the Cameo Filled Pool Scene | Making a Scene

"Weird: The Al Yankovic Story" tells an exaggerated version of Weird Al's rise to fame in the 1980s. In one of its more memorable scenes, the character of Al performs "Another One Rides the Bus" at a pool party filled with offbeat, memorable personalities like Pee-Wee Herman, Andy Warhol and Wolfman Jack. Director Eric Appel, costume designer Wendy Benbrook and Al Yankovic himself, break down the making of the scene including calling in favors to cast all of those cameos, rushing to shoot it on a tight schedule, and why they weren't allowed to depict Freddie Mercury.

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[WhitePointerGaming]

I think it worked out better to have John Deacon in the scene rather than Freddy Mercury, cause everyone knows who Freddy is. To have John Deacon introduce himself and everyone saying "huh? who?" and then making him need to awkwardly explain that he was the bassist in Queen was much funnier.

[xosammyb]

My favorite part of this movie is when they dub in the real Al's voice when daniel radcliffe is singing, it helps bridge the gap so well between his acting and feeling like he's a younger version of Al

[davidhill]

"It was amazing how quickly they responded." Less amazing when you realize that Al's not only known as a great and creative artist that people (and not just comedians) want to work with, but has built up decades of goodwill in the entertainment community.

[withershin]

RIP Paul Reubens. Imagine Jorma flying out to LA to shoot that scene knowing what we know now. Thanks to everyone involved with this production. It's a riot. Madonna Ciccone is still at large.

[clrbrk]

This movie was freaking brilliant. The cameos, the parody, the way they made serious moments out silly situations (or maybe silly moments out of serious situations?). I loved it.

[smokinhalf]

Daniel Radcliffe will forever be typecast and only known for playing weird al

[RatedRKO]

This film deserved far more attention. In addition to being funny it was a perfect parody of music biopics. Also huge fan of him and UHF so the silliness in this film was just perfect.

[genevieveard]

I have always cherished the late night I was sitting up reading a book, and Dr. Demento came on saying "Here is a young man, who sent me a cassette tape of himself playing...." and within moments I buried my face in my pillow laughing hysterically.

[kendragon]

Only Weird Al could so perfectly parody his own life story. Masterclass.

[-Subtle-]

Radcliffe is amazing in this as well.

If you haven't seen his eclectic collection of starring roles, you're missing out.

Guns Akimbo, Swiss Army Man...

[SteveBluescemi]

Emo Philips as Salvador Dali was a REVELATION, I *need* a late career biopic starring Phillips as an erratic, elderly Dali.

[Supermonkey]

Weird Al's NEXT stop really needs to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! This guys longevity, ability to adapt to each decade as the music changed, his amazing ORIGINAL tunes as well as his massive influence on Pop Culture....it's a no-brainer! The R&RHOF says that Rock and Roll isn't just music but attitude and influence...I'd say Al checks both of those boxes and I'd be willing to bet that if he were to be announced as a class member, no self respecting entertainer would even bat an eye. And some will even say, "'Bout damn time!!"

[ProffyChaos]

He seems like he genuinely just loves life and is appreciative of all the people on the way up. His enthusiasm is infectious.

[KoyoteeLaughter]

If you've never seen weird al in concert, OMG you should. It is the best, better than most any other show. Very entertaining.

[zstick]

I've never heard anyone that had anything bad to say about Weird Al. The guy has spent his entire career making great songs and good friends. Decades of the guy winning over everyone who matters in the entertainment industry. If he'd put it out there saying "Hey, I need some people to get naked and be buried up to their necks in mealworms and then peed on by an alpaca for my next music video" he still would have gotten forty million emails saying "I wanna do it, Al! I'll be there in an hour!"

What a legend.

[MotiviqueStudio]

I can't think of a more amazing casting that Jack Black as Wolfman.

[kailaniandi]

Dr. Demento was more than likely the reason Al, as well as Devo became so well known. Pure genius is why they became successful!

[aarononeil]

I'm honestly glad that Paul was still with us when this movie came out, he would have gotten a good kick out of seeing himself depicted in the scene

[EvanFowler]

Al needs to make more movies. As it stands, he's two-for-two on making all time classics. This and UHF make a great double feature, but I want more. I demand a triple feature. Quadruple, even. Hell, I'd even take an animated Harvey the Wonder Hamster film.

[Eric-ytfp]

Emo Phillips as Salvador Dali is probably t he greatest casting choice of all time.