Jack Innanen Responds to Queerbaiting Criticism About 'Adults' Character Paul Baker | Just Jared

Jack Innanen is responding to some critiques surrounding his Adults character.

In the hit FX comedy series, the 27-year-old actor plays Paul Baker, who is sexually fluid and in a love triangle with girlfriend Issa Damani (Amita Rao), and “husband” Anton Evans (Owen Thiele), who he marries after his Canadian visa expires.

In a new interview with Variety, Jack reacted to accusations that Paul Baker is queerbaiting.

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“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,” he explained.

“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,” he continued. “I think that there wasn’t much queerbait to him.”

Also in the interview, Jack was asked if he felt “pressure” to accurately represent people that are sexually fluid.

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“I don’t think I felt much pressure, because it is so encapsulated in who the character is,” he responded. “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,” Jack continued. “I was just really glad that it could do that, and that it could be represented so well.”

In another recent interview, Jack explained why he had to turn down a role in Heated Rivalry after previously campaigning to join the show.

Seasons 1 and 2 of Adults are available for streaming on Hulu now!

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