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Remember him? Or at least those eyes? Jeremy Meeks, aka "Hot Felon," made quite a stir in June 2014 when the Stockton Police Department posted his Blue Steel-esque mugshot on Facebook after he was arrested in a gun sweep, and the internet went absolutely nuts over his chiseled cheekbones and crystal blue eyes. And now, like so many pretty faces before his, Meeks is headed to Los Angeles to try his luck in Hollywood.According to New York Magazine, who has a lengthy profile of Meeks and his Calabasas agent Jim Jordan in their latest issue, it was the realization after being arrested that he was "well and truly screwed that caused him, when he faced the camera for his mug shot, to pout ever so slightly, and cock his head in a way that not only emphasized his cheekbones but also played down the gang-related tattoos on his neck while rendering almost poignant the teardrop inked just below his left eye."
If Helen of Troy was the face that launched a thousand ships, Meeks' was the mugshot that yielded countless modeling offers, a Twitter #trending topic, Facebook groups, and even crowdfunding efforts. "Who took this mugshot? Annie effing Leibovitz?," New York Magazine quotes one Facebook commenter as asking.
Meeks plans to harness his viral power to become a bonafide cross-platform star. Here’s how New York Magazine tells it:
“He’s going to walk in the shows in Paris,” Jordan says, noting that Meeks’s runway walk — which he saw him do over FaceTime — is spectacular. Meeks also wants to do movies: On his list, Jordan says, is interest from the producers of the upcoming Vin Diesel vehicle xXx: The Return of Xander Cage. To this end, Meeks has been reading The Power of the Actor and The Artist’s Way. “He’s been doing his morning pages,” Jordan tells me, adding that Meeks also makes use of his transitional housing’s gym. “He works out three, four times a day.”
The L.A. Times reports that Meeks was released from prison into a reentry program in March, and then remanded to house arrest with his family in Stockton. Although home now, he will technically remain in federal custody until July 7, at which point the sky's the limit.
