Jacob Gutierrez on His Netflix Breakout and Building Chemistry With Dan Levy in ‘Big Mistakes’: ‘It Was Such a Blast’ (Exclusive)

Jacob Gutierrez walks out of his grad school course, casually chatting with classmates, discussing weekend plans. Then he reaches the curb.

“So I was waving goodbye to my class. I was like, ‘Yeah, have a good night. Goodnight.’ And then I got in this unmarked car and just went away,” he says, laughing. “They were like, ‘Jacob is in the mafia.’”

Not quite. Well… kind of.

Gutierrez wasn’t headed into a life of crime, but he was on his way to step into one on screen. The actor stars in Netflix’s new series Big Mistakes, alongside Dan Levy, Taylor Ortega, and the legendary Laurie Metcalf.

Gutierrez plays Tareq, the boyfriend to Levy’s Nicky, in a fast-paced, deeply chaotic comedy that drops two wildly unprepared siblings into the world of organized crime. What starts as a misguided attempt to help their dying grandmother quickly spirals into something much bigger, with Nicky and his sister Morgan (Ortega) failing upward in the most stressful, ridiculous ways possible.

The series, which premiered April 9, blends family dysfunction with high-stakes danger, creating a world where every bad decision somehow leads to an even bigger one. Luckily, Gutierrez’s decision to send in his self-tape for the role was not one of those mistakes.

We caught up with Jacob Gutierrez (and his adorable dog Beaux) to chat all about the new show and his experience. Because yes, of course the dog has to be there for all Zoom calls. “Say hi to all the adoring fans.” BIG MISTAKES. (L to R) Jacob Gutierrez as Tareq and Dan Levy as Nicky in Episode 103 of Big Mistakes. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026 The Call That Changed Everything

“I was sort of pivoting, starting grad school in the fall for clinical psychology,” Gutierrez recalls.

After years of acting, including a long run on Broadway, he was taking a breath. Re-evaluating. Not exactly expecting a major TV role to land in his lap. Then his niece called.

“She said, ‘Are you still doing the acting thing?’”

That question turned into an audition for a Dan Levy project they were struggling to cast. Gutierrez taped it, sent it in, and didn’t think much of it at first. Until things started moving fast.

“They were like, ‘Hey, they really like your tape. Here are some notes from Dan…’”

A retape led to a chemistry read. The chemistry read led to an offer.

“And then a day later I found out I got it,” he says.

In a matter of days, Gutierrez went from considering a part-time job to help cover grad school expenses to starring opposite one of television’s most recognizable creators. “I got to postpone the whole like, let’s go apply to Costco journey,” he jokes. BIG MISTAKES. (L to R) Dan Levy and Jacob Gutierrez behind the scenes of Episode 108 of BIG MISTAKES. Cr. Spencer Pazer/Netflix © 2025 Living a Double Life

The timing only made the experience more intense. He began filming in early August and started grad school just two weeks later.

“People have said to me, ‘You’re like Hannah Montana switching these hats day and night,’” he jokes. It does seem very fitting.

Despite the scale of the project, Gutierrez kept his new role relatively quiet. He let a few people know about his upcoming show, but some friends did not find out until the actual trailer dropped. Talk about a surprise. Building Chemistry

Speaking of surprises, Gutierrez got to bring one into his first-ever chemistry read with Levy.

“I was so nervous… but it was fun. I felt really loose and free,” he says. But at one point, he improvised a moment that caught Levy off guard. “There was a moment where I said something that I think really threw him… and I watched him sort of break,” he recalls.

It was the kind of moment you can’t plan, only feel. And for Gutierrez, it confirmed something important.

“If that doesn’t go my way, I did everything I could have done,” he says.

Of course, it did go his way. And once on set, Gutierrez treated the experience like a masterclass. Coming from a theater background, including seven years on Broadway’s Aladdin, this level of on-screen work was new territory.

“Watching him switch hats so seamlessly between writer, producer, actor…” he says of Levy. What stood out most was the ability to be fully present in each moment, despite everything happening behind the scenes.

“That moment of him dropping into the scene… it was incredible to see,” he adds. BIG MISTAKES. (L to R) Jacob Gutierrez as Tareq and Dan Levy as Nicky in Episode 102 of Big Mistakes. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026 Why This Story Matters

Beyond the technical growth, Big Mistakes offered something more personal. As a queer actor, the opportunity to portray a layered LGBTQ+ relationship on screen wasn’t something he took lightly.

Levy’s character Nicky is the pastor in a denomination that requires gay men to stay celibate. Which means his deep relationship with the local handyman Tareq must remain a secret.

Still, secret or not, seeing queer relationships on our TVs today matters. For Jacob Gutierrez, that meant bringing authenticity to the quieter, more intimate moments of the relationship, the ones that unfold behind closed doors. It’s those details, he says, that made the experience especially meaningful. BIG MISTAKES. (L to R) Symone and Jacob Gutierrez as Tareq in Episode 106 of Big Mistakes. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026

“Being an LGBTQ person myself, it mattered to me… that I get to actually go do that,” he says. “The more we can amplify these stories, the better.”

Now, as Big Mistakes season one streams on Netflix, Gutierrez is still processing the whirlwind of it all. The sudden shift, the new visibility, the balance between two completely different worlds. But through it all, one thing has stayed constant.

“My whole thing… has been like, strap in for this ride… and just be grateful,” he says. Stream Big Mistakes now on Netflix.

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