'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' star Robert Capron turns 28

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Robert Capron turned 28, and fans may be surprised by how much he’s changed since his Diary of a Wimpy Kid days.

Capron, who starred as Greg Heffley’s loyal best friend in the adaptation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, became a breakout child actor thanks to the franchise. He reprised the role in the next two live-action installments and, over the years, also became the face behind one of the film’s most recognizable internet memes.

The role marked Capron’s first major break in Hollywood after appearing in only two previous projects, including 2009’s Bride Wars. Following the success of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Capron continued acting in films, including The Way Way Back, Annabelle Hooper and the Ghosts of Nantucket, and The Polka King. He also appeared on CBS’ Elementary and voiced characters in the animated films Frankenweenie and Tarzan.

As he grew older, however, Capron’s changing appearance altered the types of roles available to him. After losing weight, he said Hollywood struggled to place him in the kinds of parts he had once expected to pursue. “I really thought I was going to be the male lead with the fat best friend,” Capron told The New Yorker in January 2022. “But, once I was thin, Hollywood couldn’t quite peg me.” Capron later stepped away from acting to attend Brown University, where he graduated in 2020 with a degree in modern culture and media/history.

Since then, he has increasingly focused on work behind the scenes. Capron worked as a writer’s assistant on Disney+’s The Muppets Mayhem, has served as an instructor with Actors for Autism since 2023, and has also pursued screenwriting, co-writing the short film Vial, according to his LinkedIn profile and The New Yorker.

More than 15 years after the film first hit theaters in 2019, the actor who played Rowley Jefferson looks nearly unrecognizable from the character that made him famous.