Taran Noah Smith looks totally different from his Home Improvement days.
Earlier this year, Smith, 41, appeared on an episode of the Outgrown with Tom Scharpling & Julia Vickerman podcast where he dished on his time on the ABC sitcom — and an Instagram clip recently began to circulate that had fans doing a double take.
During the podcast, Smith recalled how, being younger than his fictional TV brothers (played by Zachery Ty Bryan and Jonathan Taylor Thomas), he occasionally felt like the “odd man out” on set. He also explained that his character “floundered” in later seasons with a gothic makeover.
Despite the walk down memory lane, fans couldn’t help but express their fascination — and disbelief — about Smith’s current appearance in the comment section.
YouTube/Outgrown with Tom Scharpling & Julia Vickerman
Once a cherubic-faced boy with a bowl cut, Smith now has long, shaggy hair and a goatee. The former actor was also introduced on the podcast as a “Space Marine” who works for SpaceX, the aerospace company owned by Elon Musk.
“Holy crap seeing grown-up Mark was kind of jarring to see,” one person wrote on Instagram.
“I thought it was Jesus,” another quipped.
Many fans across platforms remarked that Smith resembled rockers Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and Metallica’s James Hetfield.
DL1/David Livingston / WENN/Newscom/The Mega Agency
Meanwhile, on YouTube — where the full interview is posted — someone wrote: ”He’s become a pirate.”
“Lieutenant DAN??” another comment read, referring to Gary Sinisi’s character from Forrest Gump.
From the ages of 7 to 15, Smith played Mark Taylor on Home Improvement, which aired from 1991 to 1999. Smith’s TV parents were played by Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson.