interview by JANA LETONJA

Canadian actor, comedian and creator Jack Inannen will be starring as one of the leads in FX upcoming comedy, premiering in 2025. In 2019, Jack started producing videos on TikTok, where he became known for his viral comedy sketches. He also has a strong presence in fashion, having become a fixture at fashion weeks around the world and collaborating with many of the biggest fashion houses.

You’re set to star in an upcoming FX ensemble comedy. How did this opportunity come about, and what can you tell us about your character?

I honestly just auditioned. It’s funny, at the top of the year, I had decided to really give acting a go and my first ever audition was for this teen erotic fanfic movie, and I actually got a callback. I had a bit of a conversation with my team as to if acting was for me, because I just wanted to work on something funny. That was my whole goal, to work on a comedy and tell a cool story. I wasn’t looking to play Shirtless Beach Teen #2.

Right after this conversation, I got sent my second ever audition, which was for this show, and I immediately thought it was the funniest thing I had ever read. I still think that today. Not only that, but the character was exactly me. He was exactly 22-year-old Jack and so I was hellbent on getting the role. I honestly was like, “What a great first acting job, I won’t even have to act.” It has truly been the greatest honour of my entire life to get to play the role and I really mean that. He is a soft lover boy from Canada, and if nothing else, he is just a kind heart and a little too pure sometimes for his own good.

full look THOM BROWNE

How does acting in a scripted series differ from the more improvised, sketch-based work you’re known for on TikTok?

Oh, it’s a whole other world. To start, in my sketches I am completely alone. I am never interacting with anyone else, I am delivering my lines to a wall. When acting, you are completely in this scene with this other person, fully existing in that moment, it’s fun and engaging and forces you to be fully present. The show is also just hilarious, the creators and cast are just levels beyond when it comes to comedy and performance. It honestly has just been an education. Also, I am only a performer in this world. I am not involved in the writing, producing, editing, anything. I am simply a performer, so all my effort goes into learning and developing and being this character.

It is such a fun exercise day in and day out, just constantly making decisions only in that vertical. It’s so rewarding. And probably most importantly, it’s such a fun collaborative project. Everyone is so talented and creative and incredible at what they do, so I just show up and work with the most amazing people on such a large project that I get to be a part of. It’s my dream.

full look THOM BROWNE

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve encountered while preparing for this role, and what are you most excited for fans to see in the series?

Developing who my character is has been such an interesting exercise. I’ve learned so much about myself. I have never had to become someone else in this way before. Any performing I had ever done in anything online was pretty much just line delivery, but here I have been trusted to become this person and exist as them. The biggest challenge was steering away from deciding how he makes salad dressing or reacts to a sad text, but really learning how to just exist as him and live accordingly to everything happening around me. Not always reacting through an active “What would he do” filter, but rather just enter the scene and be this guy. My takeaway that has been the most difficult thing has been learning how to act. I am so excited for people to get to see how my character becomes a part of this friend group. He’s the only newcomer. From friendships to relationships, I can’t wait for people to watch it all.

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Looking back, how do you feel your journey has shaped your career in ways you didn’t expect?

I never really thought I could do what I’m doing now, to be honest. It’s funny how I think our generation views accessibility, because to me the internet was always within reach. I am a part of that YouTube generation where that was my TV, those were my celebrities. I knew it was a real career path, but never gave myself permission to fully pursue it until I did in 2019. But the most unexpected thing has been this new world of acting and television. That didn’t seem accessible to me in the slightest. It was a scary world that existed all the way in the states, down in Hollywood, and had barriers of entry and layers of inaccessibility I never even considered.

It wasn’t until getting somewhat involved in the industry through everything I did online that I realized I was allowed to give myself permission to pursue what I wanted to pursue, that that was within my arsenal of aspiration to be honest, as silly as that might sound. That has honestly been the biggest thing I learned in the past year, that I am allowed to give myself permission to pursue anything. This industry as a whole is what I never truly expected. Also, interacting with any celebrity still always freaks me out a little. I catch myself giggling in my head at how silly this has all turned out.

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full look MICHAEL KORS

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jacket VERSACE

How did your journey from physics and astronomy to comedy and acting begin? What was the spark that led you to pursue content creation, and now acting?

I just always loved both. I think I found the challenge was that there was this need to only be one or the other, as they seemed to be juxtaposed. I always really enjoyed science and comedy, but felt I had to pick between the two. That goes back to the whole permission thing from before. I thought science was the smarter, wiser career choice and don’t think I really realized it was valid to allow myself to pursue comedy. It wasn’t until I became really unhappy in my second year of university that I realized I needed to make a switch. It was honestly a nervous breakdown where I realized I couldn’t do physics for the rest of my life.

There was a funny moment where my university, on the first day of school, showed a pie chart of all the careers available to students in my program. The pie chart was simply split in half, with half going into academia and half into militar, and I wasn’t super huge on either. I also found myself loving the film classes I took more than my program’s classes, which was a good sign. So again, it just goes back to giving myself permission. I missed the Vine generation of creators and had promised myself that if Vine 2.0 happened, I would take it seriously. And I got that opportunity with TikTok in 2019. No spark or moment, just a nagging feeling that this was always what I really wanted to be doing. It’s how I spent my time between homework and problem sets. The acting step was that whole experience over again, just 5 years later.

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What are your goals for the future of your acting career?

I just want to keep having fun and telling fun stories. I really am obsessed with our show. I truly pray that we get to keep making seasons of it. I would love to explore rom-coms and coming of age stories. I think coming of age stories about people in their 20s would be so fun to bring to life. Who the hell comes of age as a teenager? I most certainly didn’t.

Who or what are some of your biggest inspirations in comedy? How have they influenced your unique comedic style?

I am beaten to death with this one in my comments, but Jake and Amir shaped my online comedy completely. I owe them a lot. A lot of the older YouTube stuff like GoodNeighbourStuff and Whitest Kids U’Know really shaped what I find funny. A lot of that stuff from 2009 - 2013 influenced me during a super impressionable time. The absurdist characters and premises and petulance always cracked me up. Most importantly though, all of them taught me comedy could be democratized. They were all just kids with their buddies uploading stuff online.

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With the rapid changes in social media, how do you keep your content fresh and relevant for your audience?

To be honest, I don’t know. I just make things that I think are funny or engaging. The landscape will always change. I think as long as you are making something that you would want to watch, first that’s a win in itself, and second, there’s probably an audience for it.

Fashion is clearly an important part of your public persona. How did your interest in fashion evolve alongside your work in comedy?

I’m still figuring that out. The worlds forever seemed contrasted in my mind, but I think again it was just allowing myself to experiment in this world. Fashion has always intrigued me, but seemed so intimidating. Once I became little more confident in myself and learned it was similar to comedy in the way that you experiment and find what works for you, I really just fell in love with it. It’s an extension of self in such a fun way, like comedy.

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What can you share with us about your upcoming projects, both in acting and outside of it?

I can’t wait for the show to come out next year. I really hope you like it. I think you will. In the future, there will be more acting and more video and more fashion and more comedy.

TEAM CREDITS:
talent JACK INNANEN
photography WILLIAM FERCHICHI
styling BRIAN MELLER at THE WALL GROUP
grooming ERIC POLITO at ART DEPARTMENT using GLOSSIER
hair JAMES MOONEY at ART DEPARTMENT using T3 and ORIBE
photography assistant HYNING GAN
styling assistant ABBY MCDADE
editor TIMI LETONJA
editorial director & interview JANA LETONJA

IN CONVERSATION WITH JACK INNANEN

IN CONVERSATION WITH TANNER BUCHANAN

IN CONVERSATION WITH KESHA