Tom Dunne: Even better than the real thing? Life as a Bono lookalike
Tom Dunne with Pavel Sfera, a Bono impersonator.
I spent a few hours recently with Pavel Sfera. Pavel is a Bono impersonator but this doesn’t do adequate justice. In a certain light, anything basically from dawn to dusk, stringent or soft, he is Bono. It is unnatural and spooky. As we talked I had to keep reminding myself, “It really, really, isn’t him!” He didn’t choose this path. He was living a normal life but the intrusions upon it by people convinced he was Bono became overwhelming. It was easier to go with the flow. With average appearance fees ranging from one to three thousand dollars, but with some far in excess, it was also more profitable. He was been Bono since 1992.
Seeing the photos will not prepare you for the impact of meeting him in the flesh. He arrived early for our interview and walked, unannounced, into the open-plan office. There was a collective sharp intake of breath. Even I wondered if the real McCoy had not also arrived.
