Stand By Me actor Jerry O’Connell has responded to fans who were left stunned at the discovery of who the ‘fat kid’ from the movie is married to in real life.
Being known as the ‘fat kid from Stand By Me‘ isn’t exactly the most flattering association to have, but O’Connell has admitted he’s had the nickname for years after starring as Vern in the 1987 movie.
Almost 40 years on, he leaned into the recognition again recently when he was called out by a fan on Twitter this month.
Jerry O’Connell played Vern in Stand By Me (Columbia Pictures)
The revelation about the actor’s wife came after a different Twitter user tagged the actor and asked him why he wouldn’t trim [his] eyebrows’.
The question was accompanied by an image of O’Connell, and the Twitter user added: “I can’t believe your wife thinks they are okay – they need to be trimmed up like the pic on the right.”
Now, if you have the capacity to care about what another human being’s eyebrows look like, you probably have too much time on your hands… but apparently, this particular Twitter user isn’t alone in calling out O’Connell for his eyebrows, as the actor responded to the post to say he was ‘so sick of this hate’.
One Twitter user told O’Connell to shape his brows (X/@MrJerryOC)
O’Connell decided to give in to the requests that he tame his brows and shared a snap of his wife holding up a pair of tweezers, followed by another with his newly shaped brows.
O’Connell tagged his wife, telling his followers: “Finally got @RebeccaRomijn to deal with it. You like?”
However, after O’Connell shared the post, it wasn’t only his eyebrows that caught people’s attention.
Some Twitter users claimed to be left surprised at the revelation that O’Connell is married to Romijn – who you might know better as Mystique from the original X-Men trilogy.
O’Connell gave in to the comments about his eyebrows (X/@MrJerryOC)
O’Connell’s marriage to Romijn has long been a source of surprise, so much so that it even earned a reference in Family Guy, when viewers learn the ‘fat kid’ grew up to marry Romijn in the episode Three Kings.
Taking inspiration from this Family Guy episode, one Twitter user wrote: “Wait you’re married to her? The fat kid from Stand By Me is married to Mystique?”
However, other people seem genuinely surprised. Just yesterday (October 30), another Twitter user posted: “Just found out Jerry O’Connell is married to Rebecca Romijn, what an incredible 90s power couple that is.”
O’Connell and Rebecca Romijn continue to surprise people (X/@MrJerryOC)
O’Connell responded to the surprised fans, quoting the user who called him ‘the fat kid’ and writing: “Not what went out on our wedding invitations but yes. Yes I am.”
O’Connell and Romijn married in 2007, so while their relationship definitely isn’t new, it apparently is to some people!
