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Season 2 of FX’s “Adults”— which premiered in late August — depicts a group of five friends hanging out in their shared house in Queens. There’s the relatively sane
Samir, holding the group together (Malik Elassal), the thwarted careerist Billie (Lucy Freyer), the agent-of-chaos diva Issa (Amita Rao), the relentlessly social dry wit Anton (Owen Thiele) …
And then there’s Paul Baker, the most recent addition to the friend group, played by Jack Innanen. Paul Baker, always referred to by his first and last names, is a walking, talking sunbeam. Congenitally optimistic without being saccharine, Paul Baker was, in Season 2, the nexus of a love triangle in which his character felt torn between his girlfriend, Rao’s Issa, and his husband, Thiele’s Anton. (It’s complicated.) Part of what fueled the ups and downs was the sense that Paul Baker is genially open to whatever life might throw at him — a personality type engineered to drive the acting-out Issa and the neurotic Anton to distraction. Innanen’s striking looks —featuring an instantly recognizable mustache he agonizes over potentially shaving — and street-style prowess have done much the same for “Adults” fans.
In fact, the show shoots in Toronto, which happens to be where Innanen attended university. After a childhood spent developing his chops as a YouTuber, Innanen dropped out of school to pursue acting in New York. He landed the part on “Adults” after racking up some 3 million followers on TikTok and appearing on “The Office Movers,” a comedy series on the Canadian channel Crave (the home of “Heated Rivalry”). Innanen’s still based in New York — where, right now, he’s shooting the second season of Dan Levy’s Netflix series “Big Mistakes.”
He speaks with Variety about the “Adults” fandom, turning down a role in “Heated Rivalry” and the one moment from Season 2 that still makes him blush.
Before you moved to New York for a career in comedy, you were studying astrophysics. That’s pretty academically rigorous.
I’ve always had these two avenues I wanted to pursue. I’ve always really loved science — specifically physics and astronomy — and wanted to pursue that, and that felt like what I was supposed to do. And I was always fascinated with making YouTube videos, but just didn’t really consider that the path. And then at the University of Toronto I took some film classes — oh my God, this is what I actually spend my time outside of class doing!
It was a tough conversation to have with my parents, because that’s a pretty fat 180. But it’s a pendulum. Right now, I’m reading a lot of sci-fi to nurture that other half.
Right — if you were a theater major, they might have seen it coming.
It taught me that you don’t have to be one thing. I felt some impostor syndrome, not having an education in theater or film, that I didn’t belong. And vice versa. Because I was really into movies or sketch comedy, I didn’t belong in physics.
Was there a really touristy thing you did when you first moved to New York?
The first weekend after I moved, I biked around to every landmark. I first moved to Tribeca, and I biked to Central Park, right through Times Square, which was really scary. And I walked to Battery Park and looked at the Statue of Liberty. Whenever I’m in Paris, I just look at the Eiffel Tower. That’s it! From the movies, that’s the thing! I’m at the place!
I would spend a lot of time at Fort Greene Park. And if I have a full day off, it’s Central Park. If New York didn’t have Central Park, I don’t know if I’d be able to live here.
“Adults” creators Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw rewrote Paul Baker to be Canadian — because you’re Canadian.
He was supposed to be from Colorado, and there was a fuckboy element to him. This is crazy for me to say and big-up myself, but they said there was a sweetness element that the Canadian aspect brought in. He was very truly kind. And in the first scripts, he was more of a player.
It’s funny, because part of what makes Paul Baker an interesting character is that people struggle to understand his intentions. Is he being nice to them because he loves them or because he’s this lovely person who’s nice to everyone?
There’s so much to Paul Baker that feels almost easy to act, because he’s oblivious to everything and himself. Not that he’s such a ditzy airhead, but he’s so deeply kind to everyone. I’ve met people like that, and it’s frustrating: Do you have a crush on me, or are you just a ray of sunshine? You love everyone, and everyone loves you? OK. I’m not special.
Is it odd to be a Canadian living in the U.S.?
I’ve learned how strong my accent is. There’s a uniquely Canadian experience in the United States where everything feels uncanny — it’s so similar to home, but slightly different.
Is that uncanniness heightened right now? I understand that most Canadians are not feeling a lot of love for America.
There’s an interesting sister-country element to it: Many Canadians define Canada in how we are not the United States. But post-trade war, there’s parts of me that feel almost guilty. I love going back home. Being back home feels great and truly comfortable. And Canada is really having a moment in media right now.
Right. Like “Heated Rivalry,” for which you got cast but had to turn down the role due to scheduling.
It was such a cool show. And it didn’t work out, but everyone involved, I love so deeply and admire. I’m really happy for them, and happy that they get to do what they’re doing and keep making great stuff for the motherland.
Would you have had a love scene? And with who?
I don’t know what I can say about any of that. But I love everyone involved. It’s a pretty kick-ass crew.
Returning to “Adults,” one of my favorite moments from Season 2 was when we saw short clips of all five of you as kids, in real life. You gave the production a YouTube clip of teenage Jack talking about the first time you saw porn. Did they have to work hard to convince you to share that?
I don’t know why the hell I did that. This is not a joke: Up until the premiere night, I was like, I gotta send that text. I gotta get them to take it out. Because there’s so much I could have sent — there’s “Minecraft” YouTube videos that are super tame, and you don’t even see my face; it’s just my little voice. I should have sent that! I truly quite regret sending what I sent, and it’s just out there. I skip it when I watch it.
Malik is, like, walking funny for three seconds. And there you are …
Owen is on a bus, yelling out the window! Everything is so tame! I didn’t know that everyone was going to send in tame stuff. I should have.
The show has become a hit in its second season, which is great — but also means that you’ve become an object of fascination. I’ve seen all of these photos of you outside the bookstore McNally Jackson, strutting down the New York streets. Is it odd to be a heartthrob?
No, it’s awesome. There’s parts of it that are intimidating, but I know that this won’t last forever, so let me have some fun and be goofy with it and relish the moment for a little bit. My stylist Brian [Meller], we were brainstorming fun outfits — I had that “Horny” shirt that was fun. Going out in public and knowing that people were going to take pictures — it was just a few weeks of experimenting.
I loved the photos of you toting around an ostentatiously empty Loewe bag. You weren’t carrying anything in that bag!
My lovely, lovely stylist Brian. I make fun of Brian. I remind him of the empty-bag incidentonce a week. But also, there was stuff in the bag — in the bottom of the bag, I’ve got a couple of granola bars.
The love-triangle element of the story seems settled for now. Where can Paul Baker go from here?
I would hope that there’s some stability for Paul Baker and Anton. I was very excited for some closure, but I don’t know if that’s how it’s going to be. Malik said it well — there’s a finite amount of love in the house, and it mutates to different people at different times. This season, Paul Baker is mad as hell. I’m brooding in the background, stealing glances at Anton. Now I feel he’s been liberated. So I hope to see a more liberated Paul Baker, and a more stable, in-love Paul Baker.
Are you aware that people write “Adults” fanfiction?
I’m very aware. Amita makes me very aware of it.
Do you read it?
I do not read it. But in my comments section, someone will reference something, and I’m like, What the hell is this? I’ll look it up and it’s like, Oh, they’re referencing a fanfic.
Paul Baker is sexually fluid. Did you feel pressure to represent this experience accurately?
I don’t think I felt much pressure, because it is so encapsulated in who the character is. I hadn’t experienced it until this season that people were coming up to me and saying that Paul Baker helped them learn about their own sexuality, or that they discovered that they weren’t bi, they were fluid. I’ve really felt — not pressure, but that there’s some type of representative responsibility here. I was just really glad that it could do that, and that it could be represented so well.
As a straight actor, are you sensitive to charges of queerbaiting?
I think my understanding is that queerbaiting is when someone is falsely portraying themselves as queer, and Paul Baker is pretty fluid to the core, and I think that that resonated with many people. I knew that there was some critique in the beginning of the bi guy or fluid guy who’s in a heterosexual relationship, but the love triangle was so accepted and natural and true to the character. I think that there wasn’t much queerbait to him.
After Season 1, FX and the “Adults” creators decided to film a new pilot, to provide a new way in for viewers and to show how Paul Baker met the rest of the characters. Was it strange to act like you didn’t know your castmates?
It was horrible. I hated pretending I didn’t know them, because they’re my friends of two years. We shot it at the end of the second season, so it was the very last thing we shot. It was so sad. I felt sad for Paul Baker, but then I also felt sad for me too, because I was like, I want to know my friends.
This is a very serious question. Would you ever shave your mustache for a role?
I just had that conversation the other day, and my heart says no. I just can’t. I don’t wanna! But part of me is also like, I don’t know what I look like. The last time I shaved it was Jan. 1, 2024, and I did not recognize myself in the mirror. I don’t know! The answer is I don’t know. I don’t want to. I don’t want to. It would have to be something crazy for me to do it.
What’s on your career to-do list? Do you have one?
Big time. There’s many things on my to-do list. The top thing right now is a rom-com. I want to do a rom-com so bad. That’s my favorite genre of movie of all time.
What’s in the rotation?
The millennial hope-core 2010-through-2015 exposed-brick rom-com, I like a lot. “Set It Up,” “That Awkward Moment.” The one with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.
“Friends With Benefits.”
That era. You have Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” playing in the background. You have Mumford & Sons. That’s my shit right there.
Would you consider a superhero franchise?
I would love to. There’s no experience in this industry that I would not consider. To fuck around on camera is so fun. Just to have fun on set. Whether that’s a superhero, whether that’s a rom-com, it’s just so fun to perform. So if Marvel hit me up, yeah, of course.
You’ve talked a lot about social media. Do you check your own DMs?
Yes.
Are people sending you crazy things?
Yes.
Do you respond?
I respond to the craziest of things, which I don’t encourage people to lean into, but actually, fuck it. I just today was like, I gotta delete. I gotta delete Twitter. It was unfortunate or very blessed timing, but with “Adults,” the second season came out right as I was starting in this new production, and so didn’t have enough time to really be interacting with people online. But I think the entire cast is deeply in there, and I’m deeply in my DMs. People will send me that they’ve put my face on like the American flag and hung it up in their dorm, and I’ll respond to that and like the message. I saw an edit of me playing in a Serbian nightclub, and I’ll respond to that. It’s stuff like that. Like, if there’s some weird deep-cut stuff or someone’s hitting me with something — whoa, I’ll respond.
One of my favorite things about Paul Baker is that he has the secret other side, “Baker,” who hangs out with obnoxious guys who are so unlike your other friends. Which is closer to the real you?
I’ll never tell. No, I think there is a bro-y side to me. As I’ve been posting on my spam account since the show’s come out, everyone’s like, “This is Baker. This is not Paul Baker. This is not my Paul Baker.” I truly think there’s two wolves inside of me. One is Baker, and one is Paul Baker. And they’re always in pendulum. It’s not even a pendulum. It’s like Schrödinger’s cat. They both exist at the same time.
