Sєx And The City heartthrob stole food and slept on floors

Much like the dashing waiter-turned-model he played on TV, Jason Lewis struggled to get by in the early days of fame.

At age 21, Lewis – who ended up finding fame playing Samantha Jones’ boyfriend Smith Jared on Sєx and the City – went through a ‘six month starvation period’ when he first traveled to Paris to pursue modeling.

Now 54, Lewis is now able to laugh about the ordeal, which saw him steal baguettes from bakeries, sleep on floors, and struggle to afford a single cucumber and piece of cheese. 

On the latest episode of Kristin Davis’ podcast, Am I A Charlotte?, Lewis recalled the lengths he went just to survive in the City of Lights before making it big.

‘I starved for a while,’ he said. ‘I would case a bakery and steal a baguette and then I would run and then I would go to like an outdoor cafe… and take a pot of their mustard and dump it on and then I’d have mustard bread sandwiches for a lot of my meals.’ 

‘So slept on floors,’ he said. 

Jason Lewis has revealed he went through a six-month ‘starvation period’ while pursuing modeling at age 21 in Paris; pictured 2022

Lewis, pictured on the set of SATC in 2003, eventually found fame playing Samantha Jones’ sweet yet hunky boyfriend 

The ordeal lasted for six months and saw him struggle to afford more than just a few items at a time.  

‘So there was like a six month starvation period… “I could buy this one cucumber and this piece of cheese.” It was easy to stay skinny though!’ 

EXCLUSIVE ‘Adam Levine is a super weird guy’: Real reason model wife didn’t leave him after Sєxting scandal

Eventually, his luck turned around and he started making money.  

‘I got a booking,’ he said. ‘I managed to put together a pretty good book, I still had the agency I was working with at the time. Got a booking and started making money.’

‘I think my first like decent money started coming in about a year and a half later,’ he said. 

Eventually Lewis would come to the attention of Sєx and The City casting team and he joined the show in 2003. 

It is a role that catapulted him to fame.  

Lewis melted hearts as the handsome and kind waiter-turned-actor Smith Jerrod on the show, and won plaudits for his chemistry with love interest Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall, now 69. 

Before coming to the attention of SATC viewers, he was working the runway; pictured in Milan in 1997

Lewis, 54, melted hearts as the handsome and kind waiter-turned-actor on the show, and won plaudits for his chemistry with love interest Samantha Jones, played by Cattrall, 69

Lewis, seen in an Absolut Vodka advert on the show, played a model who achieved success thanks to Samantha’s efforts

In the years since, Lewis has remained a firm fan of Samantha. 

Promoting his new collaboration with Owl’s Brews in a video featuring several references to Smith and Samantha’s romance, one follower wrote, ‘that Samantha call back was EVERYTHINGGGGG!! He knows his base.’

Lewis responded, ‘Smith was nothing without her.’

Followers went into meltdown with one writing, ‘In an alternate reality smith and Samantha made it they were end game in my book.’

Lewis’s character on Sєx And The City was a young waiter and aspiring actor who was seduced by the series’ lead, played by Cattrall.

Their unlikely romance won over viewers, fond of Smith’s ability to soften Samantha’s heart 

Jason played Smith again in 2008’s Sєx and the City: The Movie and the two characters broke up after Samantha moved to Los Angeles

Samantha, who convinced him to change his name from Jerry Jerrod to Smith, used her PR connections to land him a major modeling gig, which led to a film role.

Their relationship, which started off as casual, later turned serious after he supported Samantha after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

When the series ended in 2004, the couple were still together and in love. However, Jason played Smith again in 2008’s Sєx and the City: The Movie and the two characters broke up after Samantha moved to Los Angeles.

Lewis returned for the 2010 sequel Sєx And The City 2 and it appeared that Smith and Samantha were still on good terms as he invited her to be his date to his new action film’s premiere.