A 34-year-old Australian musician who happens to be a spit-fire doppelganger of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unwittingly launched a new career — as an advertisement actor who plays the dictator and sells the likes of hamburgers in Tel Aviv.
The impersonator, known only by his first name Howard, said in Reuters that his friends constantly remarked on the resemblance. So he decided to take advantage. Howard, a musician by trade, cut his hair, added some makeup and posted some pictures to a new Facebook page. Voila — he was reborn, as one of the world’s most notable dictators.
“We joked back and forth, ’Maybe I should get dressed up and do some gigs with it.’ After all, I’m a musician, so it’s about the performance,” he said, Reuters reported.
As a test, he walked the streets of a popular Hong Kong shopping district earlier this week — and reaction was shock.
“Is he the real one, or is he just impersonating? I can’t tell them apart. He really looks like [the dictator],” said one Hong Kong resident, Ada Ho, in the Reuters report.
Howard’s Facebook page sent his photos worldwide, and in return, he was asked by an Israeli production company to come make an advertisement in Tel Aviv that included an impersonator of President Obama, and was aimed at bolstering hamburger sales for a local company, Reuters said.
The ad featured the fake Mr. Kim tasting the burger — and then, because it was so good, giving up plans to bomb Israel.
That was just a drop in the job bucket for Howard. He’s since been asked to do an ad for a pistachio company with NBA retiree Dennis Rodman, who cites the dictator as his friend, Reuters reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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