Laughing Leo
Where it came from
A screenshot from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) of Leonardo DiCaprio laughing hard while holding a drink. Became a meme around 2021 as the "pointing at the TV in recognition" reaction.
Leonardo DiCaprio throws his head back laughing and points at something off-screen. You caption the thing he's pointing at with a reference you got — a callback, an in-joke, a familiar pattern showing up somewhere unexpected. It's the face of "I know that reference" in meme form.
The meme works because the laugh is so genuine and the point is so committed. He's not just smiling — he's leaning back, pointing hard, clearly fully in the bit. Which is exactly what you look like when you recognize a thing and feel like you need to tell everyone about it.
Still in steady use, especially for "I get this reference" and "I saw this coming" posts.
Search interest, over time
↳ data courtesy of google trends
