the sad fate of the “Russian DiCaprio”

Friday 01st November 2024 02:48 PM

A paunchy fake Leonardo DiCaprio, dressed in a fake Adidas tracksuit, drives a fake BMW and makes a phone call with a fake iPhone whose logo is a pear, while at his side a fake blonde paints the soles of his fake Louboutin shoes with their red varnish. The fake DiCaprio stops the car in the middle of nature, abandons the fake German sedan and the fake blonde to climb into a boat and rows away, alone on a lake, in the mist, while a slogan closes the scene: “The mind is the only thing in the world that cannot be tampered with. »

This premonitory advertisement (for a brand of vodka!) in which Roman Burtsev plays, a Russian double of the American star Leonardo DiCaprio, was one of his greatest achievements. Ephemeral glory for which he is paying the bitter and terrible price today. Forced to leave the world of junk, fakery and counterfeiting that built his reputation, the 41-year-old man, originally from Podolsk, south of Moscow, entered the real world of war.

At 45 kilos, the resemblance is striking

On his VKontakte page, the Russian Facebook, he published a photo of himself in military uniform with an assault rifle, taken somewhere in Ukraine. In an interview with the newspaper “Gazeta”, the former double of the “Catch Me If You Can” star explained that he had joined the army and had been sent to the front: “September 19 , I signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense. It was a difficult decision, I thought about it for several months. I can't say where I am or what I'm doing. »

Back to reality. On September 15, 2024, he put on the uniform for a role which is no longer composition: “It was a difficult decision, I thought about it for several months,” he said.

Roman Burtsev's life follows a strange course, worthy of a Dostoyevsky novel or a Chekhov play. The destiny of this obscure computer engineer, based in Moscow, changed in 2016, when he registered on a dating platform. Burtsev is looking for love. He will find fame. The profile photo of the young man, then a simple person aged 33, spread on the Internet like wildfire. And for good reason: with his piercing blue eyes topped with dark and marked eyebrows, his short nose, his round face, Roman Burtsev bears a striking resemblance to the American star Leonardo DiCaprio. A Leonardo who would have eaten potato salad twice, but a Leonardo nonetheless.

His fame grew, he was invited on television, played and replayed parodies

In both men, the symmetry of the features is reminiscent of that of a feline. Russian advertising agencies are flocking to this double that fell from the sky. At the best possible time: the real actor has just won the Oscar for best actor for his role in “The Revenant”. There are tons of rubles to be made. Roman Burtsev may be eight years younger than the Hollywood star and weigh 45 kilos more, but in a few weeks he made the front pages of the Anglo-Saxon tabloids and Asian newspapers and earned a nickname around the world. He is now the “Russian DiCaprio”.

The rest after this ad

At first stunned by his new notoriety, Burtsev decides to take advantage of it and accepts the proposals that flood in. Photo shoots for advertising spots are multiplying. Including the one for vodka with the iPhone with the pear-shaped logo. Proud of his new status, Roman Burtsev goes so far as to replay emblematic scenes from “The Revenant” in a snowy setting. His fame grew, he was invited on television, performed and replayed parodies, participated in live events. In a shopping center, aboard a fake “Titanic”, embracing a fake Kate, Burtsev reenacts a legendary scene from James Cameron's film on the bow of the famous ship.

Brush strokes to force the resemblance. On the set of the Russian comedy series “The Kitchen”, in 2016.

His job as a lookalike earns him more than his job as a programmer. Of which act. He leaves IT and devotes himself full time to this strange profession: fake DiCaprio. For four years, the rotund Russian reaped the benefits of this vague and disturbing resemblance to the American icon. Until 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic abruptly ended his new career. The world is at a standstill and Burtsev's phone no longer rings. The fake actor has already eaten his bread, he no longer has any source of income.

The problems started with the introduction of the restrictions, in April 2020, and now people have forgotten me

Roman Burtsev

At 37, he still lives in a small two-room apartment with his parents and his cat. The plastic glory melted so quickly that he grew visibly fat, stressed by his economic situation, and this significant weight gain gradually erased his resemblance to Leonardo DiCaprio. “The problems started with the introduction of restrictions, in April 2020, and now people have forgotten me,” sighs Burtsev in an interview given to “Mirror” in 2021.

With derision, it lends itself to the remake of the legendary scene from James Cameron's film.

The pandemic ends, but Burtsev no longer lands any lookalike contracts. He's too big. He no longer looks at all like the American star. In Russian newspapers, he explains having tried “many methods to lose weight” in order to find the features of his model. In vain. Imagine this simple man projected in the blink of an eye into the glitter of fame, used then immediately thrown in the trash, imagine this non-recyclable cardboard starlet fighting with his bulges, in front of his plate, to hope to find himself in the reflection of mirror the features of the man he never was, or for a short moment, by chance, in the frenzy of the Internet, imagine him, frightened, emaciated, in the mud and blood of a trench in Ukraine, has something burlesque, pathetic and sad. Something Russian.

Under the nickname “Roman DiCaprio”, he parodies on Instagram an iconic scene from “The Revenant”, the film which allowed the actor to win his first Oscar. January 2016.

After accepting odd jobs in a market or in a hardware store to survive, still experiencing great financial difficulties, Burtsev decided to enlist. Like all mobilized Russian soldiers, he received a bonus of 18,500 euros upon signing his contract (a small fortune in Russia, more than a year and a half of average salary) and will receive a pay of 1,950 euros per month. . Roman Burtsev is one of many penniless types, lured by the financial incentives offered by Putin's government to replenish the front, which has become a veritable meat grinder.

According to an assessment by the Wall Street Journal published in September, a million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the two and a half years of war, including 200,000 Russians who died in combat. If Roman Burtsev loses his life in Ukraine, his family will receive a bonus of around 120,000 euros. Real money, that one.