Speed Dating with FX’s Adults Cast

If you have a Letterboxd account, a very specific take on what constitutes a good dinner party, and at least one friend who won’t stop talking about Adults, chances are you’re already obsessed with FX’s latest comedy. And honestly? We get it. The cast is even more fun than the show.

For an exclusive edition of NYLON’s Speed Dating series, we sat down with Owen Thiele, Jack Innanen, Amita Rao, Lucy Freyer, and Malik Elassal to get to know the people behind the performances, from their childhood icons and dream careers to their party playlists, karaoke picks, and most niche dealbreakers. Consider this your chance to get to know them off-script — and maybe decide who you'd actually swipe right on.

What do you do for work?

LUCY: I'm an actor.

OWEN: I'm still figuring that out. I act and I have a podcast. Oh, it's so, so sad to say out loud.

MALIK: I am a nightclub comic. And an actor.

AMITA: I do this professionally. I perform for work.

JACK: I am an actor.

Who was your inspiration growing up?

LUCY: I think Nora Efron. When I figured out who Nora Efron was, the way she lives her life, I'm like, “I want to live like that.” I think she is very intentional about everything she does in her life. If she's making a cup of coffee, she's like, "I want to get the best beans and I want to take my time to do it." And if she's decorating her apartment, she has someone where she gets her curtains from and she has a relationship with them. She's just very intentional about her life.

OWEN: Raven-Simoné. Of course. Queer black icon. I saw her on screen and I was like, "I wanna have visions."

MALIK: Probably, like, Adam Sandler, because I didn't even really know he was an actor. I thought he was just a guy that was like that. I was like, "Oh, man, you can just be yourself, and it's awesome.” I loved him in every movie I saw him in. I was obsessed with him.

AMITA: There were so many comedians that inspired me. I remember watching a lot of Chelsea Peretti. I loved Mindy Kaling. I loved Aziz Ansari, Ali Wong, John Mulaney, Nick Kroll, obviously.

JACK: Donald Glover. I love Donald Glover. Multifaceted guy. Atlanta, Because The Internet, Community. Big inspiration... My mother. Shout out my mom.

If you weren't doing what you are now, what other career would you have?

LUCY: Scuba instructor. I would just think that that's something I'd enjoy doing. I like to be under the sea. I don't know how to scuba, but I would learn and then I would teach others.

OWEN: I wouldn't have a career. I couldn't do anything else. You should not put me at a desk. Don't let me do anything else. This is the only thing I could do, so I'm lucky I'm doing it.

MALIK: I was a social worker for a little while. I would love to still be doing that. It feels nice to help people rather than just to only think about yourself all the time. This is exhausting.

AMITA: I would love to be a psychodynamic therapist. I would love to be a spy.

What do you do for fun?

LUCY: I go to the beach. I like to swim, swim in the ocean. I like to hike. I like to cook. I like to have dinner parties, cook for friends. I love to have a dinner party.

OWEN: Um, I like to draw. I don't do that. I've never done that. I walk around, and I like to put on clothes– Shop. I like to shop.

MALIK: Pack a little bag and ride my bike all day. Pack a granola bar, a little notebook, and just kinda ride until I'm exhausted.

AMITA: I like to draw. I like to swim. I love to swim. I like to gab with my friends.

JACK: Love to read sci-fi. Love to play Minecraft. Love to watch Minecraft YouTube videos. Love to work with clay. Love to run. I actually don't. Take that back. I just lied. Sorry.

Would you consider yourself a party person?

LUCY: I like a night in with people in my home or a night in someone else's home. Like a dinner party, not a traditional party, but sitting around chatting.

OWEN: I don't love, like, a club. Or even a really loud party. I like a speakeasy. Two of us sitting there, [wine] in hand… "Hi, how are you?" Do you know what I mean? That vibe.

MALIK: Not at all. I truly don't understand clubbing at all. Like, if you looked at it without music, it looks insane. People just freaking out in a building.

AMITA: I think I used to be a party person. I was on the floor at the party. Now I'm not. Now I'm at home. I'm with my friends, I'm watching animated shows…

JACK: No, but I can party! I can party.

What's on the playlist?

LUCY: Maybe a Norah Jones radio. We’ve got a Norah theme going on.

OWEN: Audrey Hobert, “Silver Jubilee." Woo! “I’ma put my drink up.” I listen to the same song. Amita knows this. I listen to the same song probably 25 times in a row, and then the pregame's over. So it's probably just that song right now.

MALIK: I love Pine Grove. I also like music where it sounds like the woman is, like, fading away as she's singing. Like Fleetwood Mac where it sounds like she's getting further away as she's singing. I also have been accused of having, scare-the-hoes music. I've definitely put on Earl Sweatshirt at a time where it's not the vibe at all. And I'm like, “No, did you actually hear what he just said? It's actually crazy what he just said. It's actually, like, a triple entendre.” Pulling up Rap Genius: “Read it too. Read it too.”

AMITA: Mitski. I really like The Cranberries. Julia Jacklin.

JACK: A lot of Billie Holiday. This is my dream Sunday: I wake up and it's snowy outside. I have a candle burning. Billie Holiday radio. Some King Cruel. Some Chet Baker, Paul Baker's brother. It's just cozy. I have, like, a shelf to hang up, and that's it. And I spend the rest of the day watching movies. I order in some, some Five Guys, some Greek food.

Do you have a go-to karaoke song?

LUCY: “Wide Open Spaces” by The Chicks, because I think I do a good Chicks impression. And also everyone knows it. It's fun. It's not too long. One time I sang “Climb Every Mountain” from The Sound of Music because I thought it'd be really funny. Turns out it's a really long song. So it was funny, and then it was very unfunny for about six minutes, and then it became funny again — which is arguably the best type of humor.

OWEN: “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston written by Dolly Parton. I sing the Whitney Houston version. It doesn't sound pretty, but everyone knows it. It makes people cry. Well, not me, but they just, they have their own memories with it.

MALIK: I'll do some kind of, like, obscure rap sh*t… Nobody's getting involved, and then they just realize it's something with me that I'm getting out. Or Bruce Springsteen. I like Bruce Springsteen a lot.

AMITA: I love “Creep” by Radiohead. And then I love “Hopelessly Devoted.”

JACK: “This Charming Man” by The Smiths. It's just something fun, something dancey.

Can you give us a little snippet of your karaoke performance?

LUCY: Absolutely under no circumstances. That's a third date.

OWEN: No, no, no. Not right now. But, um, later, when we go back to mine.

Amita: No. For a comedian, I have a great voice. For Broadway, I have to work out.

What is your biggest red flag in someone else?

LUCY: If they talk sh*t about their ex. If a guy is talking sh*t about his ex-girlfriend and says she's crazy, I'm like, "Well, what did you do to make her crazy?" Women aren't crazy for no reason.

OWEN: When they don't ask questions, which is what I'm doing right now. I'm not asking you one question.

MALIK: When they have no phone etiquette.

AMITA: If their answers are, like, sterile and normie. I'm like, "What are we doing here? What's going on?”

JACK: Lack of geographical knowledge is a niche red flag of mine. If you don't know generally where we are or where things are, that's concerning, because we're all on the same planet. Maps have been accessible since you were born.

What do you think is your biggest red flag?

LUCY: I love to gossip. If you've got a really important secret, I'm keeping it, but if it's a little bit of gossip, especially if it's about someone else I'm like… Come on!

OWEN: Oh, the list goes on, baby… I do exaggerate the truth. I also think I have a tendency to not follow through. I think I set up plans and then, last minute, I'm like, "I can't do it. There's an alien in my house!" That's the lie.

MALIK: I have pretty bad posture. I have, like, an anterior pelvic tilt. I just kinda don't know what kind of genetics I'm gonna pass down…

AMITA: [Crying] That I am short and I take a lot of pride in being so small. Sorry. I bring it up all the time when people ask– sorry. When people ask, "How tall are you?" I'm like, "I'm five– I'm five two.” Like, I'm so small. I'm so small and I take so much pride in it. Every time I'm with any guy, I bring it up. And girls too. Especially when the girls are really big. Can I please get more wine?

JACK: I don't really let people in. I think I'm very scared of people finding out the real me — opening myself up and then they see my ugliness and they go, "Ugh. Ew, gross. I thought you were this way, but you're really like this." So I like to keep that all separate. I don't really let anyone really know me. And I think that's hard because to be loved is to be known. Have I ever really been loved? Does my family even know me? Does my mom really know me? She loves me. She claims to love me. I don't know. Sorry. I pregamed this a little bit.

What is the biggest green flag in someone else?

LUCY: I think if they do the things they say they're going to do. If they have follow-through.

OWEN: I like people who are generous with their time. I like quality time, so I think people who like to spend time with me.

AMITA: Honesty. When someone just can't be anyone other than themselves, I'm like, "I love you."

JACK: A lust for life. Or really into shawarma.

How would your castmates describe you?

LUCY: I'm repeating what they just said to me. This isn't me saying it myself. They said I have great follow-through. I'm a good matchmaker and connector of people. I'm a hype woman and I give great advice.

OWEN: Annoying, insane, mentally ill… They said that I'm funny, a great connector — that one I think is true, I love to bring people together. A “value-add to any space” — that's not true. And the “life of any room,” which is very kind.

MALIK: They said “lover boy,” “deeply caring and funny” – what the hell? – “non-judgmental” and “golden heart.” I think I am a little bit judgmental. I'm trying to work on it about myself.

AMITA: What my cast has said to me before is that I am deeply curious. I am super, super funny. I am a rascal to Malik. I am scarily honest to Jack. And usually as they say, very small.

JACK: Warm, generous, playful, open-hearted. I think I can be open-hearted. I just– I throw it at people.

Do you have any party tricks or hidden talents?

LUCY: I can make a really good meringue during a party.

OWEN: I could, when I'm warmed up, hit a whistle tone.

MALIK: Apparently, I have a ribbed tongue.

AMITA: I can do a duck noise. I can do a baby crying. I can do a handstand. Wanna see that?... If I can do [a handstand] in [this] restaurant, imagine what I can do in the bedroom.

JACK: I have, like, a very big weenus. That part of your elbow. It's huge. I think it's, like, above average.