KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 ― A Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike is blaming the Covid-19 pandemic for wrecking his big plans of becoming famous.
Russian national Roman Burtsev, 39, first made headlines in 2016 for his uncanny resemblance to the Hollywood A-lister.
DiCaprio’s doppelganger started getting modelling gigs, including an advertisement where he posed as the Titanic star and was also interviewed by the press about his newfound fame.
But Burtsev’s plans for international stardom were hampered by the pandemic, Daily Mirror reported.
“The problems began with the introduction of restrictions in April 2020 and now people have forgotten about me,” he said.
Pre-pandemic, DiCaprio fans would chase down Burtsev whenever he visited large cities but life under Covid-19 which requires wearing a mask, prevented the public from recognising him.
To make things worse, advertisers pulled out of deals with Burtsev when he packed on the pounds.
“I tried many methods for weight loss before finding my own and am now in the process of losing weight,” he said.
He previously appeared in various ads, including one for a vodka brand, before getting a job in cryptocurrency.
Burtsev, who has an IT background, quit his cryptocurrency job because his boss was unhappy with his requests for time off whenever photoshoots and advert shoots came up.
The lookalike who lives in a two-room flat with his parents and cats said he plans to reach his target weight so things can get back on track by the new year.
Currently single, Burtsev’s plans for the future include “family, children, home”.
He hopes to afford a house in Crimea with his RUB50,000 (RM2,915) monthly salary.
Burtsev and his family previously owned a three-bedroom apartment in western Russia’s Tula region but they have since sold off that property and moved into a two-room council flat in the outskirts of Moscow.
Burtsev lives in one of the rooms while his parents live in the second bedroom.
He hopes to buy a house soon now that his sister has started university.
