Jason Lewis, known for his role as Smith Jerrod in "Sex and the City," has shared details of extreme poverty he experienced in Paris before achieving fame. Lewis, 55, detailed on Kristin Davis' podcast, "Are You a Charlotte?" that he slept on floors and struggled to afford food for six months after relocating to Europe at age 21 to pursue modeling.
He described surviving by stealing baguettes from bakeries and supplementing them with mustard from outdoor cafes. "I starved for a while," Lewis said, recalling that his only other food option for a period was a single cucumber and cheese. "So slept on floors," he added, explaining that his financial situation began to improve about a year and a half later when he secured a modeling job.
Lewis joined the cast of "Sex and the City" in 2003 during its sixth and final season, portraying the younger model boyfriend of Kim Cattrall's character, Samantha Jones. His character's storyline progressed significantly, with Samantha helping to advance his career. The couple remained together through Samantha's battle with cancer and were still a couple when the series concluded in 2004. Lewis reprised his role in the 2008 film "Sex and the City" and its 2010 sequel, though his character and Samantha had separated but remained friends.
He was not part of the HBO reboot "And Just Like That," which concluded its run after three seasons. Cattrall, who played Samantha Jones, made a brief cameo in the second season of the reboot amidst a public dispute with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker. Cattrall had previously stated in a 2017 interview that she had "never been friends" with her other "Sex and the City" castmates, including Davis and Cynthia Nixon.
Following his appearance on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2022, Lewis announced in May that he had moved to Costa Rica and had written a nine-book fantasy series. "After three years, it was time," he captioned a post about his move.