After two special, interim episodes between seasons, Apple TV+'s hit original workplace comedy series Mythic Quest returns for its second season this May. Coming back for more hilarious hijinks are Imani Hakim as game tester Dana, Ashly Burch -- who also wrote the standalone special episode Mythic Quest: Everlight -- as her fellow tester Rachel and Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham as the eccentric story writer C.W. Longbottom.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Hakim, Abraham and Burch shared how much closer they had grown on a personal level between seasons, complimented the series writing for its sense of authenticity no matter how outrageous the proceedings and what keeps each of them coming back for more.
Murray, I'm curious: As someone who's gotten to tangle with Mozart, the Muppets and Captain Jean-Luc Picard, does Mythic Quest have the most ridiculous dialogue that you've ever delivered?
F. Murray Abraham: No, it's the best, man! [Laughs.] It's got scope and size and energy and danger; you never know what's going to come out of that guy's mouth! It's one of the best things that I've ever had to do; I mean it! Sincerely! I've done quite a bit of Shakespeare and some of the crazy characters in his work are not that different from this guy; Bottom [from A Midsummer's Night's Dream] comes to mind. The thing that makes it work is that no matter how outrageous C.W. is, he's absolutely authentic; he's believable. You believe that guy exists, don't you? That's a real credit to the writing -- and to the performing, of course -- but it's an astounding thing that this character was dreamed up for a series about gamers! It's a brilliant concept! As far as I'm concerned, it's absolutely wonderful! [Laughs.]
Ashly, Imani, your characters are relatively secluded in Season 1 and grow more connected to the main ensemble in Season 2 while taking your relationship forward. How has that development and playing off each other as scene partners been?
Ashly Burch: It's so interesting -- we came back to Season 2 after the pandemic hit because Imani and I and Charlotte [Nicdao], who plays Poppy, and Jessie [Ennis], who plays Jo, had already been close during Season 1. But we really, really bonded over lots of Zoom hangouts during the pandemic and so it was interesting because we were already close but we came back to set basically as best friends. It's cool because you can see it on screen -- we didn't do it for this reason -- but as Dana and Rachel's relationship changed and shifted, Imani and I had already gotten closer just as people.
I think that level of intimacy, we got to bring to our characters and because we go more places with those characters this season, it was just sort of a nice, really grounding thing. Imani and I are close friends and that intimacy comes through in our performances, and then as we start to branch out to more of the workplace, it was always this safe, grounding thing to come back to when we would have scenes together again. It was like, "Yay! We're home!" [Laughs.]
Imani Hakim: Yeah, Ash said it so beautifully. You can't fake the funk; I mean, you can, but sometimes you can tell. It's just refreshing to have a wonderful scene partner where I don't really have to fake it; I love her! It's just a safe space. Like you said, we're a romantic storyline, we're doing the most intimate things for storytelling, and you just want to feel safe with your scene partner. I have that with Ashly and it shows.
Abraham: Don't you feel that's true of all these characters? That there's a real trust and a real regard, no matter how silly some of them are, we really do care about each other? I think that must come through the camera!
Speaking of that authenticity, Murray you once said you genuinely like C.W., and with Season 2 delving more into his backstory and you spending more time with him, how has that been?
Abraham: It's one of the best aspects of doing a play; you do it eight times a week and, each time, you learn something more, if it's a good script. And that's what's happening with this: It just gets more and more fun! You get more of an appetite for this guy and you just want to jump in and eat it all up! When it cooks, you just can't get enough and that's how I feel about him; I can't get enough of this guy!
What keeps you guys coming back to Dana and Rachel with your performances?
Hakim: I really love Dana because she represents Gen Z. To me, it's really fun to watch this young woman discover what she wants to do in the long run. In Season 2, we get to dive more into that. In Season 1, we set her up, we see her game-test and then become a streamer, and now in Season 2, we're going to see her elevate even more. And to me that's such a huge part of the gaming community, because it's not just one demographic, it spans across different generations. I love to be a part of representing the Gen Z era of that because it's a huge part of the audience.
Burch: For Rachel, what I really like about her and what I think we get to see in Season 2 is that her heart is really in the right place and she's also kind of a dummy. [Laughs.] She really thinks she knows everything and she doesn't. She has that sort of bravado and pride of being a young person, and what's kind of cool in this season is she gets challenged; as much as she's challenging other people, she's finally getting as good as she gives. It's cool to see her fit into the ensemble. I think she's likable but she also has this edge to her that is a little bit annoying, a little bit too much, but also very human.
I feel like her arc this season, she's going through something that's really relatable: Fronting like you know what you're doing and then being called out when you don't and then having to grapple with that and having to figure out "What am I actually going to do? I act like I have all the answers and I really don't so what does it look like to find out my life's purpose?" Like what Imani was saying about Dana, Rachel represents that thing with young people when you sort of hit a wall and figure out what [you] want to do with [your] life. I think that arc for her is really cool this season.
Mythic Quest stars Rob McElhenney, Charlotte Nicdao, David Hornsby, Danny Pudi, Ashly Burch, Imani Hakim, Jessie Ennis and F. Murray Abraham, with Naomi Ekperigin, Caitlin McGee, Humphrey Ker, Chris Naoki Lee and Jonathan Wiggs. Season 2 premieres Friday, May 7 on Apple TV+.