Evan Rachel Wood on her Madonna transformation: She 'is the most confident person on Earth'

Given her pedigree as a respected dramatic actress, Evan Rachel Wood never thought that depicting a scheming, villainous Madonna would land on her resume.

The versatile Wood – seen lately in HBO’s just-canceled “Westworld” – says she “couldn’t stop laughing” when the email arrived offering her the role of a twisted version of the oft-mimicked pop icon.

It’s a portrayal that perfectly fits the kooky tenor of “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” a sorta-mostly-true-crazily-trippy telling of the life story of pop’s reigning parody song maestro. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and is streaming free on The Roku Channel.

Daniel Radcliffe stars in the titular role and in this upside-down world version of Yankovic’s history, the accordion-playing genius behind “Eat It” and “Amish Paradise” falls into immediate lust with Wood’s bubblegum-blowing Madonna.

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Wood, 35, laughs as she recalls filming her first scene with Radcliffe – whom she describes as “a brilliant actor and a lovely human” – during the brisk, 18-day shoot this year in California.

“Of course it was the making-out scene in the mansion,” she says. “We had dinner the night before with the director (Eric Appel), and then the next day it was just, ‘Hi, nice to see you again,’ and we just dove right in.”

Wood’s physical transformation into peak ‘80s Madonna – mostly the “Like a Virgin” era, with some “Borderline” sunglasses thrown in – is impressive. Along with a general resemblance, Wood nails Madonna’s craftily arched eyebrow and, most notably, her unique cadence.

To prepare, Wood watched tons of interviews and performances with the superstar from the early 1980s as she “tried to incorporate as many -isms” as possible.

On set, Wood kept Madonna interviews playing on her earbuds to retain her speaking style.

“I feel like Madonna has her own dialect,” Wood says. “She almost has, like, an old Hollywood twang. She enunciates certain words differently, and after I got that down, then it was, how do I ooze confidence? Because I think Madonna is the most confident person on Earth.”

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Wood says she wasn’t initially worried about how the pop titan would react to her portrayal because she assumed the producers (which include Yankovic, who contributes the new song "Now You Know," which plays during the film's closing credits) had gotten clearance.

“Halfway through shooting they said: 'We haven’t talked to Madonna. We don’t need permission because she’s a public figure.' That was the only time I went … whoop,” Wood recalls with a laugh.

While the most absurd parts of the movie – especially the relationship between Madonna and Yankovic – are clearly fiction, there are elements of truth. Madonna really did want Yankovic to turn her monster hit “Like a Virgin” into “Like a Surgeon” because the “Yankovic bump,” when an artist’s original song received a sales boost from the publicity, was genuine. Madonna also came up with the song title herself, a rarity in Yankovic’s universe.

And a piece of Madonna dialogue in the movie, about wanting to “rule the world,” is straight from her famous comment to Dick Clark during a 1984 appearance on “American Bandstand.”

One thing Wood doesn’t do in the film is sing. Though she has a formidable background as a singer (she belts in “Frozen II,” performed in the duos Rebel and a Basketcase and Evan + Zane and starred in the Beatles-themed “Across the Universe” in 2007), her ability to mimic Madonna wasn’t fully realized until a cast wrap party at a karaoke bar.

“I got up and did ‘Material Girl’ and Daniel and Eric were like: ‘We’re so stupid! Why didn’t we ask you to sing in the movie?’ But they didn’t know I could do a Madonna impression that well. I didn’t know I could do a Madonna impression that well!” she says. “I’m just glad they didn’t ask me to dance, because nobody dances like Madonna.”

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Wood hopes her zany depiction will send up a flare to casting directors that she’s game to do comedy, a genre she isn’t usually considered for because of being known for “dark and brooding” roles. “But then people meet me and are like, 'You’re bubbly and fun!' ”

That lightheartedness seeps into every frame of “Weird,” and Wood hopes that if not anything else, people appreciate the film for its distractibility factor.

“We’re poking fun at ourselves, we’re poking fun at Hollywood, we’re definitely poking fun at music biopics,” she says. “And everyone needs a good laugh right now – including me.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Evan Rachel Wood portrays Madonna in Weird Al Yankovic film