Long before Jason Lewis became a familiar face on ‘Sex and the City‘, he was simply a young aspiring model trying to survive in Paris.
The actor has now opened up about one of the toughest chapters of his life, revealing that he slept on floors, stole baguettes from bakeries, and survived on mustard sandwiches while chasing his dream of making it in the fashion industry.
Jason Lewis Looked Back On His Struggles In Paris
Jason Lewis shared the story during the July 16 episode of Kristin Davis’ Am I A Charlotte? podcast. Speaking with his former ‘Sex and the City‘ co-star, Lewis recalled spending months struggling to survive after moving to Paris to pursue modeling.
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Lewis explained that he arrived in the French capital at 21 as a “young punk” with “no real intention.” A modeling agency had paid for his “three-month ticket” to Paris, but he decided to stay instead and “ripped up” the return ticket.
Davis then asked, “So you’re there, you tear up the ticket, it goes well?“. Lewis replied, “No, I starved for a while.”
Lewis Survived On Bread And Mustard Before Work in ‘Sex and the City’
The actor revealed just how difficult life became during that period. “I would case a bakery and steal a baguette, and then I would run,” he said with a laugh. “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.”
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The actor also shared that he “slept on floors” until he finally started getting modeling bookings. “I think my first, like, decent money started coming in about a year and a half later. So there was like a six-month starvation period,” he told Davis.
During that time, he remembered thinking, “I could buy this one cucumber and this piece of cheese and…“. Reflecting on those difficult days, he joked, “It was easy to stay skinny, though, I’ll tell you what.”
Lewis eventually found success in modeling before landing the role that made him famous. In 2003, he joined ‘Sex and the City‘ as Smith Jerrod, Samantha Jones’ loyal and much younger boyfriend, becoming one of the show’s most popular recurring characters.
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