Christian Bale performed the original “sigma face” as Patrick Bateman in the 2000 film American Psycho. TikToker @argenby later popularized that expression as the “sigma face” trend in November 2022. Bale performed the face; @argenby helped turn it into a modern meme format.
The answer in one glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who performed the original expression? | Christian Bale |
| Which character made it? | Patrick Bateman |
| Where did it first appear? | American Psycho, released in the United States on April 14, 2000 |
| What was the earlier meme name? | Patrick Bateman’s “Ooh Face” or Christian Bale’s “Ooh Face” |
| Who popularized the TikTok version? | @argenby, with widely cited viral recreations on November 22 and November 24, 2022 |
The expression is therefore not an original TikTok invention. It moved through several stages: a film performance, an online reaction image and GIF, and then a TikTok imitation associated with “sigma” masculinity.
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| 1 |
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American Psycho (Uncut Version) (Killer Collector's Edition) | $5.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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American Psycho [DVD] | $15.60 | Buy on Amazon |
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American Psycho | $12.61 | Buy on Amazon |
Where the original expression appears
In American Psycho, Patrick Bateman is speaking with Paul Allen, played by Jared Leto, during a dinner conversation. Allen mistakes Bateman for someone else and makes comments involving Evelyn, Bateman’s significant other. Bateman answers with an exaggerated “ooh” reaction—the moment later clipped, reposted and turned into a reaction GIF.
The film never calls this a “sigma face.” That label was applied more than two decades later. The historically precise search terms are Patrick Bateman Ooh Face, Christian Bale Ooh Face and American Psycho reaction face. Know Your Meme documents the scene and its later circulation as Patrick Bateman’s “Ooh Face”.
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- Patrick Bateman is a handsome, well-educated, executive who works days on Wall Street. His nights are spent in ways we cannot begin to fathom. A 26 year- old living his own American Dream - as a serial rapist and killer preying upon the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
How a movie reaction became a meme
2000: The film performance
Bale’s facial movement belongs to his performance of Bateman in American Psycho. Assigning sole authorship to an actor would oversimplify a movie moment shaped by the screenplay, direction, acting and editing, but Bale is the person making the visible expression on screen.
Before TikTok: reaction images and GIFs
The clip circulated online well before the “sigma” label. Meme records include a 2009 YouTube upload and later GIF reposts, making the expression an established reaction image before short-form video platforms revived it.
Rank #2
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2022: The TikTok recreation
@argenby is widely credited with popularizing the modern video trend. Know Your Meme identifies a widely cited recreation posted on November 22, 2022, followed by another major video on November 24. Those videos imitated Bale’s expression; they did not originate the film performance. The trend’s later edits commonly used Twisted’s phonk remix of Oliver Tree’s “Worth Nothing.” See the documented timeline at Know Your Meme’s “Sigma Face” entry.
Why the expression is called “sigma”
Online “sigma male” memes portray a supposedly independent, self-directed or socially dominant man outside conventional alpha-and-beta hierarchies. Patrick Bateman became a recurring subject in “literally me,” “sigma grindset” and related edits, so his expression was recast as a visual shorthand for that persona.
Rank #3
That interpretation is a later internet framing, not the original meaning of the dinner scene. The film did not present Bateman’s reaction as a “sigma” meme, and the label does not change who performed it.
Christian Bale, Patrick Bateman or @argenby?
| Name or work | Role in the meme’s history |
|---|---|
| Christian Bale | Actor who performed the expression in the film |
| Patrick Bateman | Character making the expression |
| American Psycho | Original film source |
| @argenby | TikTok creator widely credited with popularizing the “sigma face” format in November 2022 |
| @greapaxcherri | Prominent creator associated with later “sigma girl” adaptations |
This distinction resolves the two common attribution errors: saying @argenby invented the original face, or saying Bale created the TikTok meme. Bale supplied the performance; @argenby helped popularize its later social-media format.
Rank #4
- A college freshman has survived an attack by serial killer Patrick Bateman. Now she forms an obsession with one of her professors, and, deciding that she must become his teaching assistant, begins to wipe out anyone who stands in her way.
Is the sigma face the same as mewing or mogging?
No. The terms overlap in social-media captions but describe different ideas:
- Sigma face: Usually the Patrick Bateman-inspired expression or a TikTok recreation of it.
- Mewing: A separate trend focused on tongue posture and presenting the jawline.
- Mogging: Slang for visually outperforming or outclassing someone, often in appearance.
A video may combine the Bateman expression with a jawline pose, silent reaction or looksmaxxing imagery, which explains the overlap without making the terms synonyms. For broader context on the “sigma girl” variation and its relationship to sigma culture, see Know Your Meme’s explainer.
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What “original” means here
“Who made the original sigma face?” can refer to different kinds of creation:
- Physical performance: Christian Bale.
- Fictional character: Patrick Bateman, originally created by Bret Easton Ellis for the novel and adapted for the film.
- Film moment: A collaborative production rather than an independently documented invention by one person.
- Modern meme popularization: @argenby’s 2022 TikTok recreations.
Calling @argenby the first person ever to make the expression would be inaccurate because Bale performed it in 2000 and the reaction image existed online before 2022. “Widely credited with popularizing” is the more supportable description.
Bottom line
The original face belongs to Christian Bale’s performance as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. The name “sigma face” and the modern TikTok format came later, with @argenby widely credited for popularizing them in November 2022.
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