People mind-blown after realizing who is actually in iconic meme after years

If you spend any amount of time on social media you'll soon become acquainted with all of the most popular gifs that have been made iconic through repeated use over the years, yet a recent piece of news has caused many to be left mind-blown.

There are often moments you'll find when watching famous films or TV shows for the first time where you encounter a scene or moment that has since become iconic in gif form, and everything will start to click.

While younger generations have tended to favor gifs sourced from social media itself, millennials and those on the older side of Gen Z are often innately familiar with gifs from all across the media landscape, even if they don't exactly know where they've been sourced from.

You might be able to easily recognize short snippets from TV shows like The Office and Friends or iconic films like Shrek and Anchorman, but you might not have spotted one of cinema's most famous faces in an incredibly popular gif.

Robert Redford is one of Hollywood's most celebrated actors and directors, having been one half of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, played his part in a fair share of iconic espionage roles, and even joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in recent years.

He recently passed away at 89-years-old on Tuesday September 16, and many people across social media have celebrated his life and career by talking about his work.

Adult Swim decided that their dedication would feature the famous gif of Redford nodding as the camera moves towards him in Sydney Pollack's 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson, and that connection has seemingly sparked something in the minds of many who thought he might have been someone else.

"I always thought this gif was Zach Galifianakis," wrote comedian and TV writer Skyler Higley on X in a viral post, and many others in the comments also came to the same realization that they'd mixed up Redford with The Hangover star.

"It took Robert Redford dying for us to know this isn't Zach Galifianakis," wrote another in the replies, with a third adding that "if it makes you feel any better you're not the only one."

It probably doesn't help that Galifianakis is the star of a number of other popular gifs across a number of his most popular roles, and it's not hard to see the resemblance despite Redford's famous hair and eyes being clear.

It goes to show that it might be worth taking closer notice of the gifs that you likely use every single day, as they might be from an unexpected source or feature a famous face that you somehow didn't even recognize.