Following the success of “Saturday Night Live’s” parody of American politics, particularly Alec Baldwin’s impersonation of U.S. President Donald Trump, there are plans for a spin-off. The 30-minute “Weekend Update” has a premiere date of Aug. 10 in prime time.
However, Baldwin is not the only one now impersonating Trump. In China, a former art magazine editor is enjoying a new career as an impersonator of the 45th president of the U.S. Li Liangwei’s foray into the world of impersonation was by accident.
Resemblance is Not Just Physical
Time reported that while having dinner, one of Li’s friends told him he looks like Trump, whom the Chinese ex-editor did not know at all because of his limited social life. However, the 64-year-old Li said the resemblance with the American president is beyond physical appearance. He said his temperament and spirit is similar to that of the real estate billionaire.
To look like Trump, Li went to Zou Danrong, a star entertainment agent, for help. Zou, who has two impersonators of Barack Obama and one of North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in his stable of talents, asked a stylist to change to grey-white the black hair of Li. He also made Li wear contact lenses.
Real Trump is Meeting with Chinese President
After Trump’s win in November, the demand for Li’s impersonation service went up at commercial events and for advertisements. Li is optimistic that the man he is impersonating would develop good bilateral relations with his country’s president, Xi Jinping, who is in the Mar-a-Lago golf resort of Trump, discussing a lot of issues involving the two countries.
Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin shared the secret of his Trump impersonation by repeatedly telling himself, “Left eyebrow up, right eyebrow down, stick your mouth out as far as you can, like you’re trying to bite somebody’s nose off, and kind of growl with that irritability,” Philly.com reported.