Jason Lewis is an actor and model best known for playing Smith Jerrod, Samantha’s hot younger boyfriend on Sex and the City. He subsequently appeared in the two SATC movies, but hasn’t made any public appearances since 2022, when he competed in season 31 of Dancing With the Stars.

After several years out of the spotlight, Jason recently returned to Instagram. His first post was a video teasing a big project that he’s been working on. He followed that post up with an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, in which he revealed that he moved to Costa Rica in 2023 and learned Spanish. He’s also been working on a nine-book fantasy series made up of three interconnected trilogies. In the interview, he spoke about the series and detailed his work ethic. Here’s a summary from THR:

Three years ago, he moved from California to Costa Rica, where he now spends his days surfing, learning Spanish and waking up at 4 a.m. to work on a sprawling fantasy epic book series that has quietly consumed years of his life. Not one novel. Nine. Or rather, three interconnecting trilogies set across different eras in the same universe, all exploring themes of power, agency, tyranny and redemption. The first book he plans to release is technically book seven.

“I chose to start at the end,” Lewis, 54, says matter-of-factly over Zoom from Costa Rica, sounding less like a celebrity with a side project than a man who has spent an alarming amount of time alone with his own cosmology.

The scale of the thing is almost absurdly ambitious, which is partly what makes it compelling. Lewis describes the series as “epic fantasy,” closer to Lord of the Rings than science fiction, though with a “hard magic” system rooted in physics rather than traditional spellcasting. He casually references quantum theory, multiverse concepts and Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman while explaining the underlying logic of his world-building, though he insists readers won’t need a background in theoretical physics to follow along.

“It’s not a lecture on physics,” he says. “It’s magic.”

The deeper you get into conversation with him, the deeper you get into what drove him to write them in the first place. Lewis talks often about external validation, belonging and self-worth, ideas that inevitably take on added resonance coming from a man whose face once functioned as a global commodity.

Lewis is careful throughout the conversation not to overstate what he’s doing. There’s no self-coronation as the next Tolkien, no crypto pitchman energy, no insistence that Hollywood simply failed to appreciate his genius. If anything, he seems slightly wary of talking publicly at all. He only recently returned to Instagram after encouragement from his representation and admits he struggled with how to re-enter public life without falling into what he calls “performative posting.”

“I very much like to try and create a community,” he says, “and not just be in the broadcast of, ‘Hey, check me out. Aren’t I awesome?’” The fantasy series, meanwhile, continues to expand. Lewis says he writes every day, usually in two-hour bursts, aiming for between 1,000 and 2,000 words daily. He is currently on the fourth draft of book seven, which will serve as the entry point into the larger saga. The structure itself mirrors the themes he keeps returning to in conversation: idealism, corruption and the long road back from both.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Moving to Costa Rica to write a book series is truly living the dream. If I were wealthy and had no commitments, I would hole up either at the beach or in the mountains and finally finish a mystery book series I’ve been working on. Edits and rewrites take so much time and energy, so I admire Jason’s discipline. It sounds like he’s really committed to the world he’s created and has put a ton of work into it. I’m really curious to learn more about them! It’s an interesting choice to release book seven first. When THR brought it up, Jason confirmed that he was inspired by the original Star Wars trilogy, which starts with episode four in the overall saga.

I understand what Jason means when he talks about trying to navigate self-promotion without coming across as performative. It’s a tricky balance. His THR interview and another Instagram video released after it was published were good starts. Jason is also back with a new ad campaign for Owl’s Brews, a company that makes spiked pop. His first ad leans heavily on reminding people about his SATC role. You can check it out here. During his interview, Jason mentioned that he does not have a publisher yet. I bet his inbox is blowing up now.