“Diary of the Wimpy Kid” star Robert Capron has turned 28 — and nearly three decades after a meme from the movie went viral, fans are stunned by his transformation.
X account Pop Crave shared side-by-side photos of Capron as his franchise character Rowley Jefferson, and the fully unrecognizable, nearly 30-year-old adult with darker hair and a fit physique.
In the comments thread, fans were in disbelief, with one person writing, “the glow up is serious lol” and another gushing, “Oh, he’s so adorable!”
A third follower lamented, “Bro didn’t have to grow up,” while a fourth remarked, “Wait a minute! Who are you?”
A fifth person enthused, “Damn, Rowley grew up handsome. Good for him.”
“Rowley all grown up is making an entire generation of millennials and Gen Z feel ancient right now,” yet another wrote.
Capron famously played Rowley in the franchise movies between 2010 and 2017. But it was a moment from 2011’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” that caught the attention of an entire generation.
In the viral clip, entitled “Rowley Waves and Looks Down,” Capron’s character sees pal Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) walking into church with a pink shawl covering a chocolate stain on his pants.
Rowley waves cheerfully before looking down at the shawl with a dubious expression.
Across social media, fans looked back on the meme on Thursday in honor of the actor’s birthday.
“Thanks for the meme,” one person wrote, while another chimed in, calling the meme “unforgettable.”
Rowley once shared that, despite starring in four of the beloved movies based on author Jeff Kinney‘s 2007 book, his favorite part has been the memes.
“From the bottom of my heart, my favorite part now, truly,” Capron said in a 2024 interview with Feature First.
“As somebody who went to high school and sent around some goofy GIFs and all of that, it is so delightful to me that I am now being sent around as a reaction GIF, presumably in a lot of different high schools,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Capron added, “People talk about winning an Oscar and different things. I think like the goofball teenager in me is very proud to be a part of the meme pantheon that way, it’s very weird but I’m thankful for it. It’s kind of wild.”