A Bono lookalike was hired by Vogue Magazine to fill in for the U2 singer.
Pavel Sfera is an accomplished photographer, writer, artist, poet, and gardener. He loves to cook, he’s extremely passionate about human rights - and he looks like Bono.
Pavel was born in the former Yugoslavia and is of Romanian descent. He now lives in the US and is currently spending some time in Dublin.
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The “world's leading Bono impersonator” said he is "on good terms with the U2 frontman. He told Dublin Live: "[Bono] has recommended me a couple of times. I worked for him.
"I actually worked for Vogue magazine once to do a doubling preparation shoot for Bono. They asked me to leave my rosary beads for him and they sent them back the following week.
“Every now and again I meet some of Bono’s friends. The other day I was on Newstalk and there were two gentlemen at the door when I was going in and one shouted ‘Paul’. My name is Pavel which is Paul in English, which is also Bono’s first name.
"I’d get people saying ‘Hi Bono’ too, I just say hi and keep walking. They’d say ‘I’m a huge fan’ and I’d say ‘me too, have a good day’, then they’d say ‘U2’. It’s fun.
“I was with some clients that turned into friends that are billionaires. They asked what it was like being in public as Bono so I brought them into town. When I take one photo, it’ll open the floodgates and people will come up.
“They don’t ask if I am Bono, they’ll lead right into it. But look at me, I’m taking the bus. Listen to my accent.”
Like Bono, Pavel is very generous and charitable. From working in orphanages to helping out during the current war in Ukraine, he really puts other people first.
He said: “I was doing work in Romania with Ukrainian refugees. I bought a one way ticket, I thought I was going to die there. I ran out of my own money. I spent a lot to buy a van, food, and supplies for their support station.
“Last week in Delaney's, someone came up to me and told me his mum died last week and she was a big fan. Another lady came up to me once saying her friend had an aneurysm and is in a coma. Would you mind doing a little video and seeing if she wakes up - so I did.
“Some people lose themselves (when they meet me), some people are very affectionate, they tell endearing stories and it’s difficult for me to break character because I don't want to have them lose their moment. I can’t tell them I’m not Bono at these moments. I can’t break that.”
Pavel admitted that people are very generous towards him because he looks like Bono. But he has one rule regarding them.
“I’ve this rule that I cannot accept any gifts,” he added. “Years ago, I was (talked about) on a radio show in San Diego.
“One girl called in and said she took him home and had sex with him. I was very devolved in my faith, I grew up in a deeply religious Catholic home. That did not happen. I’m not doing this to bed women, receive gifts and I made it a very strict rule to not accept any gain.
“If someone asks to buy me a drink, I ask to buy them one afterwards. I've had situations where people wanted to buy me something but I always graciously declined.”
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