The Outlaw Agency's models are not tall, thin and gorgeous. In fact, with tattoos, beards, piercings and dreadlocks, some of them look like they could be thugs, gangsters, bikers or surfers.

While other agencies bring in size 0 waifs, Outlaw's online roster includes heavily muscled body builders, paunchy middle-age men and buxom burlesque pinup girls.

Outlaw Agency's owner, Hesham Metwally, 37, of Kapahulu, never intended this to be a traditional modeling agency.

"There are plenty of those here already, good ones. I didn't want to compete with them," he explained.

In fact, Metwally doesn't even refer to the 37 people in his stable as models. He calls them "characters" or, with tongue in cheek, "suspects," and he sees them playing roles as extras who live on the fringe: slackers, convicts, drug dealers, bikers, hookers.

With all the TV shows, movies and commercials that have been shooting in the Islands in recent years, Metwally sees a need for extras who can play to type and he believes Outlaw can fill a niche in the Islands' media marketplace.

He does not claim to be the first to come up with this idea. There is a similar agency in South Beach called Outcasts. In London and New York there are agencies called Ugly. He doesn't like that name. He said his models "are not ugly, just unique."

"I'm looking for unique, crazy-looking characters," Metwally said. "We would like to be the agency with the unique-looking characters who will provide for movies, or any kind of production, like 'Pirates of the Caribbean,' 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' or maybe a 'CSI Hawai'i' or a newer 'Hawaii Five-0.' I am looking forward when 'Lost' starts casting. It will be nice to see some of our talent on that show."

A few months ago, Metwally began recruiting characters from among his friends.

Next he posted an ad on craigslist. It read, he said: "Wanted: murderers, thugs, gangsters, punks, bikers ..." until the folks at craigslist made him tone down the language, leaving out the criminal references. He was amazed at the immediate response. The very next day, he had potential characters e-mailing him. Outlaw Agency was born.

If their faces had character, Metwally's next step was to find out if they could act. He tried to determine acting ability by directing them through their portfolio shoots. He watched how they responded to his questions and determined whether they understood how to take direction. Those who made the cut are now part of his stable.

There is no cost to join his agency; like most other agencies, he takes 20 percent of any paycheck for acting or modeling work he helps procure.

Metwally's professional background is not in modeling agencies; it is in fashion photography. Like many creative careers, it began serendipitously.

As an 18-year-old, he was living in New York City. One day, he saw a woman on the street whose purse was being snatched. He sprung into action as a Good Samaritan and caught the culprit, returning the handbag to its owner. The woman, Adriana Gomez, as it happens, was the wife of Stephen Ach of European Productions, a prominent international fashion photographer. She said she would return the favor one day, and she did. She introduced Metwally to Ach and the teenager became his photographer's assistant.

Metwally's first commercial shoot involved supermodel Claudia Schiffer. The photographer and his assistant traveled all over the world shooting commercials and stills. While Metwally loved the work, he tired of the lifestyle and longed to return to a more relaxed "beach lifestyle." He moved to Hawai'i and set up a studio called The Brick House in Chinatown. Although he moved back to New York for a few years to try his luck there as a more experienced photographer, he yearned to return to Hawai'i. Now he's looking for a way to stay here permanently and he hopes Outlaw will make that work.

Those interested in being an Outlaw character can learn more at www.outlawagency.com or can attend the Outlaw Party (see box).