Jensen Ackles got a fresh laugh out of an old internet prank this week when he was shown a photoshopped image of himself with a semi-bald look while promoting The Boys season 5. Antony Starr was sitting in on the interview and broke into laughter as the image resurfaced yet again.
The picture first appeared on Twitter in 2011-12 and later turned into something stranger than a joke: a Mumbai hair salon used it years ago to advertise hair transplants. It still makes the rounds online every now and then, which is part of why the 48-year-old actor had such a quick reaction when it came back up during the conversation.
Ackles did not flinch. He told the interviewer, “Shoutout to that barbershop because this still looks good,” then added, “I am not scared I’m not getting paid, but I am scared I keep seeing that picture everywhere.” He also called the image a “heal and reveal,” turning a stale meme into a punchline of his own.
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Starr, who plays Homelander in the series, wanted a copy for himself. “I need that, will put it on my wall,” he said, underscoring how deeply the image has settled into the show’s off-screen banter. The moment landed because it was both ridiculous and familiar: a viral joke that has outlived its original post by years.
That familiarity runs through Ackles’ place in the show as well. He plays Soldier Boy in The Boys, which premiered its fifth season on Amazon Prime Video this week and is set to end with the series finale on May 20. Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins also appear in the final season, joining Ackles after the trio spent 15 seasons together on Supernatural.
Ackles said the reunion came naturally because the three remain close. “We are still very close, all of us. We see each other all the time. We talk to each other all the time. So getting back on a set together was very familiar, and seemed natural, and getting to play in that world was very easy,” he said. The show’s final stretch gives that history a last run together, and the viral picture is just one more reminder that some things from 2011-12 never really disappear.
