January 6, 2025 • 49 mins
Morgan sits down with actor Jesse Hutch as his new movie Homestead hits theaters. But his acting skills are just one of the interesting things about him, he's also had multiple near death experiences one of which includes drowning while White Water rafting. Jesse shared how this particular moment and a voice on the radio convinced him to take a leap into acting. Plus, he opens up about bringing his family on the road and his faith.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Personally with long fueldsmen.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Happy New Year friends.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I hope you had a fun or relaxing time celebrating
whatever your vibe was this year. We are back to
regularly scheduled programming because it is the first official Monday
of twenty twenty five. The last few episodes were holiday related.
I did an episode with my best friend Julia while
we were in Europe, and that was some crazy travel
stories if you want to get into that one. And
(00:41):
there was an episode on holiday struggles. You all had
sent in a bunch of things that you were personally
dealing with over the holidays, and I wanted to share
them in hopes that other people out there could relate
to you and we could all feel a little less
alone during a really hard time. But, like I said,
we're back to some regular, normal content here as twenty
twenty five gets starts arted. I am bringing on actor
(01:02):
Jesse Hutch. You may recognize him from a multitude of
things that he's been in, but right now he's in
a movie that's out in theaters called Homestead, and I'm
really glad we got to sit down and talk not
only about acting, but some really crazy life experiences he's had,
so without any more chatting and talking, let's get into
this interview. I'm really excited to be joined by Jesse
(01:29):
Hutch today.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Jesse, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I'm doing great. People been asking me have you slept,
and I'm like, don't ask me that. Then I'll think
about it, and then I'll have an opinion, and then
that'll probably cause me to go downhill. So we just
don't talk about Bruno's.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
That's a fair point, especially when you're in like the
heat of everything happening. Most people know you for being
an actor. That's your You've When I went to your
IMDb page, you had over ninety five listings.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Is that crazy to you?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah? I just passed like one hundred and something. Oh
you did even I was like, okay, yeah, it's not
like you get a badge or anything for that, but
you know, personally, I was like, wow, Okay, I guess
I've been doing this a little while.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Do you Is it easy to keep track of everything
you've done or do you even lose track of somewhere
You're like, I.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Don't remember doing no Alla. Fans come up to me
and be like, oh my goodness, I loved you and this.
I'm like, yes, I wasn't that. They're like and your
character name was such and such. I'm like no, They're
like yeah, and I was like, I don't think sh IMDb. Yeah,
you're right, yep, yep. You know more about me than
I know about myself. That's fair.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Well, that's probably hard to keep a lot of those tracks.
I mean, over one hundred.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Is like, in your entire career spanning, you've played a
variety of different roles, like just like Christmas movies to
superhero TV shows to now this new one you're in.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And gosh, you love Christmas. You're in a lot of
Christmas stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So I had to look that up. So I just
did an interview last week and they were like how
many Christmas movies you've you been in?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And I'm like, I don't know, like four, and they
were like, nope, guess again. And I was like, you know,
this is a trick question. So I was like, oh
my god, and they made me look it up. They
wouldn't even tell me. So I had to look it
up and I counted and it was eleven.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
You've been in a lot. Do you really love Christmas?
Where did that come from?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
People have been like you're mister Christmas, and I'm like, no,
I didn't, Okay, I mean, I'm not opposed to it.
I love Christmas, I do. And so somehow that's become
kind of a genre that I've managed to sort of
fall into, slip into, and to be honest, I love it.
I love it because I don't just stay there. Yeah,
(03:40):
and you mentioned I move around a lot, and as
a performer, that's what I need. Like I knew early
on as a kid that I needed a job that
didn't entail going to the same place doing the exact
same thing every day. I'm just just not cut out
for that. I don't do well. I don't have enough
patience for that. And so I need to be in
in an ever changing environment where I meet new people
(04:02):
and we're telling new stories and we're filming in different locations,
and that I love. And so I very much am
appreciative and thankful that I've been able to, as you said,
be in the CW world and kind of be in
that superhero world. I've played bad guys, I've played the
romantic comedy. I've played military and police officer. I've been
the jerk, you know, and the guy that nobody likes,
(04:25):
and I like that because that's real life, that's the
human heart. We all have kind of aspects of us
that are very different, and so if I get an
opportunity to share a character that maybe you resonate with,
or maybe you hate, or maybe you love, then I
really want to do that the best I can do.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
You ever feel like doing so many different variations of
characters that they.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Sometimes might bleed into each other.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
We're in one moment you were really happy in this
great guy, and then another where you're like, oh, I'm
supposed to be mean here Has that ever happened while
you're shooting the scene and you're like, this is the
wrong character.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I mean not really, because you have to. You have
to stay in that character, just be like super unprofessional.
If I kinda all of a sudden, they're like, what's
he doing?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Like who's that?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
That's did you just say that? What's happening? So no,
you kind of have to stay in the world. Although
it was interesting recently because I went straight from the
set at Homestead straight the TV series. So we were
just finished filming the second episode of the series and
we went and then I literally flew straight to Northern
Canada and sort of played the antagonist in a series
(05:35):
called Win Hope Calls, And so that was different because
I went from playing this like really strict military guy,
you know, to super calm and cool headed to now
I'm playing this other guy who's a little more on
your face, kind of loves to push your buttons, rub
it in, you know, find whatever he can on you,
and show the dirt to everybody. So that was kind
(05:59):
of a little Yes, it bled over where I was like, wait,
where am I What? I was just in Utah, Now
I'm in the middle of nowhere in Canada. What am
I doing? What hotel am I in?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Now, oh that happens. I wake up in hotels and
I think I'm in a different hotel. Oh wow, So
I like it totally happens where I wake up when
I go to use the restroom and I'm like, there's
a wall there. Wait, okay, the restroom's over here. It's
super fun.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So do you just try and look out the wind
And I'd be like, which city is this?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
How You're like, hold?
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Sometimes it happens. Yeah, it's just like ah, whatever, you
tell me where to go and when to be there.
And what to say, and I'll show up and do
my best.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, you also have a really awesome family. Do you
feel like when you walk off the set, you're like, Okay,
I have to close this door and this is back
to my real life or do you feel like the
character maybe buns into the real life. Maybe not on
the set, but maybe in real life.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
A little bit. I'm very much a box thinker, so
I'm like in this box doing this thing, and then
you know, my wife asked me to do that stuff,
and I'm like, okay, hold on, to come out of
the box. What are you asking? Okay, and then I
go into that box. So it's the same when I act,
I suppose it, it feels very sort of different. And
yet I bring my family with me as much as
(07:15):
I can, So we homeschool our kids, we travel together
as much as possible. My wife and I really saw
the fruit of having our kids as close as we
can for as long as we can, and so we've
done what we can to change our schedule to really
take responsibility for that, because you know, at times it
was freaky. It's like, oh my goodness, we're gonna teach
(07:36):
all three of them. They're all in different grades. This
is crazy. My wife does the majority of that and
she's my superhero. She's amazing with the kids in the house,
and so when they travel with me, it's it's pretty cool.
Like so there is that bleedover and the blend, but
now it's like, hey, I want you to know Dad
and our family as a cohesive unit and not just
(07:59):
like dead works like out in the universe somewhere and
then he comes home and we only know him as this.
It's like they get to see me on set and
how I am there, and I think it's a it's
just better for our family all around.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yeah, it sounds like you guys are all like just
really close and tight knit, which is really awesome. I
mean close and tight knit enough that I believe one
of your daughters was acting with you on Little Women's Christmas.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yes, what was that like?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Oh, that was phenomenal. I felt very proud. I was happy.
I almost cried on set. It was like really touching
and she did a fantastic job. I'm so proud of her.
It's like, it's crazy. She's really good, like just naturally,
she kind of caught on really fast. She's technically driven,
she understood the direction that was given to her. She
(08:48):
was like number six on the call sheet. I was
like number twelve or something, and that was part of
the plan. But I was like so proud of her.
I'm like, this is amazing, Like you go girl. And yes,
I was one of the party on A Little Women
Christmas and we sold it to Great American Family and
it's already aired, so if you haven't seen it, feel
(09:08):
free to check it out. But you know, it's a
fun Christmas film. It's also one of the first ensemble
casts that GIF has had, so mostly like all the
lead girls and a couple of the guys in and
of their own rights should be just leading their own movies,
but they're very generous to kind of get on board
and be a part of this project.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Oh that's that's really fun.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Did you at any point where you're like, oh, I
don't know that I want my kids enacting a little
hesitant to allow them to like come into that world.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Not really, I've never forced them. I've always brought them.
And I asked her if she wanted to audition, and
she was like yeah, and she just took it from there.
So it's been kind of a natural progression. I think
I still would never force them, like, I still don't
expect her to. She was like, Hey, that's it, I'm done.
That's cool. Yeah, I'm all right with that. She's got
(10:00):
a lot of talents in other areas. And both of
my boys are kind of interested maybe in stunts. Who knows.
I mean they're always doing crazy stuff and trying to
fight and climbing on top of the church.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And is that because they're seeing dad do this, because
I know you do a lot of your own stuns, right, yes.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Okay, yeah, I don't know if they've it's like definitely
just in the DNA, I think, like I didn't expect that.
There's things you do growing up that you're like, oh,
it's fine, it's that's me. I'm making a choice for myself.
And now that I have kids, and I'm like, what,
they just got that out of my wife and out
of me, Like we didn't even teach them that.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
What just the genetics in there coming out.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I know, so part of it's a little freaky. You're like, okay,
I guess they're picked that up. Here we go, yeah,
Like we literally came out of church and I'm talking
to another family and all of a sudden, I'm like, dad,
my dad, and I'm like looking around, I can't see them,
and I'm like I hear them, Like what the and
he's literally up on the top of the factory, yeah,
you know. And I'm like, uh, hey, bud, what's going on?
(11:00):
And there's this dad underneath with his daughter and he's like, yeah,
come here. I told him not to be up there.
And I walk over and this dad's like kind of
it's freaking out a little bit, and he's like, yeah,
you should get him down from there's like super dangerous.
And I was like, okay, thank you, sorry, I appreciate
your concern, you know. And I looked up and I
was like, did you warm up? And his dad looks
at me like and I was like, well, you might
(11:21):
want to stretch me. I mean, that's a good twelve
to fourteen feet I mean, and you're wearing your new
shoes or how are you good with the shoes? And
he's like, oh, you're right, dad, these are my new shoes.
I don't know if I want to jump off, And
like I was like, yeah, well, how about you come
down and we'll go jump off of something over there
that's a little lower will warm up to this. And
in that moment I realized that there's a difference and
no help some people pair it. Yeah, and I didn't
(11:43):
regret it. I honestly didn't. I was kind of proud
of him for doing that. At the same time, I
was like, Okay, let's not like have the security team
out here. But I can't fault them either because I
did probably crazier things than that when I was growing up.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well, I don't think anything anybody can fought you for
the dentle side of parenting. I think you will definitely
have kids that are fearless, though, and I think that's
something really cool. Yeah, you do have a really interesting
part of your story though before this acting, and we'll
get into some more acting stuff. But you've had some
near death experiences. Can you talk about those a little
(12:24):
bit because those are wild?
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, I mean they weren't planned first. Yeah. Yeah, I
mean some of the injuries that I've had probably are ye.
I put myself there, you know, I rode the bike
on top of the train bridge. It was me trying
to pull something off. It was me free climbing that
cliff or I used to love climbing Church peoples. It's
kind of like a thing.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
You've always really had, this like kind of adrenaline side. Yeah,
it sounds absolutely beyond the stunt.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah. Yeah. So I've never drank alcohol, never done drugs.
Swearing is not my thing. But for some reason when
I was younger, it just started out that I was like, Oh,
that sounds fun. I'll climb that thing. I can jump
off there, I can. I'll try white water rafting or
white water kayaking, and so excuse me, yes, I was
(13:13):
a whitewater raft guide. I was a couple of years in.
I was in my first year of college, and it
just happened to be in the right place at the
right time and ended up drowning so full on right
to the end, blacked out, and they found me a
couple of miles down the river. They estimated I was
underwater from eleven to twenty two minutes. Wow, and so rightfully,
(13:35):
so I should be either dead, and or if alive,
I should be I have complete brain damage or a
loss of function, you know, physicality, memory, you name it.
And so the fact that I recovered from that is
an absolute miracle. And I couldn't call it anything else.
I can't be like, oh, the water was really cold
(13:55):
and it froze me, Like it was nothing like that,
Because how else do you explain that, you know what
I mean?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Do you recall the rescue at all?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Like when people came to.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Mind you, Yeah, I had moments, moments of it, but
really small little memories that I have that I'm like
part of me is even like was that even an
accurate memory? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Are you like making it up because it's what you
feel like happened?
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I know, I just I remember being very cognitive obviously
going into it. Right by the time I went underwater,
I was guiding. It was a twelve foot Moravio raft.
We hit the first wave. I had twelve people in
my boat. We had another guy in the front. We
hit it and went straight up and we're just about
to crest over as you should, and then everybody was
having a great time and just we didn't have the power,
(14:41):
and so we started to come back down and we
started surfing, and so I'm keeping the paddle there and
I'm keeping it straight and one of the guys that
are to of the guys that fell off from the
front as they fell, one of the guys managed to
grab me. Not his fault. I mean, I'd be grabbing
on his stuff too if I was falling. It's just like,
oh yeah, you know, he grabbed my life jacket kind
of me around the back, and then I ended up
(15:03):
sort of almost like water boarded. It was like I
kept going into the water, out of the water, in
the water, out of the water, and eventually I just
was like, man, I'm getting whooped here, Like I can't
shake this guy, so I'm gonna have to just bail.
So I bailed, and I just happened to be right
in that sweet spot where the veterans that I worked
with called the green room. So there's a current on
(15:24):
the top of the river, and then there's another current
that's maybe twelve to fifteen feet or so below the surface,
and this rapid was called the colosseum, so it kind
of fitting right that you think of these battles. And
I ended up going under right there and went down
really fast. Both my ear drums kind of could feel
(15:45):
the pressure. I knew there was a shift. I was like,
oh that was different, okay. Immediately tried to swim, couldn't
do it, and just felt like this the water pressure
was like pushing everything together, and I was like, man,
it's really hard to swim, and I I had to
eventually abandon my paddle, which you never do as a
as a guy that you get, you know, reamed out
(16:05):
and everybody makes fun of you. But I was I
knew this was a different situation and I wasn't able
to get out of this yet, and so I let
go of the paddle so I could really swim as
hard as I could, still couldn't break the current. So
my training told me, all right, chill out, you got
to go with the flow. I'm not going to beat
the river. And so I just hung out and hung
(16:26):
onto it, you know what I mean. And as I'm
floating along, it's kind of you you go through the
the process of like, so I'm underwater, you know, I
like to be done with this soon so I can
get some oxygen. And I just I tried again. I
tried to swim, you know, I used more energy, burn
more of my strength, and then just couldn't get out
(16:48):
And was like, okay, I have to just literally go
completely numb to this. I just let everything go. Just
I'm completely limp and trying to save my energy, right,
so because I mean, oxygen still in my blood, so
I'm like, okay, the less I can use my muscles.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I can't believe how much you're aware as all of
this is happening.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Yeah, I mean, it was three years into being a guide.
I'd done it for quite a while. I was also
in college training for this very thing, you know, being
an outdoor guide. Swift water rescue technician training I had.
I was I head searched and rescue training. I had
wilderness first aid training, which is pretty intense.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
So you had all the tools for a potential survival
out of this.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Yeah, and I've always been I knew going through that
course that I was a person that I stay pretty
calm when pressure hits. I actually operate better the more
stress there is in my life. Sometimes there's certain family
things where I'm still like navigating. I'm like, oh my goodness,
I just fell apart. I couldn't handle that, Like why not?
It should be easier than that. But for whatever reason,
(17:51):
when I'm on the river or I you know, I'm
on set for twelve fourteen hours a day and this
pressure hits, I just really feel comfortable, and so part
of me felt okay. I got this, you know what
I mean. And I don't think I was prideful, like
I didn't have an attitude towards the river which you
could get as a guide. I found some people you
(18:12):
get like, oh my god, I'm the man, I'm the woman,
you know, I got this and now here. And I
found myself in this situation where I'm like, wow, okay,
I'm out of options. And so I held my breath
as long as I could. Eventually my brain's telling me
that you know, hey, you're gonna be breathing soon. And
(18:33):
I know that my body and I'd never experienced that before,
so I was like, I don't know what that's like,
but I know it's coming because your body is like
I could feel it right, You're starting to go like
you You're all your muscles are tensing. You're like and
I could feel my body wanting to breathe, and I'm like,
you can't breathe, dude, like you're underwater. And so there
was this mish mash of like nature and how I'm
built and then my logic, which is like not the
(18:56):
right time and not the right place, and that was
out of clash, and eventually you just start breathing. You
can't you can't control it anymore. She was just like,
and that first breath did me in. There was no
there was no more room after that. It was whatever
I had left was now filled with water. There's a
difference between you know, taking this and drinking it and
or shoving your face into it and going and breathing
(19:18):
it in. And so that was a new sensation for me.
It felt like kind of liquid concrete just filled my
entire body. It quickly became really heavy, and yet I'm
still floating in water, and I I feel my body
getting whipped around and you know, the rapids moving me.
And I'm like, but yet I'm in this undercurrent and
(19:39):
I just kept breathing and my body kept trying to breathe.
I was like, and but I had nothing left and
I wasn't even controlling it, Like I was completely out
of control. So that's where the moment where my logic
left and I kind of had a bit of a
panic where it was like, I'm like, I don't know
what to do anymore, and uh, it was scary, and
I felt very disconnected and I felt fear for sure.
(20:01):
And then quickly after that, I would say the spiritual
kick then, and I was like, okay, I'm in your hands. Lord,
I'm done. I can't do anything with this anymore. And
that's where I had just like the most immense amount
of peace. But it was quickly followed by like the
most immense fear that I've ever felt. And I didn't
(20:22):
know that those things could kind of live that close together,
and yet I don't think they bled over into each
other world. It was just like boom, all of a sudden,
I was like one hundred percent piece. I knew I
had done everything I could do. I knew I was done.
I completely gave it over to the Lord and said
all right. I remember in my mind going, okay, I'm yours.
(20:44):
Whatever you want to do from this point on is
completely up to you. And I could hear the water right,
it was like, oh, it's kind of peaceful. And then
I could hear my heart. It was like and my
heart kept slowing down and slowing down, and then it
left and then uh, I still remember it.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
And then the fact that you have just such vivid
experience of this whole thing and yeah, you're able to
recall it, does that make it harder for you?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Because that memory is so vivid versus you.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Just not having any recollection and it happened to you, or
is it more important for you that you got to
understand what happened.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
It was a blessing that I'm able to understand what happened,
because that was My life changed dramatically after that. Eventually
they found me. You know, I don't know who they were,
but someone else on another rafting trip ahead of us,
I believe. And then I just remember these vague images
(21:45):
of like kind of life jackets. I remember the colors
of people's life jackets, but I don't remember people specifically,
and someone hitting my chest and then dragging my body,
and then remember a ceiling, and then I remember just
waking up in a pressure chamber in the hospital. It's
like one of those things that goes quo. And that
was free because I was like, where am I like?
(22:07):
And they had to, I guess, bring my equilibrium back,
so find the pressure where my equilibrium kind of regrouped.
And then that's my explanation of it. Yeah, And then
they slowly brought me back because I went down too
fast and I came up too fast, I think, so
my ears never actually balanced out properly. There was no
water left in my lungs. Somehow they were like they
(22:30):
literally cleared me to leave pretty quick, and I went home.
I think I maybe didn't go back to work for
like two weeks. I just kind of was a little numb,
I think in life and was like what am I doing? Like?
Do I really love this? Is this really what I
was made for with? What's my purpose? Who you know?
Do I want to finish what I've been doing? I
(22:53):
don't know. And through that I was really afraid of water.
I had this fear and I was like, Okay, I
recognize that fear, and I don't want to be fearful
because the scripture says you've not been given a spirit
of fear, put of power, of love and a sound mind.
Then I was like, how do I get that back?
(23:14):
Did I even ever have it? And so I actually
called up the head of our river safety. His name
was Riager, just like the manliest man you can imagine,
like grew up on the River's like this deep voice,
like no mess around, old school John Wayne kind of guy.
And I called him up and I said, man, I'm
afraid of the water. I said, would you come out
(23:35):
with me. I think I need to go back to
that rapid and I need to swim it. And he's
like yeah. I was like, okay, well, what day and
time works for you, Because he's the one with the
crazy schedule, right, this is around the clock, like tourism business.
It's functioning. And he goes, I think maybe it was
a Sunday or something, and he's like, all right, well
we got one trip in the morning, and he goes,
we'll go in the afternoon. Like okay. So I go
(23:58):
out and I meet him park, you know, at the
end of the dirt road out on the main road
again in his truck. He's got the safety zodiac on
the back. We don't even speak. We just drive all
the way down this road. We get there, we unload
this zodiac, we put it in. He turns to me
and he goes, okay, when you get up there, give
me the signal. I said, okay. I walk all the
(24:19):
way up. The sun goes away, the clouds cover it,
it starts raining and it gets dark as heck, and
I'm like what is this? And I'm like freaked. So
I'm standing on this rock ledge overlooking the Colosseum River
or the colosseum rapid on the Ottawa River. You know,
the far shore is technically Quebec, Canada, and the shore
(24:42):
I'm on his Ontario. So I'm right in the middle
of this border. There's three standing waves that are you know,
six to fifteen feet apiece, and you know, on the
size of this whole wall. And I'm like, okay, I'm
back here again. And I was like, I gotta do this.
And I was like trying to prep myself up and
I'm talking myself into it is just not working. I'm like,
(25:03):
and it's raining and it's dark, and I'm like, why
have you for a second. You know, It's like this
total dramatic personal moment that nobody even sees except for
maybe reader, but probably not because he's way down there.
So anyway, I signaled to him and he holds up
a paddle to signal back, and I'm like okay. And
the only thing I could do is I had to
look at the far shore and I had to walk
(25:26):
off the edge, like literally push myself off this cliff.
I couldn't even really jump. I was like, okay, I can't, okay,
so I just I just walked. It was probably sloppy.
I landed MESSI I hit the water. I come up
and I'm like, all right, that's it. We're in it.
There's no way out now. A guy ain't swimming out
of this.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
The only way to go through.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
The only way through is through. So I was like, okay,
praise the Lord made that step. And when you're in
white water, you want to either swim aggressively or you
got to get on your back and you have to
try to almost slow down a little bit. You don't
necessarily want to go to the exact speed of the current.
So I just leaned into it and swam aggressively at first,
you know, legs behind me, and swam as hard as
(26:05):
I could, man, and I hit those waves. And as
soon as I came up after the first wag and
popped up, I was like just covered in this light.
I was freaking out. Was like, yeah, we're good. Like
there's no way I'm going to the green room this time.
And I just swam that out and I was just
getting beat up, and I was loving it. And I
get to the bottom and he picks me up in
(26:26):
the zodiac. We put the zodiac back on the trailer.
We drove all the way out, and nobody said a
word to each other. He got out of the truck
and he walked around to the front and he just
shook my hand and he got back into the truck
and he drove away, and then I just wept, like
just lost it, and I was like so thankful. I
(26:46):
still learned from that this day to this day that
fear only has the hold on you that you let it.
You know, it's not something that you can't shake. It's
just something that comes to you and you have to
just get through it somehow, so you have to find
out what that strength is. For me, it was honestly
(27:07):
just a belief in Jesus Christ and my faith in God.
And it really grew at that time because before that
I was like, yeah, I was you know, I was
a believer and I prayed and I you know, I
had a certain love for faith. But after that, I
was like, Okay, something something biggers that play. Because there's
no way I just walk away from that and and.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Live you and go back through a crazy curring and
that you had just experienced.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, yeah, I don't I mean, did I need to
do that? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I felt like I had to well, it sounds like
it was helpful for conquering a fear of something that
you didn't originally have a fear for.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I mean, you much like you teach your kids. It
sounds like you were very fearless.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
You want to try things, You want to live your
life in the way that you want to live your life,
and I think that's really awesome, so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It's also hard to.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Live fearlessly, not just for things that are adrenaline racing
in your heart pounding. It's hard to be fearless in life.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, And when.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
You can be fearless in the face of things that
are very dangerous like that, I think it makes the
rest of it feel really small and easier to conquer.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, there's definitely a character in you that's built, I think,
and you don't always know that, right. I mean, how
do you get experience. You have to go through something
and then you get the experience. You never get it before.
You don't get it about reading about it or talking
to some friends and sort of you know, hashing it out.
It's like you have to do it. You have to
go through that hard thing. You have to go through
(28:42):
the peak, you have to go through the valley and
when you get to the other side, then you have
a change in yourself. And you know, my wife's lived
through a number of things as well. And so at
some point we're living in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and we're
two years into COVID, We're trying to raise three young kids,
and it's just a gnarly time right for all of us,
(29:03):
and we're like, man, this is whacked, Like, how do
we raise our kids here? How do we navigating live
through this? And I had to work fees to go
through and God kind of was already putting it on
our hearts as a couple to be like, hey, it's
time for a change. And we're like, well, what's that change.
I don't know what that's going to be. Necessarily, you know,
(29:24):
maybe we switch gears and I go somewhere else in
audition for a bit, try a different market. I don't know.
And so anyway, God's like, yep, pack up. We're like, okay,
we're packing. Where are we going? He's like yeah, We're
like cool, uh, you know, okay, we have enough clothes.
Where are we going? And He's like yep, And we're
like okay. So and then my lawyer calls and he goes, Hey,
(29:47):
I'm just calling to let you know that we're hearing
rumors down here in LA that you know, canad is
going to be closing the borders to their own people
and not let them out. And I'm like, what are
you talking about? That's is that even legal? He's like,
that doesn't matter. We're hearing what's happening. And we're like, okay,
how long, Like is there like a date on this?
And he goes, I don't know. We're hearing roughly twelve days, wow,
(30:07):
And we're like okay, so we left in six.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Well, as an actor, you need to be able to
move anywhere and like navigate.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
To all these different places.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So that would have completely shut down your career unless
it was in Canada, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Which was And we didn't know where we were going.
So we literally just prayed, drove stops and that's all
we did until we drove for two months, two weeks
from Vancouver, BC to Florida.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Okay, by Florida, any.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
We just kind of cut right across the whole country.
We knew LA wasn't really an option. I'd already lived
there in the two thousands when I was single and
I just didn't. I knew that wasn't where we were
going to raise a family and be. We had friends
in different places where we were like, okay, well, like
you know, naturally, let's go try to visit some friends
along the way. So we did that. My wife was
(30:58):
friends with another girl, but she'd never matter in person.
She was in Franklin, and we're like, hey, well we'll
swing through Franklin at some point. So we drove through Franklin, Tennessee,
and when we got there, it was like this immense
piece just hit my wife and I. We were like,
what the what feels like we lived here a whole lives.
These people are amazing. The town is like the sun
like hits everything perfectly. What is happening? Are we just dreaming?
(31:19):
Maybe we should go to Florida. So we went ahead
to Florida and while we're there, we're talking about Franklin,
and then we're like, let's go back to Franklin. So
we go back to Franklin and then we're there another
week and we're like, hey, maybe we should go back
to Texas. So we go back to Texas for Christmas,
and while we're there, we're like, nope, can't shake Franklin man.
All right, it's fine a place, and ultimately we found
a fully furnished place to rent and we left Canada
(31:41):
with five pieces of luggage, one per family and four
bins and our stuff is still in a storage locker
on the West coast. It's been three years and seven
months almost.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Do you guys have any plans to go get there?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Or is it just I've tried. If anybody out there
has a moving company that would love to help, let
me know, because I actually called three professional companies and
not a single one of them followed through. At some
point with the job, it was like for some reason,
the door just kept slamming, and I was like, fine,
I'll leave my tools there. Fine, I mean I'd really
like them. I'd love to have all my hammers and
(32:15):
screws and nails and you know, but one day you
get one day I planned to go there, you.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Found the city. It didn't come with all of your things.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Uh huh. I have gone back since and like narrowed
everything down. So I just went in by myself until.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
At least you visited it.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You know, it's still there, it's still there. Found some
dead mice, yeah, I did had I was like, oh no, sorry, sweetheart,
some of your clothes are gone. Why don't worry about it.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
It's better off, doesn't.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
It's better off you don't see the pictures?
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Yes, now, okay, so getting into acting. So this happens
in your life.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
And then you go into acting. What was that like?
Speaker 1 (32:55):
I never wanted to be an actor at all. I
love movies growing up. I did that all a mint.
I collected the posters. I enjoyed going to movie theaters.
I enjoyed watching movies at home, you know, get the VHS.
That was the time I grew up, and I just
kind of get whisked away in these stories and I
always loved it. So that was definitely in me. But
(33:15):
never was I like I'm going to be an actor.
I'm gonna make films, I'm gonna direct and produce. No,
not even on my radar. After the drowning occurred, I
really started questioning, like, okay, what am I doing? And
I was. I had gone back to work after because
I was like, hey, I gotta, you know, keep making
money somehow, because I was trying to put myself through
second year of college and this ad came on the
(33:38):
radio for something called Model Search America. If anybody ever remembers.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
This image that sounds oddly familiar.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
It was a bit of a money grab, like hey,
pay money and you can come to the big event
and maybe get discovered, you know what I mean. And
it wasn't even that. I was literally just cutting carrots
or something ridiculous in the kitchen and I heard this
ad come on. I was like, oh, no, you can
model and meet you know wm E maybe was on there, Wilhelmina.
(34:04):
Is that a modeling agency. I don't know all these
modeling agencies. And at the very end it was like
you could meet the casting director for twenty century Fox
and I was like, oh, they got cool movies. I'm
going I'm.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Going thinking about the movies here.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Yeah, And I was like I can meet that. Guy's
like that's cool. Maybe I'll ask some questions or something.
So I like turned to my buddy and I'm like
I'm going to the thing and he's like what thing.
It was like the thing on the radio. And he's like,
I don't know what you're talking about. And I'm like,
I'll see you later and he's like you're leaving now,
You're gonna get fired, like we had the craziest boss.
He was from Paris, amazing chef. But he's like, for
sure gonna he's gonna like hurt me. I'm like, I'm out.
(34:39):
I get my JELOPI Volkswagon car that I drove, you know,
and second year of college, and I'm like, dude, and
I cruised to the nearest big city that this thing
was happening. That night. I heard it on the radio.
So I was like, hey, I'm going to that hotel.
I show up at this hotel. I'm wearing jeans and
a T shirt probably pretty close to what I'm wearing now,
and all these people are lined up. There's thousands of them,
(35:00):
and I'm like, oh my goodness, what the what is
happening right now? Is everybody's like dulled to the max.
I was like, I don't fit in here, but I'm
like whatever I get in line, everybody's you know, looking
at me, like you know, this guy, there's like no fashion,
which I didn't and I still don't really. Uh, you
have a scarf on and this is this is pretty new.
(35:21):
I just bought this and that I'm evolving. It only
took me, you know, a couple of decades. It's fine,
I'll catch up. If anybody out there has any ideas,
please send them my way. John Barbados. Actually it's where
I got this, and it's like one of the best
fitting coats I've ever had. I was like, this is nice,
it's okay, So I'm in. Take a little longer, I'm in.
(35:42):
I I just takes me a while to get there.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
But you obviously didn't need it. So did you get
discovered at this?
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I'm kind of it was like it was the kickstart
to something that eventually led me down this path. So yeah,
ultimately I got, you know, through that sort of round
of like hey, basically they said, well, you have teeth
and you can smile, and so yeah, maybe you can
come to the big event. And I was like okay.
So I go to the big event and I had
some pictures and I do all these runway walks, which
(36:11):
I was like, I'm not a model. I don't know
why I'm doing this.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
You're like, am I just like walk? You're just like
walking like normal.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Probably I just walked out and like stood there and
I'm like, okay, I stay here for a couple of seconds,
like everybody else is doing and I walked at the
end and I and I smile, and I turn around
and I leave. And that's what I did basically for
two days. And all these judges are out there and
their papers and everybody's panicking. I was like, well, I'm
along for the ride. And so this was in Rochester,
New York at the time, and it's at like no
(36:38):
word of a lie at the very end, and I
met a bunch of people right and a couple of
them got some like callbacks. It was called. Their number
was called, and they're excited and then they were like,
all right, ladies and gentlemen, that's it for this year,
thank you for coming out. It's like twenty five hundred
people maybe at this thing, Wow, packed out and they go, oh,
hold on, we got one more number. And it's like
crammed in here, like hang on, and they open it
(36:59):
and it's like read you know, one, seven, nine, five,
two four six, this crazy ridiculous long number. And I'm like, what,
I think that's my number, and they're like for twentieth
century Fox. And I was like what. So I literally
went and I met the casting director at the time
of twentieth Century Fox. His name was Christian Kaplan, and
(37:20):
I go in and I do this cold read for him,
and he's like, who are you? Like, where are you from?
Where's your accent from? Do you have any Your pictures
are horrible, You're clearly green. You don't know what you're doing. Like,
but there's something. That's what he said. There's something, And
I'm not going to say that it'll go anywhere, but
if you pursue this, maybe something would happen. And that
(37:43):
was enough for me to just get started, and ultimately
I called his office at some point. A couple months later.
I started taking some improv classes that I found nearby
was all I could find, and uh. He was on
the phone with a casting director in Vancouver, BC, and
he said, how far are you from Vancouver? I was
like six and a half hour flight. He's like, wow, okay,
(38:03):
well she's willing to see if you want to go there,
I gotta go bye. I was like, huh okay. So
I was like all right. My best friends at the
time helped me gather some money together because we're all
trying to get through college. Yeah, I'm living off mister noodles.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
And this is not at all part of any plan that.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
You had no plan whatsoever. I'm like, I don't know
what I'm doing. A fly to Vancouver, and ultimately I
did a cold read audition for Caren Mayors and Heike Brandstatter,
who you know. They are the same people that cast
the X Men movies and the Planet of the Apes films,
and so that was kind of a second little piece
(38:42):
of breadcrumb where I went in and I did this
cold read in front of all these people, and I
almost like poop my pants. It was crazy. There was
all these people in the lights and the mark and
I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. And I
read these lines with this person that I've never met,
and then they're like thank you, and I left, and
I was like, what just happened in there? That was
like ridiculous. I flew all the way over here for
thirty five forty seconds maybe yeah, okay, great, and they're
(39:05):
like thank you, we'll see you. And I leave. Well,
it turns out she calls me back. I go in
the next day, nobody's there. I sit down. She goes,
where are you from? I was like, you know, from Meganville, Ontario?
What where's that Ontario? Okay? Your pictures are horrible, your
accent's bad, you have no experience, you're clearly new to this.
(39:26):
But there's something. And I said, Okay, what do I
do with that something? And she said, well, you need
to move here or go somewhere where there's a market,
and you need to and you need to start training
and you know, but it's up to you. I can't
guarantee anything, but there's something. If you want to pursue it, maybe,
(39:47):
So again, that was another thing, and you know, here
we are, twenty four and a half years later, I'm
still falling the breadcrumbs, and I feel like just now
I'm about to start, Like I feel like it's go time.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
You know, they've always called, at least like for Nashville
in the music industry, it's this ten year town. It
takes artists at least ten years to finally kind of
hit their moment.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
And I would imagine.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Something similar in the acting entertainment world.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
But even more. I mean, you're competing on multiple.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
Levels, but I for you, what was the most at
this point, the most impactful acting role you feel like you've.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Had impact on me or others.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
On you, or others whatever you feel like really changed
at least maybe a perspective for you or an experience
for you. Maybe it was an acting and you're like, Okay,
this is a direction I need to take.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
I mean, I've developed a saying I think over time
where it's like I give up every day, but I'm
never going to quit because it very much feels like
you're in the twelfth round all the time, like you're
so so close to the end and to victory, but
you you just aren't quite there yet. And it's been
(41:07):
a very interesting ride. Every job has been a stepping
stone that I've definitely learned from as an actor, as
a human being, as a husband, as a father, you know,
as a son and a brother, and even as a stranger.
It teaches me how to be a member of my community,
(41:27):
because you can't just live your life, and at least
I don't think you should live your life. Try to
get to the end and you're the only ones standing there,
like I did it. You know. If that's the case,
then I don't believe you did it the right way.
And so there's been a number of jobs that have
definitely impacted me personally. Was in a series called Heartland.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Very long standing series.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
Yeah, yeah, and I played a paraplegic who ultimately was
a cowboy, went off to war, ended up paralyzed from
the waist down, came back and kind of had to
live through the anger and the loss of his legs
and his love for horseback riding. And so I actually
worked with like the pair of Massage gold medalist and
I rode horses sitting on top of basketballs. And I
(42:11):
actually got a wheelchair and went out to public and
just acted like I was in a wheelchair, like not
to offend anybody, but I wanted to actually get that perspective.
And you know, I'm not a method actor, but I
do appreciate learning, and so that was kind of the
furthest I would go, right, Like if you hired me
to like play this like drug dealer or something like,
(42:32):
I wouldn't be like going out and trying to do
hard drugs just to see what it's like. You know,
like I'm not that addicted, Like I don't need to
go that that hardcore. But that really taught me a
lot because I started to see the perspective of other
people on you the movie that I'm in the series
I'm in right now Homestead, This I think has been
(42:54):
something that I'm just like real time seeing people respond it,
and that's it's like affecting their lives and it has
affected mind. But now I'm getting to see people in
the movie theater, you know, Like I'm sitting in these
red carpet premieres with people and I'm like, I'm hearing
them laugh, I'm seeing them cry, I'm noticing. And then
(43:14):
they come up after and they just share their heart
with you, and You're like, wow, this is meaningful. There's
something in this story that really touches people. And then
as a performer, excuse me, you know, as an actor,
it is a role that people are like you fit there.
That was you know, that was really good to see.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Is that one of the coolest compliments you can get
as an actor, Like you fit there?
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Like that this makes sense, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (43:45):
Does that feel really cool for you to hear that
from just strangers?
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Yeah, yeah, it does. We were in Salt Lake City
we did a premiere and there was I had three
like veterans come up to me at separate times and
tell me that they thought that I served as well
and like that I played the role where it reminded
them of people they serve with and guys that they
(44:10):
were with, you know, and some of them shared some
stories of friends they lost, you know, and and that's
a highly impactful I was like, that's the highest compliment
because as a performer, you really want to honor the
people that you represent to the best of your ability.
If you're playing a cook, then try to be the
best cook you can be, you know, on screen. And
in this case, I'm playing a Green Beret. And so
(44:32):
they had the opportunity to train, to train with Jeff Kirkham,
who helped write the books Black Autumn, which Homestead is
based on, and to just go out and actually hear
stories from him and train with him and actually doing
live fire and you know, we're going from ar to
pistol and we're running these drills and you start to
get it into your body and you feel a little
(44:53):
bit of that world, you know, like just a fraction
of it, and you're like, wow, this is a wild ride.
But I love it.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
That's exciting.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
I'm excited for everyone to see Homestead. And that's the
newest project for you. What is a little taste before
we get out of here? Because you have so many
things to go do, and lots of more premieres to do.
If people want to check out Homestead, Like, what would
you tell them they're getting? What's the view of Homestead
that they're going to get by watching?
Speaker 1 (45:25):
I mean, ultimately Homestead. You know, a series of events
kick off on the West coast. It's a nuclear bomb
and the power grid goes out, goes down, the internet's out,
the world starts to fall apart a little bit. And
so this follows a group of people from all walks
of life that ultimately end up on a three hundred
acre homestead. And I play a character, even Lee, who's
(45:48):
part of the security detail that's hired to protect the homestead.
And so you have all those avenues. You have those
who are going to protect with force. You have those
that want to bring grace, You have those that want
to help the people outside of the gate. You have
that are like and you can't trust the people outside
of the gate. Then you have people that maybe you
can't trust, some that you maybe you misread them, you know.
(46:09):
And so I think ultimately Homestead is for everyone. There
is a character in there that I guarantee you'll connect with,
and when you connect with them, we're not going to
take you on a journey of fear. We do present
potential fears, but what we take you on is a
journey of hope and a journey of kind of self discovery.
And hopefully you dream right, hopefully you go, you know what,
(46:33):
I can do that thing, and i can take charge
of that in my life, and I'm going to do it.
That's what I hope people get out of it. And
so the movies. The movie's good. I'm proud of it.
Like I love everybody's performances, I love how it looks.
The music, Oh my goodness, it's like it's really cool
to be a part of it. When you're done watching
the film. It opens December twentieth in theaters. There'll be
(46:54):
a QR code at the end of the movie. You
can scan it, and if you pay it for basically
like buy some tickets for other people to go watch it,
you get to go home that night and actually start
watching a TV series on Angel. So and the TV
series is like it like amps it up.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Okay, I mean this is like, this is a movie
that turns into a TV series, Yes, which is unusual.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
I haven't heard of that before.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
And we also have something called homestead Family Survival, which
is us going out and interviewing actual homesteaders. So how
do you make bread, how do you get chickens? How
do you maybe you know, if you want to go
down that road, how do you do it? And then
we also have homestead gear dot Com, which you can
actually go start buying everything you need. So we have
water irrigation systems, we have fire starting kits, we have
(47:40):
food supplies. There's watches, there's knives. Like, it's pretty wild.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
I'm very integrated into real life.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Yeah, and really we're not just like trying to make
a story that you watch and then you walk away
from and you're like that was cool. Forget about it.
You know. It's actually like something that you're like, wow,
I can keep learning a little more if I want. Yeah,
I'd love to make bread at home. Like you don't
have to go home and all of a sudden, just
like you know, put a bunker in your basement, Like
(48:07):
that's that's not what we're presenting to you. If you
want to do that, go for it.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Just understand a little bit more about survival.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
Yeah, in a different way. That's really cool. Well, Jesse,
thank you so much for sharing pieces of your story
and also a really really hard one and just all
of it.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
But also congratulations on your.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
Success, and I hope for continued success for you, because
it obviously to me you're already there, you're already on
your way, but I know for you that's a different experience.
But congratulations, and thank you for.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
Being here, thank you for having me on listening. I
truly think that time is one of the greatest currencies,
So when someone gives their time, I just want to
respect that, honor it, because once it's spent, it's literally gone.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
So thank you, It's true. Thank you Jesse so many
words of wisdom.
Speaker 3 (48:55):
I'm going to like leave here with a lot of lessons.
Jesse's story is so inspiring in many ways, so be
sure to check out his new movie in theaters, Homestead,
and follow him on social media at Jesse Underscore Hutch.
It's spelled at j e ss E Underscore h U
(49:17):
T CCH. I always love seeing when you guys enjoy
an episode, so tag me on socials or dm me.
You can do it at web Girl Morgan or at
take this personally. Also, I'm trying to figure out some
fun new guests to bring on here. Experts and people
who have incredible stories, So reach out to me. Let
me know who you want to hear from and what
topics you want.
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Us to discuss.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
But that's all for now, so thanks for being here
and I hope your new year starts off exactly as
you want it to.
Personally with long fueldsmen.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Happy New Year friends.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I hope you had a fun or relaxing time celebrating
whatever your vibe was this year. We are back to
regularly scheduled programming because it is the first official Monday
of twenty twenty five. The last few episodes were holiday related.
I did an episode with my best friend Julia while
we were in Europe, and that was some crazy travel
stories if you want to get into that one. And
(00:41):
there was an episode on holiday struggles. You all had
sent in a bunch of things that you were personally
dealing with over the holidays, and I wanted to share
them in hopes that other people out there could relate
to you and we could all feel a little less
alone during a really hard time. But, like I said,
we're back to some regular, normal content here as twenty
twenty five gets starts arted. I am bringing on actor
(01:02):
Jesse Hutch. You may recognize him from a multitude of
things that he's been in, but right now he's in
a movie that's out in theaters called Homestead, and I'm
really glad we got to sit down and talk not
only about acting, but some really crazy life experiences he's had,
so without any more chatting and talking, let's get into
this interview. I'm really excited to be joined by Jesse
(01:29):
Hutch today.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Jesse, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I'm doing great. People been asking me have you slept,
and I'm like, don't ask me that. Then I'll think
about it, and then I'll have an opinion, and then
that'll probably cause me to go downhill. So we just
don't talk about Bruno's.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
That's a fair point, especially when you're in like the
heat of everything happening. Most people know you for being
an actor. That's your You've When I went to your
IMDb page, you had over ninety five listings.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Is that crazy to you?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah? I just passed like one hundred and something. Oh
you did even I was like, okay, yeah, it's not
like you get a badge or anything for that, but
you know, personally, I was like, wow, Okay, I guess
I've been doing this a little while.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Do you Is it easy to keep track of everything
you've done or do you even lose track of somewhere
You're like, I.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Don't remember doing no Alla. Fans come up to me
and be like, oh my goodness, I loved you and this.
I'm like, yes, I wasn't that. They're like and your
character name was such and such. I'm like no, They're
like yeah, and I was like, I don't think sh IMDb. Yeah,
you're right, yep, yep. You know more about me than
I know about myself. That's fair.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Well, that's probably hard to keep a lot of those tracks.
I mean, over one hundred.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Is like, in your entire career spanning, you've played a
variety of different roles, like just like Christmas movies to
superhero TV shows to now this new one you're in.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And gosh, you love Christmas. You're in a lot of
Christmas stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
So I had to look that up. So I just
did an interview last week and they were like how
many Christmas movies you've you been in?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
It?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
And I'm like, I don't know, like four, and they
were like, nope, guess again. And I was like, you know,
this is a trick question. So I was like, oh
my god, and they made me look it up. They
wouldn't even tell me. So I had to look it
up and I counted and it was eleven.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
You've been in a lot. Do you really love Christmas?
Where did that come from?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
People have been like you're mister Christmas, and I'm like, no,
I didn't, Okay, I mean, I'm not opposed to it.
I love Christmas, I do. And so somehow that's become
kind of a genre that I've managed to sort of
fall into, slip into, and to be honest, I love it.
I love it because I don't just stay there. Yeah,
(03:40):
and you mentioned I move around a lot, and as
a performer, that's what I need. Like I knew early
on as a kid that I needed a job that
didn't entail going to the same place doing the exact
same thing every day. I'm just just not cut out
for that. I don't do well. I don't have enough
patience for that. And so I need to be in
in an ever changing environment where I meet new people
(04:02):
and we're telling new stories and we're filming in different locations,
and that I love. And so I very much am
appreciative and thankful that I've been able to, as you said,
be in the CW world and kind of be in
that superhero world. I've played bad guys, I've played the
romantic comedy. I've played military and police officer. I've been
the jerk, you know, and the guy that nobody likes,
(04:25):
and I like that because that's real life, that's the
human heart. We all have kind of aspects of us
that are very different, and so if I get an
opportunity to share a character that maybe you resonate with,
or maybe you hate, or maybe you love, then I
really want to do that the best I can do.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
You ever feel like doing so many different variations of
characters that they.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Sometimes might bleed into each other.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
We're in one moment you were really happy in this
great guy, and then another where you're like, oh, I'm
supposed to be mean here Has that ever happened while
you're shooting the scene and you're like, this is the
wrong character.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I mean not really, because you have to. You have
to stay in that character, just be like super unprofessional.
If I kinda all of a sudden, they're like, what's
he doing?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Like who's that?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
That's did you just say that? What's happening? So no,
you kind of have to stay in the world. Although
it was interesting recently because I went straight from the
set at Homestead straight the TV series. So we were
just finished filming the second episode of the series and
we went and then I literally flew straight to Northern
Canada and sort of played the antagonist in a series
(05:35):
called Win Hope Calls, And so that was different because
I went from playing this like really strict military guy,
you know, to super calm and cool headed to now
I'm playing this other guy who's a little more on
your face, kind of loves to push your buttons, rub
it in, you know, find whatever he can on you,
and show the dirt to everybody. So that was kind
(05:59):
of a little Yes, it bled over where I was like, wait,
where am I What? I was just in Utah, Now
I'm in the middle of nowhere in Canada. What am
I doing? What hotel am I in?
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Now, oh that happens. I wake up in hotels and
I think I'm in a different hotel. Oh wow, So
I like it totally happens where I wake up when
I go to use the restroom and I'm like, there's
a wall there. Wait, okay, the restroom's over here. It's
super fun.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So do you just try and look out the wind
And I'd be like, which city is this?
Speaker 2 (06:28):
How You're like, hold?
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Sometimes it happens. Yeah, it's just like ah, whatever, you
tell me where to go and when to be there.
And what to say, and I'll show up and do
my best.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Yeah, you also have a really awesome family. Do you
feel like when you walk off the set, you're like, Okay,
I have to close this door and this is back
to my real life or do you feel like the
character maybe buns into the real life. Maybe not on
the set, but maybe in real life.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
A little bit. I'm very much a box thinker, so
I'm like in this box doing this thing, and then
you know, my wife asked me to do that stuff,
and I'm like, okay, hold on, to come out of
the box. What are you asking? Okay, and then I
go into that box. So it's the same when I act,
I suppose it, it feels very sort of different. And
yet I bring my family with me as much as
(07:15):
I can, So we homeschool our kids, we travel together
as much as possible. My wife and I really saw
the fruit of having our kids as close as we
can for as long as we can, and so we've
done what we can to change our schedule to really
take responsibility for that, because you know, at times it
was freaky. It's like, oh my goodness, we're gonna teach
(07:36):
all three of them. They're all in different grades. This
is crazy. My wife does the majority of that and
she's my superhero. She's amazing with the kids in the house,
and so when they travel with me, it's it's pretty cool.
Like so there is that bleedover and the blend, but
now it's like, hey, I want you to know Dad
and our family as a cohesive unit and not just
(07:59):
like dead works like out in the universe somewhere and
then he comes home and we only know him as this.
It's like they get to see me on set and
how I am there, and I think it's a it's
just better for our family all around.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Yeah, it sounds like you guys are all like just
really close and tight knit, which is really awesome. I
mean close and tight knit enough that I believe one
of your daughters was acting with you on Little Women's Christmas.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yes, what was that like?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Oh, that was phenomenal. I felt very proud. I was happy.
I almost cried on set. It was like really touching
and she did a fantastic job. I'm so proud of her.
It's like, it's crazy. She's really good, like just naturally,
she kind of caught on really fast. She's technically driven,
she understood the direction that was given to her. She
(08:48):
was like number six on the call sheet. I was
like number twelve or something, and that was part of
the plan. But I was like so proud of her.
I'm like, this is amazing, Like you go girl. And yes,
I was one of the party on A Little Women
Christmas and we sold it to Great American Family and
it's already aired, so if you haven't seen it, feel
(09:08):
free to check it out. But you know, it's a
fun Christmas film. It's also one of the first ensemble
casts that GIF has had, so mostly like all the
lead girls and a couple of the guys in and
of their own rights should be just leading their own movies,
but they're very generous to kind of get on board
and be a part of this project.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Oh that's that's really fun.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Did you at any point where you're like, oh, I
don't know that I want my kids enacting a little
hesitant to allow them to like come into that world.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Not really, I've never forced them. I've always brought them.
And I asked her if she wanted to audition, and
she was like yeah, and she just took it from there.
So it's been kind of a natural progression. I think
I still would never force them, like, I still don't
expect her to. She was like, Hey, that's it, I'm done.
That's cool. Yeah, I'm all right with that. She's got
(10:00):
a lot of talents in other areas. And both of
my boys are kind of interested maybe in stunts. Who knows.
I mean they're always doing crazy stuff and trying to
fight and climbing on top of the church.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
And is that because they're seeing dad do this, because
I know you do a lot of your own stuns, right, yes.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Okay, yeah, I don't know if they've it's like definitely
just in the DNA, I think, like I didn't expect that.
There's things you do growing up that you're like, oh,
it's fine, it's that's me. I'm making a choice for myself.
And now that I have kids, and I'm like, what,
they just got that out of my wife and out
of me, Like we didn't even teach them that.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
What just the genetics in there coming out.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
I know, so part of it's a little freaky. You're like, okay,
I guess they're picked that up. Here we go, yeah,
Like we literally came out of church and I'm talking
to another family and all of a sudden, I'm like, dad,
my dad, and I'm like looking around, I can't see them,
and I'm like I hear them, Like what the and
he's literally up on the top of the factory, yeah,
you know. And I'm like, uh, hey, bud, what's going on?
(11:00):
And there's this dad underneath with his daughter and he's like, yeah,
come here. I told him not to be up there.
And I walk over and this dad's like kind of
it's freaking out a little bit, and he's like, yeah,
you should get him down from there's like super dangerous.
And I was like, okay, thank you, sorry, I appreciate
your concern, you know. And I looked up and I
was like, did you warm up? And his dad looks
at me like and I was like, well, you might
(11:21):
want to stretch me. I mean, that's a good twelve
to fourteen feet I mean, and you're wearing your new
shoes or how are you good with the shoes? And
he's like, oh, you're right, dad, these are my new shoes.
I don't know if I want to jump off, And
like I was like, yeah, well, how about you come
down and we'll go jump off of something over there
that's a little lower will warm up to this. And
in that moment I realized that there's a difference and
no help some people pair it. Yeah, and I didn't
(11:43):
regret it. I honestly didn't. I was kind of proud
of him for doing that. At the same time, I
was like, Okay, let's not like have the security team
out here. But I can't fault them either because I
did probably crazier things than that when I was growing up.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Well, I don't think anything anybody can fought you for
the dentle side of parenting. I think you will definitely
have kids that are fearless, though, and I think that's
something really cool. Yeah, you do have a really interesting
part of your story though before this acting, and we'll
get into some more acting stuff. But you've had some
near death experiences. Can you talk about those a little
(12:24):
bit because those are wild?
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Yeah, I mean they weren't planned first. Yeah. Yeah, I
mean some of the injuries that I've had probably are ye.
I put myself there, you know, I rode the bike
on top of the train bridge. It was me trying
to pull something off. It was me free climbing that
cliff or I used to love climbing Church peoples. It's
kind of like a thing.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
You've always really had, this like kind of adrenaline side. Yeah,
it sounds absolutely beyond the stunt.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
Yeah. Yeah. So I've never drank alcohol, never done drugs.
Swearing is not my thing. But for some reason when
I was younger, it just started out that I was like, Oh,
that sounds fun. I'll climb that thing. I can jump
off there, I can. I'll try white water rafting or
white water kayaking, and so excuse me, yes, I was
(13:13):
a whitewater raft guide. I was a couple of years in.
I was in my first year of college, and it
just happened to be in the right place at the
right time and ended up drowning so full on right
to the end, blacked out, and they found me a
couple of miles down the river. They estimated I was
underwater from eleven to twenty two minutes. Wow, and so rightfully,
(13:35):
so I should be either dead, and or if alive,
I should be I have complete brain damage or a
loss of function, you know, physicality, memory, you name it.
And so the fact that I recovered from that is
an absolute miracle. And I couldn't call it anything else.
I can't be like, oh, the water was really cold
(13:55):
and it froze me, Like it was nothing like that,
Because how else do you explain that, you know what
I mean?
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Do you recall the rescue at all?
Speaker 2 (14:04):
Like when people came to.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Mind you, Yeah, I had moments, moments of it, but
really small little memories that I have that I'm like
part of me is even like was that even an
accurate memory? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Are you like making it up because it's what you
feel like happened?
Speaker 1 (14:20):
I know, I just I remember being very cognitive obviously
going into it. Right by the time I went underwater,
I was guiding. It was a twelve foot Moravio raft.
We hit the first wave. I had twelve people in
my boat. We had another guy in the front. We
hit it and went straight up and we're just about
to crest over as you should, and then everybody was
having a great time and just we didn't have the power,
(14:41):
and so we started to come back down and we
started surfing, and so I'm keeping the paddle there and
I'm keeping it straight and one of the guys that
are to of the guys that fell off from the
front as they fell, one of the guys managed to
grab me. Not his fault. I mean, I'd be grabbing
on his stuff too if I was falling. It's just like,
oh yeah, you know, he grabbed my life jacket kind
of me around the back, and then I ended up
(15:03):
sort of almost like water boarded. It was like I
kept going into the water, out of the water, in
the water, out of the water, and eventually I just
was like, man, I'm getting whooped here, Like I can't
shake this guy, so I'm gonna have to just bail.
So I bailed, and I just happened to be right
in that sweet spot where the veterans that I worked
with called the green room. So there's a current on
(15:24):
the top of the river, and then there's another current
that's maybe twelve to fifteen feet or so below the surface,
and this rapid was called the colosseum, so it kind
of fitting right that you think of these battles. And
I ended up going under right there and went down
really fast. Both my ear drums kind of could feel
(15:45):
the pressure. I knew there was a shift. I was like,
oh that was different, okay. Immediately tried to swim, couldn't
do it, and just felt like this the water pressure
was like pushing everything together, and I was like, man,
it's really hard to swim, and I I had to
eventually abandon my paddle, which you never do as a
as a guy that you get, you know, reamed out
(16:05):
and everybody makes fun of you. But I was I
knew this was a different situation and I wasn't able
to get out of this yet, and so I let
go of the paddle so I could really swim as
hard as I could, still couldn't break the current. So
my training told me, all right, chill out, you got
to go with the flow. I'm not going to beat
the river. And so I just hung out and hung
(16:26):
onto it, you know what I mean. And as I'm
floating along, it's kind of you you go through the
the process of like, so I'm underwater, you know, I
like to be done with this soon so I can
get some oxygen. And I just I tried again. I
tried to swim, you know, I used more energy, burn
more of my strength, and then just couldn't get out
(16:48):
And was like, okay, I have to just literally go
completely numb to this. I just let everything go. Just
I'm completely limp and trying to save my energy, right,
so because I mean, oxygen still in my blood, so
I'm like, okay, the less I can use my muscles.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I can't believe how much you're aware as all of
this is happening.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Yeah, I mean, it was three years into being a guide.
I'd done it for quite a while. I was also
in college training for this very thing, you know, being
an outdoor guide. Swift water rescue technician training I had.
I was I head searched and rescue training. I had
wilderness first aid training, which is pretty intense.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
So you had all the tools for a potential survival
out of this.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Yeah, and I've always been I knew going through that
course that I was a person that I stay pretty
calm when pressure hits. I actually operate better the more
stress there is in my life. Sometimes there's certain family
things where I'm still like navigating. I'm like, oh my goodness,
I just fell apart. I couldn't handle that, Like why not?
It should be easier than that. But for whatever reason,
(17:51):
when I'm on the river or I you know, I'm
on set for twelve fourteen hours a day and this
pressure hits, I just really feel comfortable, and so part
of me felt okay. I got this, you know what
I mean. And I don't think I was prideful, like
I didn't have an attitude towards the river which you
could get as a guide. I found some people you
(18:12):
get like, oh my god, I'm the man, I'm the woman,
you know, I got this and now here. And I
found myself in this situation where I'm like, wow, okay,
I'm out of options. And so I held my breath
as long as I could. Eventually my brain's telling me
that you know, hey, you're gonna be breathing soon. And
(18:33):
I know that my body and I'd never experienced that before,
so I was like, I don't know what that's like,
but I know it's coming because your body is like
I could feel it right, You're starting to go like
you You're all your muscles are tensing. You're like and
I could feel my body wanting to breathe, and I'm like,
you can't breathe, dude, like you're underwater. And so there
was this mish mash of like nature and how I'm
built and then my logic, which is like not the
(18:56):
right time and not the right place, and that was
out of clash, and eventually you just start breathing. You
can't you can't control it anymore. She was just like,
and that first breath did me in. There was no
there was no more room after that. It was whatever
I had left was now filled with water. There's a
difference between you know, taking this and drinking it and
or shoving your face into it and going and breathing
(19:18):
it in. And so that was a new sensation for me.
It felt like kind of liquid concrete just filled my
entire body. It quickly became really heavy, and yet I'm
still floating in water, and I I feel my body
getting whipped around and you know, the rapids moving me.
And I'm like, but yet I'm in this undercurrent and
(19:39):
I just kept breathing and my body kept trying to breathe.
I was like, and but I had nothing left and
I wasn't even controlling it, Like I was completely out
of control. So that's where the moment where my logic
left and I kind of had a bit of a
panic where it was like, I'm like, I don't know
what to do anymore, and uh, it was scary, and
I felt very disconnected and I felt fear for sure.
(20:01):
And then quickly after that, I would say the spiritual
kick then, and I was like, okay, I'm in your hands. Lord,
I'm done. I can't do anything with this anymore. And
that's where I had just like the most immense amount
of peace. But it was quickly followed by like the
most immense fear that I've ever felt. And I didn't
(20:22):
know that those things could kind of live that close together,
and yet I don't think they bled over into each
other world. It was just like boom, all of a sudden,
I was like one hundred percent piece. I knew I
had done everything I could do. I knew I was done.
I completely gave it over to the Lord and said
all right. I remember in my mind going, okay, I'm yours.
(20:44):
Whatever you want to do from this point on is
completely up to you. And I could hear the water right,
it was like, oh, it's kind of peaceful. And then
I could hear my heart. It was like and my
heart kept slowing down and slowing down, and then it
left and then uh, I still remember it.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
And then the fact that you have just such vivid
experience of this whole thing and yeah, you're able to
recall it, does that make it harder for you?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Because that memory is so vivid versus you.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Just not having any recollection and it happened to you, or
is it more important for you that you got to
understand what happened.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
It was a blessing that I'm able to understand what happened,
because that was My life changed dramatically after that. Eventually
they found me. You know, I don't know who they were,
but someone else on another rafting trip ahead of us,
I believe. And then I just remember these vague images
(21:45):
of like kind of life jackets. I remember the colors
of people's life jackets, but I don't remember people specifically,
and someone hitting my chest and then dragging my body,
and then remember a ceiling, and then I remember just
waking up in a pressure chamber in the hospital. It's
like one of those things that goes quo. And that
was free because I was like, where am I like?
(22:07):
And they had to, I guess, bring my equilibrium back,
so find the pressure where my equilibrium kind of regrouped.
And then that's my explanation of it. Yeah, And then
they slowly brought me back because I went down too
fast and I came up too fast, I think, so
my ears never actually balanced out properly. There was no
water left in my lungs. Somehow they were like they
(22:30):
literally cleared me to leave pretty quick, and I went home.
I think I maybe didn't go back to work for
like two weeks. I just kind of was a little numb,
I think in life and was like what am I doing? Like?
Do I really love this? Is this really what I
was made for with? What's my purpose? Who you know?
Do I want to finish what I've been doing? I
(22:53):
don't know. And through that I was really afraid of water.
I had this fear and I was like, Okay, I
recognize that fear, and I don't want to be fearful
because the scripture says you've not been given a spirit
of fear, put of power, of love and a sound mind.
Then I was like, how do I get that back?
(23:14):
Did I even ever have it? And so I actually
called up the head of our river safety. His name
was Riager, just like the manliest man you can imagine,
like grew up on the River's like this deep voice,
like no mess around, old school John Wayne kind of guy.
And I called him up and I said, man, I'm
afraid of the water. I said, would you come out
(23:35):
with me. I think I need to go back to
that rapid and I need to swim it. And he's
like yeah. I was like, okay, well, what day and
time works for you, Because he's the one with the
crazy schedule, right, this is around the clock, like tourism business.
It's functioning. And he goes, I think maybe it was
a Sunday or something, and he's like, all right, well
we got one trip in the morning, and he goes,
we'll go in the afternoon. Like okay. So I go
(23:58):
out and I meet him park, you know, at the
end of the dirt road out on the main road
again in his truck. He's got the safety zodiac on
the back. We don't even speak. We just drive all
the way down this road. We get there, we unload
this zodiac, we put it in. He turns to me
and he goes, okay, when you get up there, give
me the signal. I said, okay. I walk all the
(24:19):
way up. The sun goes away, the clouds cover it,
it starts raining and it gets dark as heck, and
I'm like what is this? And I'm like freaked. So
I'm standing on this rock ledge overlooking the Colosseum River
or the colosseum rapid on the Ottawa River. You know,
the far shore is technically Quebec, Canada, and the shore
(24:42):
I'm on his Ontario. So I'm right in the middle
of this border. There's three standing waves that are you know,
six to fifteen feet apiece, and you know, on the
size of this whole wall. And I'm like, okay, I'm
back here again. And I was like, I gotta do this.
And I was like trying to prep myself up and
I'm talking myself into it is just not working. I'm like,
(25:03):
and it's raining and it's dark, and I'm like, why
have you for a second. You know, It's like this
total dramatic personal moment that nobody even sees except for
maybe reader, but probably not because he's way down there.
So anyway, I signaled to him and he holds up
a paddle to signal back, and I'm like okay. And
the only thing I could do is I had to
look at the far shore and I had to walk
(25:26):
off the edge, like literally push myself off this cliff.
I couldn't even really jump. I was like, okay, I can't, okay,
so I just I just walked. It was probably sloppy.
I landed MESSI I hit the water. I come up
and I'm like, all right, that's it. We're in it.
There's no way out now. A guy ain't swimming out
of this.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
The only way to go through.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
The only way through is through. So I was like, okay,
praise the Lord made that step. And when you're in
white water, you want to either swim aggressively or you
got to get on your back and you have to
try to almost slow down a little bit. You don't
necessarily want to go to the exact speed of the current.
So I just leaned into it and swam aggressively at first,
you know, legs behind me, and swam as hard as
(26:05):
I could, man, and I hit those waves. And as
soon as I came up after the first wag and
popped up, I was like just covered in this light.
I was freaking out. Was like, yeah, we're good. Like
there's no way I'm going to the green room this time.
And I just swam that out and I was just
getting beat up, and I was loving it. And I
get to the bottom and he picks me up in
(26:26):
the zodiac. We put the zodiac back on the trailer.
We drove all the way out, and nobody said a
word to each other. He got out of the truck
and he walked around to the front and he just
shook my hand and he got back into the truck
and he drove away, and then I just wept, like
just lost it, and I was like so thankful. I
(26:46):
still learned from that this day to this day that
fear only has the hold on you that you let it.
You know, it's not something that you can't shake. It's
just something that comes to you and you have to
just get through it somehow, so you have to find
out what that strength is. For me, it was honestly
(27:07):
just a belief in Jesus Christ and my faith in God.
And it really grew at that time because before that
I was like, yeah, I was you know, I was
a believer and I prayed and I you know, I
had a certain love for faith. But after that, I
was like, Okay, something something biggers that play. Because there's
no way I just walk away from that and and.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Live you and go back through a crazy curring and
that you had just experienced.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, yeah, I don't I mean, did I need to
do that? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I felt like I had to well, it sounds like
it was helpful for conquering a fear of something that
you didn't originally have a fear for.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
I mean, you much like you teach your kids. It
sounds like you were very fearless.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
You want to try things, You want to live your
life in the way that you want to live your life,
and I think that's really awesome, so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
It's also hard to.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Live fearlessly, not just for things that are adrenaline racing
in your heart pounding. It's hard to be fearless in life.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, And when.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
You can be fearless in the face of things that
are very dangerous like that, I think it makes the
rest of it feel really small and easier to conquer.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, there's definitely a character in you that's built, I think,
and you don't always know that, right. I mean, how
do you get experience. You have to go through something
and then you get the experience. You never get it before.
You don't get it about reading about it or talking
to some friends and sort of you know, hashing it out.
It's like you have to do it. You have to
go through that hard thing. You have to go through
(28:42):
the peak, you have to go through the valley and
when you get to the other side, then you have
a change in yourself. And you know, my wife's lived
through a number of things as well. And so at
some point we're living in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and we're
two years into COVID, We're trying to raise three young kids,
and it's just a gnarly time right for all of us,
(29:03):
and we're like, man, this is whacked, Like, how do
we raise our kids here? How do we navigating live
through this? And I had to work fees to go
through and God kind of was already putting it on
our hearts as a couple to be like, hey, it's
time for a change. And we're like, well, what's that change.
I don't know what that's going to be. Necessarily, you know,
(29:24):
maybe we switch gears and I go somewhere else in
audition for a bit, try a different market. I don't know.
And so anyway, God's like, yep, pack up. We're like, okay,
we're packing. Where are we going? He's like yeah, We're
like cool, uh, you know, okay, we have enough clothes.
Where are we going? And He's like yep, And we're
like okay. So and then my lawyer calls and he goes, Hey,
(29:47):
I'm just calling to let you know that we're hearing
rumors down here in LA that you know, canad is
going to be closing the borders to their own people
and not let them out. And I'm like, what are
you talking about? That's is that even legal? He's like,
that doesn't matter. We're hearing what's happening. And we're like, okay,
how long, Like is there like a date on this?
And he goes, I don't know. We're hearing roughly twelve days, wow,
(30:07):
And we're like okay, so we left in six.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Well, as an actor, you need to be able to
move anywhere and like navigate.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
To all these different places.
Speaker 3 (30:17):
So that would have completely shut down your career unless
it was in Canada, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Which was And we didn't know where we were going.
So we literally just prayed, drove stops and that's all
we did until we drove for two months, two weeks
from Vancouver, BC to Florida.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Okay, by Florida, any.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
We just kind of cut right across the whole country.
We knew LA wasn't really an option. I'd already lived
there in the two thousands when I was single and
I just didn't. I knew that wasn't where we were
going to raise a family and be. We had friends
in different places where we were like, okay, well, like
you know, naturally, let's go try to visit some friends
along the way. So we did that. My wife was
(30:58):
friends with another girl, but she'd never matter in person.
She was in Franklin, and we're like, hey, well we'll
swing through Franklin at some point. So we drove through Franklin, Tennessee,
and when we got there, it was like this immense
piece just hit my wife and I. We were like,
what the what feels like we lived here a whole lives.
These people are amazing. The town is like the sun
like hits everything perfectly. What is happening? Are we just dreaming?
(31:19):
Maybe we should go to Florida. So we went ahead
to Florida and while we're there, we're talking about Franklin,
and then we're like, let's go back to Franklin. So
we go back to Franklin and then we're there another
week and we're like, hey, maybe we should go back
to Texas. So we go back to Texas for Christmas,
and while we're there, we're like, nope, can't shake Franklin man.
All right, it's fine a place, and ultimately we found
a fully furnished place to rent and we left Canada
(31:41):
with five pieces of luggage, one per family and four
bins and our stuff is still in a storage locker
on the West coast. It's been three years and seven
months almost.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Now.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Do you guys have any plans to go get there?
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Or is it just I've tried. If anybody out there
has a moving company that would love to help, let
me know, because I actually called three professional companies and
not a single one of them followed through. At some
point with the job, it was like for some reason,
the door just kept slamming, and I was like, fine,
I'll leave my tools there. Fine, I mean I'd really
like them. I'd love to have all my hammers and
(32:15):
screws and nails and you know, but one day you
get one day I planned to go there, you.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Found the city. It didn't come with all of your things.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Uh huh. I have gone back since and like narrowed
everything down. So I just went in by myself until.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
At least you visited it.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
You know, it's still there, it's still there. Found some
dead mice, yeah, I did had I was like, oh no, sorry, sweetheart,
some of your clothes are gone. Why don't worry about it.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
It's better off, doesn't.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
It's better off you don't see the pictures?
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Yes, now, okay, so getting into acting. So this happens
in your life.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
And then you go into acting. What was that like?
Speaker 1 (32:55):
I never wanted to be an actor at all. I
love movies growing up. I did that all a mint.
I collected the posters. I enjoyed going to movie theaters.
I enjoyed watching movies at home, you know, get the VHS.
That was the time I grew up, and I just
kind of get whisked away in these stories and I
always loved it. So that was definitely in me. But
(33:15):
never was I like I'm going to be an actor.
I'm gonna make films, I'm gonna direct and produce. No,
not even on my radar. After the drowning occurred, I
really started questioning, like, okay, what am I doing? And
I was. I had gone back to work after because
I was like, hey, I gotta, you know, keep making
money somehow, because I was trying to put myself through
second year of college and this ad came on the
(33:38):
radio for something called Model Search America. If anybody ever remembers.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
This image that sounds oddly familiar.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
It was a bit of a money grab, like hey,
pay money and you can come to the big event
and maybe get discovered, you know what I mean. And
it wasn't even that. I was literally just cutting carrots
or something ridiculous in the kitchen and I heard this
ad come on. I was like, oh, no, you can
model and meet you know wm E maybe was on there, Wilhelmina.
(34:04):
Is that a modeling agency. I don't know all these
modeling agencies. And at the very end it was like
you could meet the casting director for twenty century Fox
and I was like, oh, they got cool movies. I'm
going I'm.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Going thinking about the movies here.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Yeah, And I was like I can meet that. Guy's
like that's cool. Maybe I'll ask some questions or something.
So I like turned to my buddy and I'm like
I'm going to the thing and he's like what thing.
It was like the thing on the radio. And he's like,
I don't know what you're talking about. And I'm like,
I'll see you later and he's like you're leaving now,
You're gonna get fired, like we had the craziest boss.
He was from Paris, amazing chef. But he's like, for
sure gonna he's gonna like hurt me. I'm like, I'm out.
(34:39):
I get my JELOPI Volkswagon car that I drove, you know,
and second year of college, and I'm like, dude, and
I cruised to the nearest big city that this thing
was happening. That night. I heard it on the radio.
So I was like, hey, I'm going to that hotel.
I show up at this hotel. I'm wearing jeans and
a T shirt probably pretty close to what I'm wearing now,
and all these people are lined up. There's thousands of them,
(35:00):
and I'm like, oh my goodness, what the what is
happening right now? Is everybody's like dulled to the max.
I was like, I don't fit in here, but I'm
like whatever I get in line, everybody's you know, looking
at me, like you know, this guy, there's like no fashion,
which I didn't and I still don't really. Uh, you
have a scarf on and this is this is pretty new.
(35:21):
I just bought this and that I'm evolving. It only
took me, you know, a couple of decades. It's fine,
I'll catch up. If anybody out there has any ideas,
please send them my way. John Barbados. Actually it's where
I got this, and it's like one of the best
fitting coats I've ever had. I was like, this is nice,
it's okay, So I'm in. Take a little longer, I'm in.
(35:42):
I I just takes me a while to get there.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
But you obviously didn't need it. So did you get
discovered at this?
Speaker 1 (35:49):
I'm kind of it was like it was the kickstart
to something that eventually led me down this path. So yeah,
ultimately I got, you know, through that sort of round
of like hey, basically they said, well, you have teeth
and you can smile, and so yeah, maybe you can
come to the big event. And I was like okay.
So I go to the big event and I had
some pictures and I do all these runway walks, which
(36:11):
I was like, I'm not a model. I don't know
why I'm doing this.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
You're like, am I just like walk? You're just like
walking like normal.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Probably I just walked out and like stood there and
I'm like, okay, I stay here for a couple of seconds,
like everybody else is doing and I walked at the
end and I and I smile, and I turn around
and I leave. And that's what I did basically for
two days. And all these judges are out there and
their papers and everybody's panicking. I was like, well, I'm
along for the ride. And so this was in Rochester,
New York at the time, and it's at like no
(36:38):
word of a lie at the very end, and I
met a bunch of people right and a couple of
them got some like callbacks. It was called. Their number
was called, and they're excited and then they were like,
all right, ladies and gentlemen, that's it for this year,
thank you for coming out. It's like twenty five hundred
people maybe at this thing, Wow, packed out and they go, oh,
hold on, we got one more number. And it's like
crammed in here, like hang on, and they open it
(36:59):
and it's like read you know, one, seven, nine, five,
two four six, this crazy ridiculous long number. And I'm like, what,
I think that's my number, and they're like for twentieth
century Fox. And I was like what. So I literally
went and I met the casting director at the time
of twentieth Century Fox. His name was Christian Kaplan, and
(37:20):
I go in and I do this cold read for him,
and he's like, who are you? Like, where are you from?
Where's your accent from? Do you have any Your pictures
are horrible, You're clearly green. You don't know what you're doing. Like,
but there's something. That's what he said. There's something, And
I'm not going to say that it'll go anywhere, but
if you pursue this, maybe something would happen. And that
(37:43):
was enough for me to just get started, and ultimately
I called his office at some point. A couple months later.
I started taking some improv classes that I found nearby
was all I could find, and uh. He was on
the phone with a casting director in Vancouver, BC, and
he said, how far are you from Vancouver? I was
like six and a half hour flight. He's like, wow, okay,
(38:03):
well she's willing to see if you want to go there,
I gotta go bye. I was like, huh okay. So
I was like all right. My best friends at the
time helped me gather some money together because we're all
trying to get through college. Yeah, I'm living off mister noodles.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
And this is not at all part of any plan that.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
You had no plan whatsoever. I'm like, I don't know
what I'm doing. A fly to Vancouver, and ultimately I
did a cold read audition for Caren Mayors and Heike Brandstatter,
who you know. They are the same people that cast
the X Men movies and the Planet of the Apes films,
and so that was kind of a second little piece
(38:42):
of breadcrumb where I went in and I did this
cold read in front of all these people, and I
almost like poop my pants. It was crazy. There was
all these people in the lights and the mark and
I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. And I
read these lines with this person that I've never met,
and then they're like thank you, and I left, and
I was like, what just happened in there? That was
like ridiculous. I flew all the way over here for
thirty five forty seconds maybe yeah, okay, great, and they're
(39:05):
like thank you, we'll see you. And I leave. Well,
it turns out she calls me back. I go in
the next day, nobody's there. I sit down. She goes,
where are you from? I was like, you know, from Meganville, Ontario?
What where's that Ontario? Okay? Your pictures are horrible, your
accent's bad, you have no experience, you're clearly new to this.
(39:26):
But there's something. And I said, Okay, what do I
do with that something? And she said, well, you need
to move here or go somewhere where there's a market,
and you need to and you need to start training
and you know, but it's up to you. I can't
guarantee anything, but there's something. If you want to pursue it, maybe,
(39:47):
So again, that was another thing, and you know, here
we are, twenty four and a half years later, I'm
still falling the breadcrumbs, and I feel like just now
I'm about to start, Like I feel like it's go time.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
You know, they've always called, at least like for Nashville
in the music industry, it's this ten year town. It
takes artists at least ten years to finally kind of
hit their moment.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
And I would imagine.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Something similar in the acting entertainment world.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
But even more. I mean, you're competing on multiple.
Speaker 3 (40:20):
Levels, but I for you, what was the most at
this point, the most impactful acting role you feel like you've.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Had impact on me or others.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
On you, or others whatever you feel like really changed
at least maybe a perspective for you or an experience
for you. Maybe it was an acting and you're like, Okay,
this is a direction I need to take.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
I mean, I've developed a saying I think over time
where it's like I give up every day, but I'm
never going to quit because it very much feels like
you're in the twelfth round all the time, like you're
so so close to the end and to victory, but
you you just aren't quite there yet. And it's been
(41:07):
a very interesting ride. Every job has been a stepping
stone that I've definitely learned from as an actor, as
a human being, as a husband, as a father, you know,
as a son and a brother, and even as a stranger.
It teaches me how to be a member of my community,
(41:27):
because you can't just live your life, and at least
I don't think you should live your life. Try to
get to the end and you're the only ones standing there,
like I did it. You know. If that's the case,
then I don't believe you did it the right way.
And so there's been a number of jobs that have
definitely impacted me personally. Was in a series called Heartland.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Very long standing series.
Speaker 1 (41:50):
Yeah, yeah, and I played a paraplegic who ultimately was
a cowboy, went off to war, ended up paralyzed from
the waist down, came back and kind of had to
live through the anger and the loss of his legs
and his love for horseback riding. And so I actually
worked with like the pair of Massage gold medalist and
I rode horses sitting on top of basketballs. And I
(42:11):
actually got a wheelchair and went out to public and
just acted like I was in a wheelchair, like not
to offend anybody, but I wanted to actually get that perspective.
And you know, I'm not a method actor, but I
do appreciate learning, and so that was kind of the
furthest I would go, right, Like if you hired me
to like play this like drug dealer or something like,
(42:32):
I wouldn't be like going out and trying to do
hard drugs just to see what it's like. You know,
like I'm not that addicted, Like I don't need to
go that that hardcore. But that really taught me a
lot because I started to see the perspective of other
people on you the movie that I'm in the series
I'm in right now Homestead, This I think has been
(42:54):
something that I'm just like real time seeing people respond it,
and that's it's like affecting their lives and it has
affected mind. But now I'm getting to see people in
the movie theater, you know, Like I'm sitting in these
red carpet premieres with people and I'm like, I'm hearing
them laugh, I'm seeing them cry, I'm noticing. And then
(43:14):
they come up after and they just share their heart
with you, and You're like, wow, this is meaningful. There's
something in this story that really touches people. And then
as a performer, excuse me, you know, as an actor,
it is a role that people are like you fit there.
That was you know, that was really good to see.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Is that one of the coolest compliments you can get
as an actor, Like you fit there?
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Like that this makes sense, you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (43:45):
Does that feel really cool for you to hear that
from just strangers?
Speaker 1 (43:49):
Yeah, yeah, it does. We were in Salt Lake City
we did a premiere and there was I had three
like veterans come up to me at separate times and
tell me that they thought that I served as well
and like that I played the role where it reminded
them of people they serve with and guys that they
(44:10):
were with, you know, and some of them shared some
stories of friends they lost, you know, and and that's
a highly impactful I was like, that's the highest compliment
because as a performer, you really want to honor the
people that you represent to the best of your ability.
If you're playing a cook, then try to be the
best cook you can be, you know, on screen. And
in this case, I'm playing a Green Beret. And so
(44:32):
they had the opportunity to train, to train with Jeff Kirkham,
who helped write the books Black Autumn, which Homestead is
based on, and to just go out and actually hear
stories from him and train with him and actually doing
live fire and you know, we're going from ar to
pistol and we're running these drills and you start to
get it into your body and you feel a little
(44:53):
bit of that world, you know, like just a fraction
of it, and you're like, wow, this is a wild ride.
But I love it.
Speaker 2 (45:02):
That's exciting.
Speaker 3 (45:03):
I'm excited for everyone to see Homestead. And that's the
newest project for you. What is a little taste before
we get out of here? Because you have so many
things to go do, and lots of more premieres to do.
If people want to check out Homestead, Like, what would
you tell them they're getting? What's the view of Homestead
that they're going to get by watching?
Speaker 1 (45:25):
I mean, ultimately Homestead. You know, a series of events
kick off on the West coast. It's a nuclear bomb
and the power grid goes out, goes down, the internet's out,
the world starts to fall apart a little bit. And
so this follows a group of people from all walks
of life that ultimately end up on a three hundred
acre homestead. And I play a character, even Lee, who's
(45:48):
part of the security detail that's hired to protect the homestead.
And so you have all those avenues. You have those
who are going to protect with force. You have those
that want to bring grace, You have those that want
to help the people outside of the gate. You have
that are like and you can't trust the people outside
of the gate. Then you have people that maybe you
can't trust, some that you maybe you misread them, you know.
(46:09):
And so I think ultimately Homestead is for everyone. There
is a character in there that I guarantee you'll connect with,
and when you connect with them, we're not going to
take you on a journey of fear. We do present
potential fears, but what we take you on is a
journey of hope and a journey of kind of self discovery.
And hopefully you dream right, hopefully you go, you know what,
(46:33):
I can do that thing, and i can take charge
of that in my life, and I'm going to do it.
That's what I hope people get out of it. And
so the movies. The movie's good. I'm proud of it.
Like I love everybody's performances, I love how it looks.
The music, Oh my goodness, it's like it's really cool
to be a part of it. When you're done watching
the film. It opens December twentieth in theaters. There'll be
(46:54):
a QR code at the end of the movie. You
can scan it, and if you pay it for basically
like buy some tickets for other people to go watch it,
you get to go home that night and actually start
watching a TV series on Angel. So and the TV
series is like it like amps it up.
Speaker 3 (47:11):
Okay, I mean this is like, this is a movie
that turns into a TV series, Yes, which is unusual.
Speaker 2 (47:17):
I haven't heard of that before.
Speaker 1 (47:19):
And we also have something called homestead Family Survival, which
is us going out and interviewing actual homesteaders. So how
do you make bread, how do you get chickens? How
do you maybe you know, if you want to go
down that road, how do you do it? And then
we also have homestead gear dot Com, which you can
actually go start buying everything you need. So we have
water irrigation systems, we have fire starting kits, we have
(47:40):
food supplies. There's watches, there's knives. Like, it's pretty wild.
Speaker 2 (47:44):
I'm very integrated into real life.
Speaker 1 (47:47):
Yeah, and really we're not just like trying to make
a story that you watch and then you walk away
from and you're like that was cool. Forget about it.
You know. It's actually like something that you're like, wow,
I can keep learning a little more if I want. Yeah,
I'd love to make bread at home. Like you don't
have to go home and all of a sudden, just
like you know, put a bunker in your basement, Like
(48:07):
that's that's not what we're presenting to you. If you
want to do that, go for it.
Speaker 2 (48:11):
Just understand a little bit more about survival.
Speaker 3 (48:13):
Yeah, in a different way. That's really cool. Well, Jesse,
thank you so much for sharing pieces of your story
and also a really really hard one and just all
of it.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
But also congratulations on your.
Speaker 3 (48:25):
Success, and I hope for continued success for you, because
it obviously to me you're already there, you're already on
your way, but I know for you that's a different experience.
But congratulations, and thank you for.
Speaker 1 (48:36):
Being here, thank you for having me on listening. I
truly think that time is one of the greatest currencies,
So when someone gives their time, I just want to
respect that, honor it, because once it's spent, it's literally gone.
Speaker 2 (48:51):
So thank you, It's true. Thank you Jesse so many
words of wisdom.
Speaker 3 (48:55):
I'm going to like leave here with a lot of lessons.
Jesse's story is so inspiring in many ways, so be
sure to check out his new movie in theaters, Homestead,
and follow him on social media at Jesse Underscore Hutch.
It's spelled at j e ss E Underscore h U
(49:17):
T CCH. I always love seeing when you guys enjoy
an episode, so tag me on socials or dm me.
You can do it at web Girl Morgan or at
take this personally. Also, I'm trying to figure out some
fun new guests to bring on here. Experts and people
who have incredible stories, So reach out to me. Let
me know who you want to hear from and what
topics you want.
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Us to discuss.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
But that's all for now, so thanks for being here
and I hope your new year starts off exactly as
you want it to.
Host
Morgan Huelsman
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