A familiar face on billboards and in magazines, Jason Lewis found fame on the catwalk as a successful fashion model before pursuing his true passion: acting. Best known as the sensitive and honest Smith Jerrod who makes an honest woman out of Samantha Jones on HBO’s “Sex and the City” (1998-2004), Lewis made the difficult jump from runway to screen with aplomb.
Born on June 25, 1971 in Newport Beach, CA to Gregory and Nancy Lewis, this handsome California boy grew up in Los Alamitos, graduating from Los Alamitos High School. Determined to be a success, Lewis saved up money after high school by working for a plumbing contractor and waiting tables full time. After being approached by a modeling scout, the stunningly attractive and hard-working Lewis headed to Paris to pursue print and runway modeling work. With his cleft chin and bright blue eyes, he quickly landed a Guess? campaign which, in turn, helped launch subsequent ad campaigns with Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Byblos, and Ray Ban. Lewis garnered so much attention doing fashion shows in New York, Paris and Milan that he was nominated for the Male Model of the Year award at the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards. Signed to the notorious Wilhemina Modeling agency, Lewis appeared solo in an eleven-page editorial campaign in GQ in 1996. Since that heady time, he appeared in a number of major ad campaigns, including Versace, Valentino, Michael Kors and Gap.
Lewis made his acting debut as a regular on the short-run adventure series, “High Sierra Search and Rescue” (NBC, 1995). Instead of jumping into another role after the series tanked, Lewis took time off to focus on seriously learning his craft, studying with a top acting coach to hone his skills. Soon, Lewis went on to nab a recurring role on the popular show, “Beverly Hills, 90210” (FOX, 1990-2000) in 1997. A number of small film roles followed for the former model; he landed roles in “Next Stop Wonderland” (1998), HBO’s “Kimberly” (1999), the period epic “The King’s Guard” (2000), and “The Elite” (2001). Lewis also appeared as a guest star in an episode of the popular CBS crime drama, “CSI: Miami” (2002- ).
Disillusioned with the Hollywood process, Lewis sold his house in Los Angeles and made the cross-country trek to New York in order to regroup. Soon after arriving on the east coast, Lewis landed the coveted recurring role of Jerry “Smith” Jerrod on the mega-hit HBO series, “Sex and the City” (1998-2004). As the sensitive love interest to the brazen Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) in the sixth and final season of the series, Lewis got his first major notice by fans and critics. What woman viewer could resist a hot, younger man standing by his older girlfriend as she battled breast cancer?
After wrapping work on the iconic series, Lewis went on to find work in a number of films including “The Jacket” (2005) opposite Adrien Brody and Keira Knightly. In 2005, Lewis landed another recurring role, this time on the supernatural WB series “Charmed” (1998- ) as Alyssa Milano’s love interest, Dex Lawson. Lewis also appeared in an episode of “Related” (WB, 2005- ).
In 2006, Lewis starred in the films “My Bollywood Bride”, “Return to Rajapur” and “The Death and Life of Bobby Z” opposite Laurence Fishburne and Paul Walker. In the meantime, his relationship with exotic actress Rosario Dawson garnered the genetically blessed couple much tabloid ink.