Jason Lewis recalls starving in Paris before Sex and the City success

Jason Lewis has revealed that he struggled with hunger and homelessness while trying to build a modelling career in Paris before finding fame on Sex and the City.

Speaking on the 16 July episode of Kristin Davis' Am I A Charlotte? podcast, the 55-year-old actor said he went through a "six-month starvation period" after moving to the French capital at the age of 21.

Lewis said he travelled to Paris on a three-month ticket paid for by a modelling agency but decided to stay after tearing up his return ticket. Work was slow to come, leaving him unable to afford food or accommodation.

He recalled stealing baguettes from bakeries and making mustard sandwiches using condiments from outdoor cafés. He also said he slept on floors until he secured modelling jobs and began earning money.

Lewis said it took around a year and a half before he started making a decent income, describing meals that sometimes consisted of little more than a cucumber and a piece of cheese.

The actor rose to fame in 2003 as Smith Jerrod, Samantha Jones' boyfriend in the final season of HBO's Sex and the City. He later returned for both feature films but did not appear in the sequel series And Just Like That....

Lewis has also appeared in How I Met Your Mother, House, Brothers & Sisters and Midnight, Texas. After competing on Dancing with the Stars in 2022, he stepped back from acting. Earlier this year, he said he used the break to write a nine-book fantasy series.