The internet is full of memes featuring real-life people and animals from all around the world. But, have you ever wondered how they became meme legends and heroes and what they look like now? Well, if you are, we’ve got you covered.
Scroll down to find out how some of the most famous meme celebrities look like now.
1. Success Kid (Sam Griner)
This meme came into existence in 2007 after Laney Griner posted a photo of her son, Sam who was trying to eat sand, on Flickr. Earlier, the photo became famous as a ‘I Hate Sandcastles’ meme but later, the ‘Success Kid meme’ came into being. Since then, the photo has been featured in various ads, Xbox screensavers and what not. He’s 13 years old now and lives with his parents.
2. Grumpy Cat (Tardar Sauce)
Tadar Sauce, also known as Grumpy Cat, became famous after some of her photos were posted on Reddit in late September 2012. She went viral for her permanently grumpy expression which resulted from an underbite and feline dwarfism. Unfortunately, she passed away in May 2019 aged 7.
3. Doge (Kabosu)
This meme became popular in 2013 after Shiba Inu, Kabosu’s human friend posted a picture of her with a perplexed expression on her personal blog. She is now an Instagram star and is 15 years old.
4. Disaster Girl (Zoe Roth)
This iconic picture was captured in 2004 by Zoe Roth’s father, Dave Roth when she was observing firefighters controlling the blaze two blocks away from their house in North Carolina. In 2007, Dave entered this photo into a competition and surprisingly, won it. The rest, as they say is history. Now, she’s living away from the internet with her family and friends. Click here to follow her on Instagram.
5. Side-Eyeing Chloe (Chloe)
Chloe went viral in 2013 after YouTuber KAftC posted a video titled “Lily’s Disneyland Surprise… AGAIN” where Chloe was reacting to the news of a surprise trip to Disneyland on her way to school. Chloe made a straight face after hearing the news, not sure how to react and that’s how this meme was born. She now has her own Instagram account with over 582k followers.
6. Blinking White Guy (Drew Scanlon)
We’ve all stumbled upon this iconic GIF starring Drew Scanlon. The GIF was shot in 2013 when Drew was a video producer at the Gaming Bomb, a popular gaming website. During one of the gaming sessions, Drew watched his editor-in-chief play Starbound, a two-dimensional action-adventure game. And when his editor said “I’ve been doing some farming with my h*e”, Drew’s hilarious reaction became a meme. After becoming famous, Drew left Giant Bomb to explore the world and to make travel documentaries through the lens of gaming.
7. Harold Hiding The Pain (András Arató)
Senior stock photography model, András Arató’s photo with a facial expression that appears to indicate suppressed pain went viral all over the internet in 2011. It’s still as famous as it was back then. In 2019, Arató became the advertising face for Coca-Cola in Hungary and in 2020, he starred in the Hungarian edition of Masked Singer (known in Hungary as Álarcos énekes). Arató currently lives in Budapest with his wife Gabriella and his son.
8. Roll Safe (Kayode Ewumi)
Kayode Ewumi’s funny facial expressions became a meme in 2016. He was part of a mini-documentary series ‘Hood Documentary’ when he made this funny expression. Ewumi’s comic talents eventually caught the attention of BBC who picked up Hood Documentary’s second series in 2016 for BBC3, taking the viral show to a more mainstream audience. He also played a part in BBC’s latest show, Enterpiece.
9. Bad Luck Brian (Kyle Craven)
This photo turned into a meme in 2012 after Ian Davies uploaded a yearbook photo of his friend Kyle Craven to Reddit with the caption “Takes driving test .?.?. gets first DUI”. Supposedly, before taking the photo, Kyle rubbed his face with a sweater to make it red and gave an unpleasant smile which ultimately became a viral meme. This meme is generally used to describe unlucky, embarrassing, and tragic events. Craven now lives in his hometown in Ohio with his wife and dog. And, he works as a manager at his father’s commercial construction company.
10. Ridiculously Photogenic Guy (Zeddie Little)
This handsome and extremely photogenic guy named Zeddie Little was clicked while running in the 2012 Cooper River Bridge Run. After his photo was posted on social media by Will King (the guy who captured the photo), Smith gained immense popularity. He currently lives a quiet life in New York City.
11. Confused Nick Young (Nick Young)
This confused photo of NBA basketball player Nick Young is actually a screenshot from a 2014 episode of the YouTube web series “Thru The Lens.” In the series, he makes this perplexed facial expression when his mother claimed he was “a clown” in his younger days. Later, Young signed with the Golden State Warriors in 2017, where he became more of a role player on a stacked team.
12. Trying To Hold A Fart Next To A Cute Girl In Class (Michael McGee)
This meme came into existence in 2014. The picture went viral after Reddit user aaduk_ala submitted the photograph to the /r/funny subreddit and titled it “Trying to hold a fart next to a cute girl in class”. Two years ago, McGee was in high school where he trained at a broadcast media academy.
13. First World Problems (Silvia Bottini)
In case you didn’t know, this woman from the ‘First-World Problems’ meme is actually an award-winning Italian actress and a model now. Click here to follow here on Instagram.
14. Good Luck Charlie (Mia Talerico)
This meme featuring Mia Talerico was born from a scene from the Disney Channel show “Good Luck Charlie.” The photo and GIF are mostly used as a synonym for “I don’t know.” Mia is quite popular on Instagram now and she has over 1.4 million followers. Click here to follow her account.
15. Overly Attached Girlfriend (Laina Morris)
This meme was born in 2012 when YouTuber Laina Morris posted a video of performing a parody version of Justin Bieber’s ‘Boyfriend’ with personalized lyrics that were cringe-worthy but, hilarious. Though after gaining immense much popularity, Morris had to deal with serious privacy issues. In 2019, she finally quit YouTube for good to stay away from the limelight.
16. Aliens Are To Blame For Everything (Giorgio Tsoukalos)
Giorgio is a Swiss-born writer, ufologist, TV presenter and producer. He was popularly known for his appearances on the TV series “Ancient Aliens.” He is still part of the show. Click here to follow him on Instagram.
17. Ermahgerd (Maggie Goldenberger)
The “Ermahgerd” meme emerged in March 2012 as a post titled “Just a book owners smile.” Maggie Goldenberger, the girl in the photo was around 11 years old at that time. This picture was captured when she and her friends were playing dress-up. She is now working in financial services.
18. Sweating Jordan Peele (Jordan Peele)
This famous GIF/photo came into existence in 2013, after the 3rd season premiere of “Key and Peele” aired in the US. The episode from where the meme was captured includes a scene where a character played by Jordan Peele nervously sweats when his girlfriend confronts him about his internet habits. Ever since then, he has gained immense popularity on Instagram.
19. Scumbag Steve (Blake Boston)
This photo was first posted on Reddit in January 2011 and is from an album cover named “Ma Gangsta”. The picture captures a guy named Blake Boston, also known as “Weezy B.” Now, he’s married and is a father of two boys. Click here to follow him on Instagram.
20. A Schoolboy In A Swamp (Igor Nazarov)
Igor Nazarov, a 16-year-old Russian schoolboy went viral way back in 2016 after he was part of a photoshoot where he was seen in the middle of a swamp behind a desk wearing a suit. We couldn’t find much on what he is up to now but, in 2016 he was invited to Kyrgyzstan by the country’s Culture Ministry.
21. Dramatic Dmitry (Vladimir Brest)
This image is from the album Paranoia that was released in 2011 by Russian musician Vladimir Brest. He’s still a musician and an actor. Click here to follow him on Instagram.
22. Hipster Barista (Dustin Mattson)
This meme went viral in 2011 when someone uploaded it on a website called Quickmeme and was captioned “I got this tattoo for my love of coffee, I got this one because it’s ironic.” Now, he lives with his wife, away from the internet.
All images sourced from Bored Panda.