Christopher Briney and Leonardo DiCaprio are two very, very different individuals. Briney is a 27-year-old at the brink of superstardom thanks to a breakout role as Conrad Fisher on The Summer I Turned Pretty, a TV show that is ostensibly for teens, but in reality has captured the hearts of viewers across generations. DiCaprio, 50, not only has 23 years on Briney age-wise, but an IMDb that reads like a page of a film history textbook.
But there’s something about both actors which has caught the internet’s attention, and it’s not just that Briney bears a slight resemblance to DiCaprio in the ‘90s, when the latter was at the peak of his heartthrob status. (Though, wow, I can’t unsee it.) Briney and DiCaprio also share something more singular, and more rare, than a haircut or a disarming, boyish smile: They have “it”—the intangible star quality that has made them the obsessions of their respective generations.
Comparisons between the two actors began cropping up on my social media feeds in late summer, weeks after the July 16 premiere of the third and final season of The Summer I Turned Pretty. However, it wasn’t until Prime Video shared this side-by-side composite of Briney during what fans refer to as “the bathtub scene” (though it’s much more PG than the name insinuates), and DiCaprio in 1997’s Titanic, that the Christopher Briney-Leonardo DiCaprio comparisons really began going viral.
The bathtub scene from TSITP appears to be a shot-for-shot homage to Titanic, with the added bonus that Briney’s tousled mop of hair has beads of ocean water dripping from its tips. The fact that the sexual tension between Conrad and Belly (Lola Tung) is never broken—as is famously the case in Titanic‘s “car scene,” which needs no further description—only adds to the allure of this broody, occasionally “sassy,” but mostly big-hearted character that Briney has brought to life.
Many of the other side-by-sides of the two actors zero-in on Briney and DiCaprio’s physical similarities—the swoopy hair, center-parted and prone to flop, the green-blue eyes, the heart-shaped face—but I find the purely physical comparisons to be missing the point. What really intrigues me about the comparisons is Briney’s skill as an actor. While Jenny Han deserves all the credit for crafting such a rich, complex character, there’s no doubt that Briney’s performance as Conrad elevates the entire show. He can convey pissy immaturity, vulnerability, and heroism all in the same breath, a hallmark of many leading men before him—not just DiCaprio.
That’s not to say Briney is deserving of an Emmy quite yet, but hey—the guy’s got potential. And it’s probably why the Chris and Leo mashups have gone as viral as they have. A specific haircut and the ability to charm on a press tour can make a temporary It boy of any old beautiful man. It’s talent that can keep him there.
