Before Sex and the City turned Jason Lewis into a fan favorite, his life looked nothing like the glamorous world of Smith Jerrod. Years before designer campaigns, red carpets, and his breakout role on the iconic HBO series, Lewis endured a far harsher reality in Paris, surviving with barely enough money to eat. His little-known struggle abroad became the foundation of the success that would eventually lead him to Sex and the City fame.

While red carpets and magazine covers came easily after fame, the road leading there involved far less glamorous stops, starting on the streets of Paris.

Jason Lewis admitted that hunger defined his early days abroad, long before Samantha Jones ever noticed him. He spent months in Paris surviving on scraps, sneaking into bakeries for bread and treating outdoor cafes like makeshift dining rooms.

"I starved for a while," Jason Lewis shared on a recent episode of his co-star Kristin Davis' podcast. "Then, I would go to like an outdoor cafe … and take a pot of their mustard and dump it on [the baguette]."

He continued, "Then I'd have mustard bread sandwiches for a lot of my meals. So slept on floors," summing up just how difficult those years truly were.

The conversation with Kristin Davis on her podcast, Are You a Charlotte?, painted an even bleaker picture of that lean stretch abroad. Lewis confessed that steady income did not arrive until nearly a year and a half later, leaving him stretching a single cucumber and one piece of cheese across days. He joked that staying thin was never a struggle during that period, since food itself was the real challenge. The exchange revealed a side of the actor fans rarely associate with his polished on screen image.

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That six month stretch of near starvation eventually gave way to a career spanning three decades in Hollywood.

Jason Lewis broke into the industry in 1995 with High Sierra Search and Rescue, later appearing on Beverly Hills, 90210 before his defining turn as Smith Jerrod in 2003. He went on to feature in Charmed, Brothers and Sisters, Mr. Brooks alongside Kevin Costner, and the fantasy series Midnight, Texas. Sex and the City itself no longer streams on Netflix and now lives exclusively on Max, where all six original seasons remain available for subscribers. Lewis last competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2022 before stepping away from the spotlight almost entirely.

After years away from the screen, Lewis resurfaced in May 2026 revealing a move to Costa Rica and nearly six years spent writing an expansive nine book fantasy series. He remains engaged to producer Liz Godwin and now spends his time surfing, rock climbing, and chasing creative projects far removed from red carpets. The man once mistaken for just another handsome face turned out to be building something entirely his own the whole time. From stolen baguettes to storytelling, Lewis proved starvation was only the beginning.

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