You never quite know what you can do to make yourself famous, and sometimes, doing so can have specific benefits. This could even include looking like someone who is famous.
In Russia, there is a computer programmer who looks so much like Leonardo DiCaprio that his pictures went viral. He had a recent turn of events, however, after gaining some weight.
Roman Burtzev has been famous online since 2016. It was then that he shared a picture of himself on a dating website and suddenly, he was an instant viral sensation.
When you see his picture, you can’t help but notice there is a strong resemblance between Roman and Leonardo DiCaprio. In fact, it’s almost as if they are twins.
Unfortunately, now that Roman has gained weight and lost some of his modeling jobs, he ended up being sent to Ukraine in order to fight the war for Russia.
When he first became famous in 2016, it was around the same time that DiCaprio was at a peak. One year had passed since the filming of The Relevant and it won an Academy award. Obviously, looking like Leonardo during that time would not be a bad gig.
There are some differences between the two of them, but they aren’t associated with their looks. Roman is eight years younger and when he went viral, he was 33 years old. Suddenly, modeling agencies were going crazy for photo shoots.
Thanks to his doppelgänger status, he made quite a living at the time. He ended up becoming a full-time Leonardo DiCaprio impersonator and quit his day job as a programmer.
Little did he know that the Covid-19 pandemic would have the same effect on him as it did on many of us. He had to eventually give up his modeling career and started to put on some weight.
In a 2021 interview, he said: “The problems began with the introduction of restrictions in April 2020 and now people have forgotten about me.”
When Russia started its military operations in Ukraine, he signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. He spoke about it, saying: “I signed the contract on September 19. It was a difficult decision, I thought about it for several months. I can’t say where I am or what I’m doing.”
Because of signing the contract, he is trained to fight and then qualifies for $20,000. He is also given $2106 monthly if he stays in Ukraine on the frontline. His family would get up to $28,000 if he died in action.
Perhaps he should have tried Weight Watchers instead.
