Growing up with my head buried in comic books was always a favourite past time when I was a kid but I never imagined that I’d have the opportunity to talk to a character from the Batwoman series. One more box checked off the bucket list. I love my job because it allows me access to incredible talent, such as stellar talented actor, Jesse Hutch! Jesse has a recurring role as Agent Russell Tavaroff on the second season of the CW’s Batwoman, starring Javicia Leslie. Jesse’s character made his debut on Sunday, April 18, 2021.
Jesse is an accomplished actor that plays a bad apple with a reputation for being insensitive. This Crows agent is married to the job and enjoys the power that comes with it. With Batwoman and The Crows each hot on the trail of the False Face Society, their efforts collide, and tensions escalate.
Jesse joins Javicia Leslie (God Friended Me), the new series lead as Batwoman – Ryan Wilder airing Sunday nights (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) on The CW.
Jesse’s good looks and warm smile have garnered him a number of leading roles in romantic comedies. Coming soon, Reel One Entertainment has cast Jesse in starring roles including Gavin Rogers in Love, Bubbles & Crystal Cove, Tom in Love a La Carte and Ryan Knox in Love & Chocolate. Jesse has been quoted as saying, “I want to touch people’s hearts through drama, comedy, action, thrill and everything in between. I love moving around. I want to be the most well-rounded performer I can be.” His twenty plus year career has covered all genres from Sci Fi, Comedy, Romance, History and heartfelt productions that have kept his career exciting and sometimes challenging.
Jesse’s first job as an actor was a guest star role on Dark Angel starring Jessica Alba. He went on to have substantial recurring guest star roles on Arrow, Heartland and Kyle XY, which were recently re-released on Disney+. Other guest starring roles that stand out for Jesse include his roles on The CW’s Supernatural, History Channel’s Project Blue Book and Netflix’s Wu Assassins.
Working out and staying in shape is an important aspect of Jesse’s routine so he is ready for whatever opportunities come his way. He is currently on a training regiment of 2 hours per day, six days a week as he prepares for a potential lead role on a period piece, which plans to film in Utah later this year. A fun fact – Jesse was asked to screen test for Superman Returns as the role of Superman Clarke Kent. His resume as a stunt performer is just as impressive and he’s looking forward to Disney’s upcoming season of the TV series Gabby Duran & the Unsittables as a Space Alien, set to air in 2022.
Jesse is passionate about all aspects of filmmaking as an actor, stunt performer, writer, director and producer. He directed and produced the World War II short film, Ghost of Europe that was shot in two days and fully completed in 168 hours. The short went on to win the Best International Film at the 168 Film Festival in Los Angeles. Jesse has a number of personal projects in development and he and his business partner, Don Macleod have written and created a 24-project pitch deck that they are using to seek funding for projects in development. Most recently he directed, wrote and acted in a proof of concept for a new television series entitled Fox and Hunter that is being presented to potential partners.
Jesse values his family life and credits his wife and three children for keeping him grounded and helping him to be a better man, which carries over to his acting and professional career. When asked what his best role has been to date? “My best role is that of husband and father. I believe that giving your life to others is one of the greatest gifts you can strive for.”
Without further ado, I give you the impeccable and multi-talented Jesse Hutch.
Photo Courtesy of Andrew Gerard
HNMAG “Your character is introduced into the CW’s Batwoman series on April 18. Any jitters?”
JESSE “No jitters, I’m actually pretty excited. I think he’s an interesting character for people to meet. I was given a list of things I couldn’t talk about… but what I can talk about is – he’s a Crow agent, he’s married to his work, dedicated and focused. When he’s on a mission there’s no stopping him. He and Colonel Kane (Dougray Scott) both agree that Batwoman is a threat to the Crows’ way of doing things. I can also tell you that he’s about to start a mission and there’s not a lot of people that are going to be happy about it. He also has a reputation for being insensitive, which is a nice way of putting it (laughing).”
HNMAG “Would you characterize yourself as a good guy or bad guy?”
JESSE “That will be the fun part because it will be interesting to see where the audience places me. It’s the great thing about playing somebody with multiple layers that aren’t like me. He’s going to do things that people may or may not agree with, so there’s going to be people on both sides. I really enjoy playing characters like that because it allows us to explore that inner natural being that might not appear in our everyday lives but it exists and it’s real. We’ve all seen it, felt it, heard it and to be able to explore that, is so exciting. I wish I could say more but there is a beautiful surprise in the anticipation and letting people experience the character without me divulging too much.”
HNMAG “Have you ever played a character that’s comparable to this in another series or film?”
JESSE “I would say that the first 5 years of my career I’ve always played the opposite of the lead/the good guy/the quarterback that nobody liked. I’ve also played the villain or characters that go against the good guy, which has been fun. I think you can only have a great character if you have someone up against them that is also just as good.”
HNMAG “What is it like to be the new guy on a successful show/series?”
JESSE “(Laughing) You’re kind of thrown into the mix. Everybody’s already moving, they’ve been doing it, everybody has their rhythm so you get in there and run with the herd. I have to show up, bring my work to the table and be prepared and feel everything out. There are so many aspects to the film industry – a crew is like one living being; how they operate when they move, what’s the timing, how do they shoot the scenes? Everything has a different vibe and I absolutely love it, it’s a lot of fun. The way the set looks is also amazing – I’ll look at the monitor and I’m in awe that I get to be in the shot. I almost can’t look at it before my scene because I’ll geek out, I love the technical aspect of it along with the setups. It’s a comic book and I love how they make the Gotham world look. I’m very blessed to be a part of it especially at this current time.”
HNMAG “How did you prepare for your role as agent Russell Tavaroff?”
JESSE “The script is first and foremost. It’s all that I have to go off of in the series world.”
HNMAG “Would you say that you’re an actor that can remember large bodies of dialogue quite easily?”
JESSE “Going back 20 plus years, it would literally take me an hour a page. These days, it’s a couple of minutes but it does require a little more work to dial it in. I’ve been in rom-coms, where they’ve decided to crunch the schedule suddenly. I have a movie coming out soon, where we covered 50 pages of dialogue in 4 days. Most of the MOW’s (movies of the week) are shot in 12 days. I’ve even done 2 MOWs in 10 days. On Batwoman we’ll do 3-4 pages per day and really take our time. There’s definitely a different pace/different flow and as an actor it’s fantastic to be able to block it out properly and run through it with the other actors. You can discover so much in that little amount of time that you might not realize. You’ve always got to leave the door open. You have to show up as prepared as possible to be unprepared. You need to leave room for the other actors to affect you. If the script says he’s angry, I can’t assume that he’s going to be angry at that moment, just because the script says so. He might be angry, but it might be a couple of words later – it changes how I feel and how I react. Absolutely show up prepared and know your stuff, then be prepared to forget it all and experience what’s happening in the moment and work with it.”
HNMAG “I realize that some directors will work on 1 or 2 episodes, but do you find that most are open to collaboration?”
JESSE “When you’re on set, absolutely. Everybody is there to do their job and it’s always a collaborative effort. I love direction and it’s always so nice when you give something and they come back and tell you to try it another way. Two heads are always better than one and it’s always better to have more input and be open to learning from others.”
HNMAG “You’ve been so busy last year and are in a couple romantic comedies coming out soon, with starring roles alongside Gavin Rogers in Love, Bubbles & Crystal Cove, Tom in Love a La Carte and Ryan Knox in Love & Chocolate. Are those Hallmark movies?”
JESSE “The outlet hasn’t been 100 percent confirmed yet but I know they’re all coming out this year; I’ve been getting called in for ADR and other stuff. It will definitely have a Lifetime/Hallmark vibe to it and there will definitely be European releases. I’m told by producers that I have quite a large European following (laughing). My wife and I spent 1 ½ months of our honeymoon there, 11 years ago and it was fantastic.”
HNMAG “Have you ever done any sword fighting/jousting for a film?”
JESSE “Since day 1, I worked on Dark Angel and I heard that Mike Mitchell was on set one day. When I rolled up I wanted to meet this stunt coordinator because I already loved action at that point. I walked up to him to say, there’s some action in the script, can I do it? He asked if I had any experience, to which I replied that I had some kickboxing and Muay Thai background. He asked me to go into the back alley with him to show him what I could do. He asked me to put them up and started boxing with me right there. He was ok with it and said he’d let me do some stuff, so I ended up doing a lot of stunts. Funny story, Marshall Virtue was brought in to double me on Dark Angel, my first job ever as an actor. He was the first stunt double that I ever met and now he’s the stunt coordinator on Batwoman and he’s also directed one of the episodes. It’s so cool because now he’s got kids, he’s raising a family and he’s the coordinator of a successful series. It’s incredible to see peoples’ journey through that.”
Photo Courtesy of Andrew Gerard
In addition to being a very fine actor, Jesse also wrote/directed and acted in a 6-part action/comedy – proof of concept series, called Fox and Hunter. He’s started to shop it around and has a series bible prepared. They shot it in Langley and Chilliwack, they blew up a van, no animals were harmed and everyone still had all fingers and toes intact. Jesse also informed me that directing is his second love, next to acting and feels that he has learned so much from being in front of the camera. Jesse keeps accumulating more tools as he navigates through the film industry and is a SAG and UBCP member. They’ve been developing the series for 8 plus years and have definitely put in the work. Throughout the series, they’ve been bringing in guest stars, such as the late Gabe Khouth (Santa Baby, Once Upon A Time) who had won a Leo Award for his work on the series. It has a Lethal Weapon vibe, there’s a ‘68 Dodge Charger and the music is nostalgic rock n roll… I’m sold. He’s had a ton of support from some very well-known actors, so I certainly hope that Jesse and his business partner Don Macleod do find that golden opportunity to fulfill their episodic TV hopes as writer/director/producer. Thanks to the film industry community in Vancouver, Jesse informs me that they are hovering around 530,000.00 in in-kind services since its inception.
HNMAG “I’ve read that you played guitar and sang for a film? Were you an accomplished guitar player previous to the film?”
JESSE “(Laughing) No, I’m self taught and my learning curve was more of a straight line. I play for my kids every night, whenever I’m able to. I’ll sit in the hallway between their bedrooms with their doors open and play and sing for about 15 minutes.”
If you weren’t already in love with Jesse, that story should do it. A successful actor who’s also a devoted family man always earns my respect and admiration.
HNMAG “I think we’ve gotten through all the serious questions, so let’s ask you a few fun ones. Would you rather… spend the day in outer space for the day orbiting the earth or travel to the deepest part of the ocean in a submarine for the day?”
JESSE “(Laughing) Oh man, they’re both equally dark. I think I’m going to have to go with space.”
Jesse admitted his admiration for Tom Cruise and the diverse number of films he’s been in. He would love to follow in his footsteps and be able to offer directors and producers a well-rounded performer that can carry a story to blockbuster success! He gives so much thanks to the Batwoman series for helping him to become a better action performer.
HNMAG “One more fun one before I let you go. Would you rather eat the world’s hottest chili pepper… or go on a ride-along with a professional Nascar driver on a race track, going full out?”
JESSE “One hundred percent, the ride-along. My nickname in high school was Hardcore Hutch. I did a lot of rock climbing back then and was a white-water rafting guide for 5 years before I discovered acting. I always thought I’d end up growing a beard and living in the bush somewhere, to be honest.”
Jesse Hutch has all the makings of a superstar and if you’re on the lookout for your next action hero, Jesse has the talent, the charm, the good looks, the athletic physique and he is madly in love with his wife and kids. He is the entire package and you can catch him in Batwoman. His new character, Russell Tavaroff made his debut on Sunday, April 18 and he’s absolutely outstanding. He is a terrific addition to the team and this mega talented actor has no ceiling, in terms of how high his career can go. Thank you, Jesse Hutch!