Hang on a minute, people are finally clocking this famous meme isn’t Zach Galifianakis

As soon as you see the picture above, of the bearded man giving a comforting smile, who is it you thought it was? Are you like me and have lived your whole life thinking that was Zach Galifianakis – the fella best known for defining the 2010s as Alan from The Hangover? Of course you did. We all did. I’d have literally bet my life savings on the fact that the nodding head meme was Zach Galifianakis. And yet, one horridly tragic bit of news this week has made everyone collectively realise it’s never been him and we’re all completely stupid. Or just totally young and uneducated.

Hang on, what?

Yep, it’s true. The nodding man meme. Maybe like me you believed unquestionably that nodding head guy meme is deffo Zach Galifianakis in some form of sci-fi fantasy film. But no. Here’s another image that makes it apparent that it’s not Zach at all.

It’s all a bit surreal isn’t it. But if not Zach – who the hell is it?

It’s Robert Redford – who sadly passed away this week aged 89

Robert Redford is one of the most well known actors of his era in Hollywood, not just one of those names your parents drop to prove they know cinema. Born in Santa Monica in 1936, he started out as a bit of a rebel, drifting through jobs and even a stint in Europe before realising acting was his way forward.

By the 1960s, he was breaking through on Broadway and then hit Hollywood properly with films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973). That era cemented him as a major leading man.

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In the ’80s, Redford stepped behind the camera, proving he wasn’t just about looks. His directorial debut, Ordinary People (1980), won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director. Not bad for a first go. Later he’d found the Sundance Film Festival, which turned into the biggest platform for indie film in the world. Without Redford, half the hipster films your mates have pretended to watch at uni might not even exist.

He kept acting into his later years and you probably know him best from his Marvel appearances. He gradually slowed down, announcing his retirement in 2018.

The meme though is from Jeremiah Johnson – a 70s existential western movie. The film takes inspiration from a true (though probably embellished) tale of a Mexican-American War veteran who ditched civilisation to carve out a life in the Rockies. Out in the wilderness, he went head-to-head with brutal weather, found romance, accidentally provoked hostility from a Native tribe, and, despite himself, ended up aiding U.S. troops in their push westward. All the while, he was kitted out in bearskins and sporting an impressive, unkempt beard.

Rest in peace Robert Redford, your legacy with a lot of young people will be the nodding head meme and how everyone learned it wasn’t Zach Galifianakis after all.

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