‘Adults’ Duo Owen Thiele & Jack Innanen on TV’s Coolest Slow-Burn Romance

Anton and Paul Baker’s first kiss hit like cracking a glow stick — sudden light after a long, careful burn. Owen Thiele and Jack Innanen make that slow build feel inevitable and fragile at once.

Across Season 2 of Adults, the pair stop pretending the fondness is only friendship. Drama Tales sat with the duo (and the showrunners’ road map) for our Digital Cover.

Meet-cute energy that stuck

Thiele calls meeting Innanen love at first sight; Innanen remembers a marathon St. Patrick’s Day chemistry read in Times Square where intimidation quickly turned into ease. The room knew early that Anton and Paul Baker could carry a season-long romance.

Once FX ordered more episodes, co-creators Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold realized they could slow the fuse — trusting Thiele and Innanen’s timing on glances, jokes, and almost-confessions.

A lingering connection

Touch and acts of service read as Paul Baker’s love languages even while he tries to stay “just friends.” The writers seeded longing into scenes that weren’t officially about the ship, so the yearning never felt switched on for finale convenience.

The Issa complication

Issa’s presence keeps the triangle honest. Paul Baker’s feelings for Issa and Anton aren’t the same flavor of love, and the show refuses to trash the friendship on the way to the truth. By midseason, surface-level romance gives way to harder conversations.

Finally

After breakups, almosts, and one chaotic near-threesome detour, Issa’s honesty becomes the unlock — pushing Anton to stop performing bravery and admit what he wants. The Season 2 finale leaves Anton and Paul Baker in new territory: elected or not, they’ve crossed the line they kept redrawing.

Thiele and Innanen played the final private exchange so quietly that even the crew couldn’t hear the words — a choice Shaw and Kronengold loved, because these two still aren’t ready for a perfect happy ending.

What’s next

In the showrunners’ minds, two seasons of slow burn are only the prologue. Think Ross-and-Rachel runway, not curtain call: the spark is lit, and the afterglow is where the next chapter starts.

Adults — FX