--- title: Kurt Russell Napping Photo Sparks Viral Response description: A photo of Kurt Russell napping on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is making the Internet rounds thanks to a hilarious optical illusion. canonical: https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-12T18:14:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-06-24T06:56:42.414Z og:title: The Internet Is Having So Much Fun With This Kurt Russell Photo og:description: Check out this optical illusion og:url: https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc45585a3079e230/6988e1bc096a94a36569ffc2/kurt-russell.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Kurt-Russell-Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol-2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Is Having So Much Fun With This Kurt Russell Photo twitter:description: Check out this optical illusion twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc45585a3079e230/6988e1bc096a94a36569ffc2/kurt-russell.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Is Doing a Hilarious Double-Take At This Photo of Kurt Russell Napping > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: This Video Is No Longer Available [Watch (HLS stream): This Video Is No Longer Available](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8) (0:10)  _Published 2026-06-23. Check out this optical illusion_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 12, 2017 6:14 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 12, 2017 6:14 PM UTC A photo of [Kurt Russell](http://motto.time.com/4774445/goldie-hawn-kurt-russell-monogamy/) napping [snapped by director James Gunn](https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/918530301684367360) on the set of [_Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2_](http://time.com/4752663/guardians-of-the-galaxy-2-review/) is making the Internet rounds thanks to a hilarious [optical illusion](http://time.com/4895429/viral-optical-illusion/). In the picture — which also features Russell’s co-stars Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana sitting in director’s chairs — the 66-year-old actor appears to be sleeping with his head resting on his shoulder. But as one Twitter user pointed out, it looks as though a crew member standing in the background is styling Russell’s hair. “I thought Kurt Russell had a tiny personal hairdresser in this photo and tbh my brain was fine with the idea,” the user captioned the [photo in a tweet](https://twitter.com/jamiesmart/status/918127285387059201) that has been favorited more than 33 thousand times and retweeted nearly 11 thousand as of Thursday. Others quickly began providing their own theories on the shot. “That is the elf who makes people sleep to free them from the clutches of the cellphones,” [Seekingandspeaking](https://twitter.com/manishapaula) wrote. “The others are still to be attended.” > [](https://twitter.com/jamiesmart/status/918127285387059201) > [](https://twitter.com/jamiesmart/status/918127285387059201) See some of the best reactions below. > [](https://twitter.com/Lena%5FVon%5FDoom/status/918142445707251712) > [](https://twitter.com/film%5Fquiz/status/918215246862606336) > [](https://twitter.com/A%5FYsick/status/918140843524898816) > [](https://twitter.com/johclim/status/918290173292621824) > [](https://twitter.com/SabotageFilms/status/918142396076122112) > [](https://twitter.com/alt%5Fhorizon/status/918169998832652291) > [](https://twitter.com/Amy%5FRey/status/918179325857452032) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/"},"headline":"The Internet Is Doing a Hilarious Double-Take At This Photo of Kurt Russell Napping","datePublished":"2017-10-12T18:14:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:42.414Z","description":"Check out this optical illusion","url":"https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","celebrities","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc45585a3079e230/6988e1bc096a94a36569ffc2/kurt-russell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc45585a3079e230/6988e1bc096a94a36569ffc2/kurt-russell.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kurt-Russell-Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol-2","caption":"Kurt Russell attends the European Gala Screening of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' at Eventim Apollo on April 24, 2017 in London, United Kingdom.","creditText":"Samir Hussein/WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/","name":"The Internet Is Doing a Hilarious Double-Take At This Photo of Kurt Russell Napping"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"Check out this optical illusion","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4979798/kurt-russell-napping-photo-viral/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```