You did know that was him, right? Robert Redford's viral legacy as the Nodding Man meme

You did know that was him, right?

Robert Redford's viral legacy as the Nodding Man meme

You did know that was him, right?

By Jordan Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman is a writer at **, mostly covering nostalgia. He has been writing about entertainment since 2007.

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September 16, 2025 2:02 p.m. ET

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Robert Redford in 'Jeremiah Johnson'. Credit:

Between his performances in *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*, *The Sting, The Way We Were, *and *The Natural*, not to mention directing films like *Ordinary People* and guiding the Sundance Film Festival into a major showcase for emerging talent, Robert Redford's legacy with future generations of movie lovers is more than secure.

But even younglings with a limited attention span, who can't sit still for an entire feature film, will forever have a connection to the screen icon who died Tuesday at the age of 89. For it is his smiling, bearded face that has become digital shorthand for "I approve" and "well done" in the form of social media's Nodding Man.

You know the Nodding Man, right? If you aren't sure, here's the Nodding Man. He's proud of you for reading this article instead of answering your boss' email or putting the laundry away or doing whatever it is that you are supposed to be doing right now.

Robert Redford is The Nodding Man.

The Nodding Man image is a few seconds of footage from the 1972 existential Western *Jeremiah Johnson*, Redford's second of six collaborations with director Sydney Pollack. It is based on a true (but likely exaggerated) story about a veteran from the Mexican-American War who dropped out of society to live alone in the Rockies. There, he battled the elements, fell in love, inadvertently made himself an enemy of an Indian tribe, and begrudgingly helped the U.S. forces continue their westward expansion. And he did it all in bearskins and a big bushy beard.

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The big nodding moment comes fairly early in the story. Johnson, who has now shacked up with a Native American woman and her child, is getting acclimated to frontier living. He has just successfully caught a fish, using methods learned from the Indigenous people. Making eye contact with his new family, he proudly nods in gratitude.

Why has this become as ubiquitous as the blinking white guy or the side-eyeing little girl? No one, not even Mark Zuckerberg, could tell you.

Robert Redford battling the cold in 'Jeremiah Johnson'.

Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty

One added element to the phenomenon, however, is that many people have admitted that they thought the Nodding Man was actually Zach Galifianakis. At first, it sounds absurd, but if you stare into the eyes of the Nodding Man long enough, strange things do reveal themselves to you.**

Zach Galifianakis in 2019. He is not The Nodding Man.

Roy Rochlin/Getty

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*Jeremiah Johnson *is currently available to rent on platforms like Amazon and Apple for under four bucks. For all the joy the meme has given you, maybe today is the day you sit down and watch the movie it came from.

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Movies"

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Source: VOGUE MAG

Full Article on Source: VOGUE MAG

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