Austin Abrams has been acting for over a decade, but this month the internet decided he is its collective boyfriend.
The 28-year-old Pennsylvania native stars opposite Zoey Deutch in Netflix's "The Perfect Alibi," a twisty rom-com thriller that hit the streamer's Top 10 in 41 countries within four days of release.
Fans aren't just watching — they're pausing, screenshotting, and posting.
The moment that broke containment arrives roughly 22 minutes in, when Abrams's character delivers a monologue about why he keeps a list of his own worst decisions taped inside a kitchen cabinet.
TikTok has since turned it into a full-blown trend, with users lip-syncing the speech over footage of their own questionable life choices.
One version, posted by a college student in Ohio, cleared 11 million views in six days.
What's driving the frenzy is less the line itself than the delivery.
Abrams plays it loose and unpolished — half-mumbled, eyes darting off-camera — and viewers keep calling it "the most real anyone has ever been on Netflix." Clips of the scene now anchor fan edits set to Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers, while a separate wave of TikToks zooms in on his character's thrifted cardigans.
The cardigan in question sold out at two vintage retailers by Wednesday.
Abrams himself has stayed characteristically low-key.
His last major press cycle was for "Wolfs," the Apple TV+ buddy movie with Brad Pitt and George Clooney, where he quietly stole scenes as a panicked hotel clerk.
When "The Perfect Alibi" premiered, he skipped the red carpet and reportedly watched the first episode at a friend's apartment in Los Angeles.
That absence has only made the internet louder.
Fans are resurfacing his breakout role as Ethan on "Euphoria," his stint in "Dash & Lily," and that one devastating arc in "Paper Towns" — a film he shot when he was still a teenager.
A viral thread compiling his entire filmography now sits at 34,000 reposts, with the caption "he was always him." Casting directors, take note.
A smaller faction of viewers argues the trend has flattened a genuinely interesting career into a single two-minute clip, and that the "internet boyfriend" label tends to expire fast.
The internet has a habit of discovering someone, devouring them, and moving on before their next project even wraps.
Still, there's something earned about this one.
Abrams has spent years playing the best friend, the awkward ex, the guy who shows up in act two and walks away with the movie.
He's never chased the spotlight, and that restraint reads as refreshing in an era of constant self-promotion.
The algorithm just took a while to catch up. **Our take:** Abrams is the rare case of a viral moment landing on someone with the range to survive it.
The trick will be what he does next — a quiet indie, a risky villain turn, anything that refuses the easy follow-up.
If he picks well, this won't be a flash in the feed.
Final Thoughts
It'll be the week everyone finally learned his name.