‘Adults’ Star Jack Innanen on Diving Into Paul Baker’s Origin Story and That Love Triangle With Prequel Episode

Note: This story contains spoilers from the “Adults” prequel episode. Before FX’s “Adults” returns for its second season this August, the comedy series is plummeting its resident twentysomethings into the past with a special prequel episode, centered on how Jack Innanen’s Paul Baker first joined the chaotic friend group. The prequel episode, titled “Marathon Day,” sees the moment when Paul Baker not only meets Issa (Amita Rao), but also cements his place in the friend group alongside Samir (Malik Elassal), Billie (Lucy Freyer) and Anton (Owen Thiele), feeding the fandom who have shared love for Paul Baker on social media since Season 1 debuted in May 2025. “I think that’s the cool thing with the show is that the characters are so relatable in so many ways, and that so many people have those people and those kind of types of characters in their life,” Innanen told TheWrap. “It feels very special that it resonated, and that … there are parts of me that exist in Paul Baker that resonate.” When creators Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold first sat down the “Adults” crew to explain the idea for the prequel episode, Innanen admitted the prospect of going back two years from when the pilot was set was initially “intimidating,” but turned into a “fun challenge.” But it didn’t make shooting scenes with the crew where Paul Baker was a stranger any easier for Innanen. “It actually kind of killed me … it was hard that these are like the cast I’ve known and I’ve been very very close with for two years, but then I’ve just only played being friends with them — and the best of friends,” Innanen said, recalling the introductory handshake between Paul Baker and Samir feeling “a little sad,” likening it to the “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” trailer in which Zendaya’s MJ can’t remember Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. “I’m like, guys, it’s me, like from the gun store … it’s me, Paul Baker,’” Innanen said. “But it was a little lonely.” The episode pieced together the context that had been dropped throughout the pilot and show’s freshman season, some of which had been a mystery to the cast. “When we first shot the pilot, they had sent us a document on deeper backstories of everyone, and then that was kind of abandoned quickly when the season went into production,” Innanen recalled. “There’d be like little jokes here and there that would piece together context, and then this, I think, rewrote some of that.” One of those backstories was how Paul Baker and Issa met, with Innanen assuming the couple had met at a club and started as a hookup and turned into more. Instead, the prequel sees a delirious post-marathon Paul Baker run into a restaurant that Issa and Samir are at, and Issa makes her best effort to help him — despite having no medical training. “I think that this is much sweeter,” Innanen said. Amita Rao as Issa, Jack Innanen as Paul Baker in the “Adults” prequel episode (Michael Gibson/FX) Against Samir’s warning of not bringing any more men to his childhood home where they can crash for free, Issa brings Paul Baker back home and gives him her pink sweatpants to rest up. It’s there that Anton runs into Paul Baker, and asks for his foil blanket to sell the lie he told his coworkers about running the marathon.The Season 1 finale saw sparks fly between Paul Baker and Anton after the duo legally tied the knot for Paul Baker’s green card, threading some seeds of chemistry between the duo was top of mind for Innanen, Thiele and the creators. “We’re going back and almost rewriting history in this way … how do we preserve the innocence of what it was, but also maybe plant some seeds in what is genuine to the characters?” Innanen said, pointing to the tug-of-war with the foil blanket as an insight into their initial dynamic. “We play different levels of the intrigue that Paul Baker has of Anton and of the friend group,” he continued. “[It’s] very much just seeds … there’s no real like ‘Jim look at the at the camera moments’ of anything, but it was fun to play and figure out … what is the first step of this relationship.” Owen Thiele as Anton, Jack Innanen as Paul Baker in “Adults” (Rafy/FX) While the choice for Anton and Paul Baker to tie the knot came out of necessity for his citizenship after Issa hesitated about getting married, the chemistry in the kiss between the duo certainly caught Issa off guard, and maybe Paul Baker a bit as well. “It’s not at the front of his brain, but there’s something in his brainstem that exists and did exist throughout and grew throughout the first season,” Innanen said of Paul Baker’s feelings for Anton. According to Innanen, the kiss formed a “crack” that chips away at all three characters throughout Season 2, though he noted he finds the way it chips away at Issa “the most entertaining for me, and the most real and vulnerable and cute.” “What I loved watching the most this season was how that kiss affected the Issa [and] Anton of it all,” he said. And while Paul Baker might resort to being “intentionally hands off or a little bit oblivious,” Innanen notes “he can’t be hands off anymore.” “He has to take action, which I think is hard for him,” he said. “It’s hard for him to get involved or really … put a stake in the ground.” “Adults: Marathon Day” (FX/Hulu) After the success of Season 1, Innanen likened returning to the “Adults” set to film Season 2 to coming back to high school after freshman year. “We also know that we had something that was so fun, and that other people resonated with,” Innanen said. “There was no holding back. It was like, ‘Okay, we have this thing that worked, and then how do we punch it to … 100 on all fronts.’” In the wake of the “Adults” buzz, Innanen had used his social media to campaign for a role on Season 2 of the queer hockey sensation “Heated Rivalry.” Innanen secured the role, though had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. “That was tricky — that was something that was kind of beyond me,” he said. “It was just such an incredible show. I think Jacob [Tierney] and everyone [who is] a part of that is so cool — and such a incredible Canadian project too — and excited to see what they do with it.” Innanen didn’t close the door on appearing in “Heated Rivalry” again in the future, should schedules work out. “I would love for it to [work out],” he said. “Again, I think that might be beyond me, but I would love for it to be.” But for now, Innanen is content with his two series regular roles on “Adults” and Dan Levy’s “Big Mistakes,” which Innanen said is gearing up “relatively soon” for Season 2. “We’re getting going,” he said. “I’ve been hitting the glutes. I’ve been working on my glutes more too in case I have any more rear scenes.” “It’s a dream come true — if I could be Paul Baker and Max again till I’m 102 —and then at 103, I’m going to start taking it easy — I would love to do that forever,” Innanen said. “They’re also so different and such different versions of me, but also a little bit true to me in different ways. It’s the most fun with the most incredible people.” “Adults” Season 1 and the prequel episode is now streaming on Hulu and FXX, with Season 2 dropping Thursday, Aug. 27 on FXX and Hulu.