X (formerly Twitter) was taken by storm back in 2019 when people started finding out that a popular GIF does not feature Galifianakis, as many thought.
Instead, it’s a shot from the 1972 drama Jeremiah Johnson starring Redford as a reclusive Mexican-American War veteran who lives in the mountains in isolation.
Redford, who died on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at age 89, was 35 years old in the film — just four years younger than Galifianakis was when he exploded onto the scene in 2009 with The Hangover.
Redford and Galifianakis, now 55, clearly resemble each other — and the internet was absolutely shocked to find out the popular meme was not who they thought it was.
“I was today years old when I realized this wasn’t zach galifianakis,” journalist Jemele Hill wrote on X in July 2019.
“Just discovered that the person in this gif is Robert Redford not Zach Galifianakis and now I’m doubting everything I’ve ever learned in school,” another user echoed.
But while some users were clearly taken aback, others were more shocked that people didn’t immediately recognize Redford in the classic movie.
“Did anyone really think that the guy in this gif was Zach Galifianakis and not Robert Redford? Come on guys, that’s Jeremiah Johnson! Maybe I’m just too big of a movie geek,” one wrote.
Cindi Berger, chairman and CEO of Rogers & Cowan PMK, confirmed Redford’s death to PEOPLE in a statement on Tuesday.
“Robert Redford passed away on Sept. 16, 2025, at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved,” Berger said. “He will be missed greatly. The family requests privacy.”
Redford was predeceased by his two sons: James, who died in 2020 at age 58 from bile-duct cancer in his liver, and Scott, who died of sudden infant death syndrome two months after his birth in 1959.
He is survived by wife Sibylle Szaggars Redford, daughters Shauna and Amy and grandchildren.
