Kevin James Explains What Led To That 'King Of Queens' Photo That Became A Viral Meme

Actor and comedian Kevin James revisited the iconic shrugging promo shot of his character from the popular CBS sitcom The King of Queens, and shared his recollection of the photo shoot that eventually spawned a viral meme.

The King of Queens starred James and Leah Remini as a middle-class married couple living in Queens, New York.

The beloved show ran for nine seasons beginning in September 1998 to May 2007 and remains in syndication on broadcast TV and cable streaming.

James, who is promoting his Amazon Prime stand-up special Irregardless, was put on the spot when The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon revealed a printed photo of James shrugging as his King of Queens character, Doug Heffernan.

"It spawned a million memes," Fallon told the audience, who cheered after seeing the photo.

Here's an example as a refresher.

When Fallon asked James, "Do you remember doing this photo shoot?" the embarrassed actor replied, "I remember," before explaining how young actors are willing to go along with anything in the early stages of their entertainment career.

The 58-year-old comedian, who was 33 when he first started King of Queens, said: 

"When you first get a sitcom, you just listen to anybody. You’re just so happy to be there."

James then recalled the photo shoot with pro photographer Tony Esparza, who was snapping shots for the CBS Photo Archive.

"And the photographer, he was just telling me to do goofy things."

You can watch the segment from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, here.

Kevin James Reacts to His Viral The King of Queens Meme | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallonyoutu.be

James continued saying of Esparza:

"And he was like, ‘Smile. Now like you’re sexy, now like you’re shy, but now you’re kind of—’ and I got into this position where I’m like, ‘What the hell am I doing?’”

"And then I said, 'Please bury that one.'"

"And he goes, 'Yeah, no worries, that won't come back.'"

So much for keeping promises.

Fallon cracked up over the 1998 photo making a comeback, to which James remarked:

"I know. 25 years later this thing pops up."

Fallon brought out examples of memes using James' shrugging photo, including one that was captioned with, "When I cook for new people and somebody [says], 'Damn you made this?!'" and another that read:

"Me when my friend posts a screenshot of our text messages on their story so everyone can see how funny I am."

Here's another of the Maryland college football team trying to distract the other team by projecting the meme on the stadium jumbotron.

Here are other examples of the meme circulating online.

The Emmy-nominated actor remained a good sport and humored Fallon by going along with this hilarious skit of them being stuck in the meme.

Fans were loving it.

@Capital_T/X

In February, James is set to embark on a comedy tour called, Owls Don't Walk, which includes his first arena performance in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 29.

He even poked fun at himself by promoting his upcoming tour with the meme.

"Gearing up for my new Stand Up tour," he wrote, adding:

“So happy I found this headshot."

The humble comedian admitted to "freaking out" and "being scared" of performing at the large venue in Utah because "There's not going to be enough people."

You can prove him wrong by purchasing tickets through his website, Kevinjames.com.