Josh Hutcherson Is “Here For” His Viral Whistle Meme
This picture of him will never be the same.
Ah, 2014. What a time to be a Hunger Games stan. That year, the Mockingjay saga was on the rise and fans were confessing their love for Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, through romantic fanfics and thirst edits. (Yes, those gif compilations count.) Now, a decade later, one of those fan edits has transformed into an unserious meme that’s all over TikTok. It seemed no one could escape the meme at the end of 2023, including Hutcherson himself.
Here’s some lore behind the meme: In 2014, a fan named @MetroGirlzStation posted a thirst edit of Hutcherson on YouTube. The video features several ~highly filtered~ photos of the actor set to Flo Rida’s 2012 single, “Whistle.” The edit found a new home on TikTok in November 2023, shortly after the release of the new Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. (OK, but the idea of a Tom Blyth thirst edit randomly going viral a decade from now has me spiraling.)
In numerous TikToks, fans have quickly cut to the “Whistle” edit — specifically, one photo of Hutcherson posed with his hands behind his head — as a surprise ending to videos about coffee mugs, oranges, and calculators. Basically, it’s the new go-to clip to troll your friends.
Hutcherson recently talked about the viral meme with Entertainment Tonight, and his reaction proves just how hilariously unhinged social media can be.
“I love it, it’s great,” he said in the Jan. 10 interview. “Somebody said it became ‘the new Rickroll,’ it’s just wild. I don’t know where it came from. It’s the most random video.”
Hutcherson revealed he wasn’t initially aware of the meme since he doesn’t use social media that much. It wasn’t until December of last year that he was finally shown the videos. “Over the holidays, my brother and his boyfriend were like, ‘We need to sit you down and explain to you what’s happening online,’” Hutcherson recalled. “They showed me all these videos and we were all laughing about it. I don’t get it, but I’m here for it.”
The Five Nights At Freddy’s star also spoke about the whistle edit on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. There, Fallon showed him a TikTok using the meme on President Joe Biden’s coffee mug. When asked about how impactful (and inescapable) the edit has become, Hutcherson laughed. “It’s an honor. I’ll be under Joe’s mug anytime,” he said.
Although Hutcherson doesn’t appear in the new Hunger Games film, it’s clear that his dystopian character will always be famous.
