Ana de Armas Saying "Smile" — Side-by-side images of Ana de Armas speaking and then holding up a bejeweled camera to her face

Ana de Armas Saying "Smile"

2018viral videosemi-active

Published October 30, 2026

Ana de Armas Saying "Smile" is a short clip of the actress in a turquoise dress telling the viewer to smile before snapping a photo with a glittery flash camera. She posted it to Instagram in April 20181, and by August 2022 TikTok editors folded the clip into Sigma Male edits that cast her as the "Tradwife" opposite men like Ryan Gosling and Patrick Bateman3.

sigma memes celebrity reaction memes tiktok sound trends delayed virality memes mashup video memes

Overview

The clip itself runs just a few seconds: de Armas, who played the holographic girlfriend Joi in Blade Runner 2049, looks into the lens, says "Smile," and raises a small sparkling camera that flashes at the viewer1. Edits that reuse it treat the moment as an affectionate greeting from a doting partner, usually cutting from her flash to a male character staying stoic or walking off.

In the Sigma Male edits that took over TikTok in 2022, de Armas slots in as the devoted "Tradwife" figure, while the man opposite her stays detached and unreachable6. Her flash tends to sit as the opening frame, selling the warmth the male lead will supposedly reject moments later. Editors stacked the clip against scenes of Ryan Gosling walking in the rain or Patrick Bateman working out, and later against Homelander and other brooding leading men3.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram (source) / TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
Ana de Armas
Date
2018

Ana de Armas uploaded the original video to her Instagram account on April 7, 2018, posing in a turquoise dress and pointing a glittery toy camera at the lens1. The clip gathered roughly 447,900 views and 71,200 likes over the following four years6. Fan accounts quickly mirrored it, with the channel Ana de Armas Brasil re-uploading the video to YouTube that same day8.

How It Spread

On July 15, 2018, Twitter user @kalebprime turned the clip into a GIF and posted it with a nod to the Shrek's Cringe Compilation meme, writing that he had no idea why he made it2. The GIF made its way to Imgur on August 4, where it later picked up over 227,000 views7. For most of the next three years, the clip sat as a reaction GIF without a dominant use.

August 2022 brought the real breakout, driven by the Sigma Male edit trend. On August 6, 2022, TikToker @wwlofi posted an edit opening with de Armas's flash before cutting to a brooding male figure, and it earned roughly 3.6 million plays and 633,800 likes within a month3. The same day, @mael.shelby pasted the clip in front of a Trainspotting scene and gathered about 4.2 million plays and 859,300 likes4.

By late August, the format bounced back to Twitter. On August 30, 2022, user @asimbawe posted a Sigma Male edit using the clip that drew around 171,900 views and 13,100 likes inside ten days5.

Timeline

2018-04-07

Ana de Armas posts the original "Smile" video to Instagram[1].

2018-07-15

Twitter user @kalebprime turns the clip into a GIF and references the Shrek's Cringe Compilation meme[2].

2018-08-04

The GIF of the clip is posted to Imgur, where it later gathers over 227,000 views[7].

2022-01-03

YouTuber ReBaZ re-uploads the original video, which earns over 15,000 views in eight months[6].

2022-08-06

TikTokers @wwlofi and @mael.shelby post Sigma Male edits featuring the clip, together drawing millions of plays[3].

2022-08-30

Twitter user @asimbawe posts a Sigma Male edit built from the clip that gets about 171,900 views[5].

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