A Chinese man who has made his name as a professional impersonator of US President Barack Obama has embarked on a new film career.
Xiao Jiguo has landed a number of bit roles this year in Chinese movies.
For former security guard Xiao Jiguo, a Chinese Barack Obama-lookalike who commands as much as $1,000 per performance, the future is looking uncertain as the US president prepares to leave office.
Xiao now worries whether he will still get calls to shows where he copied Obama, speaking in “fake English”, after the American leader completes his term in January.
Back in 2008, when Xiao was a security guard in the southern province of Guangdong, a colleague said he looked like Obama.
According to Xiao, he has studied hundreds of video clips of Obama and studied English so that he would be able to recite his inauguration speech.
He even had minor plastic surgery earlier this year in order to look more like the president.
Xiao launched an online comedy series called 'Aobama Goes on Dates' in May, in which he showed off his amazing ability to mimic the president's facial expressions (aobama is the Mandarin pronunciation for Obama).
Before gaining fame as a lookalike, he worked as a waiter in Guangdong province, southern China, but had always wanted to be an actor and singer.
He says his dream is to land a lead role in a television show and to be able to record his own songs.
What does Xiao think of Obama, a democratically elected leader?
“He is humorous and I’ve heard that he is well-mannered,” Xiao said, adding he doesn’t follow the US president’s politics.
Is his life as a mimic going to change when Obama leaves the White House?
“I think my prospect will change. I might focus on being an actor or a singer. I don’t deny that I will keep impersonating Obama, we resemble each other. His image is set here, he’s got a lot of fans all over China and in the world.
“Every President has a successor. Not only Obama, (Donald) Trump will also leave the White House four or eight years later. Every leader of a democratic country will have to have a successor.”
