The year was 1995 when the action-thriller Assassins hit theaters. The film stars Sylvester Stallone as Robert Rath, a paid assassin who is offered the familiar trope of “one last job” before he can retire, and Antonio Banderas as rival hit-man Miguel Bain—who receives an assignment that would suggest otherwise.
Assassins, which grossed a respectable $83.3 million worldwide, would have likely been a forgotten footnote in ’90s pop culture. Except that nearly two decades later, a GIF from the movie surfaced on a 2013 Reddit thread in which the character of Bain gets his orders via an extremely 1995 computer screen. He then expresses his delight when confronted with the very poorly digitally transmitted image of his nemesis.
“MRW [my reaction when] I typed ‘boobs’ into Google’s new animated image search,” the original post read.
MRW I typed “boobs” into Google’s new animated image search
by inreactiongifs
The Assassins GIF has more or less endured as an internet meme mainstay in the years that have followed. And if you’ve ever wondered, yes, Antonio Banderas is indeed aware of his online notoriety.
Banderas, now 59, was recently interviewed by GQ following the release of Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film in which he stars, Pain and Glory—and it was during this discussion that Banderas was asked about the now-infamous GIF.
“Everybody is saying that to me. Yeah. And I know the moment of the movie,” he responded. “I got him, the enemy, the person that I wanted, and he was so happy, like… [Banderas acts out the GIF] I don’t totally understand this new generation and those memes things and those stuff. It’s fun, I guess.”
It is fun! Welcome to the future, Antonio Banderas.
He went on to recall that they had been shooting the film in Seattle early along in his American film career, and that he had just started dating (his now ex-wife) Melanie Griffith at the time. (Who incidentally, would come visit the set with her daughter Dakota Johnson, who has obviously since gone on to become a famous actress in her own right.)
I interviewed Antonio Banderas! He talked about the new Almodóvar movie, death, Catholicism, and why Puss in Boots is so important to him. Yes I did ask about this GIF. https://t.co/JiZrHvGLsW pic.twitter.com/NAu5SLI2es
— Gabriella Paiella (@GMPaiella) October 1, 2019
You can see the full Assassins laptop computer scene starring Antonio Banderas in the following YouTube clip, below.
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