The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
FANTASY LAND
Two stars of Apple TV+ comedy ‘Mythic Quest’ say making a comedy series about a video game company is a winning experience
In case you were wondering, no, F. Murray Abraham is not a gamer. ¶ Nor does he play one on TV. ¶ However, the veteran theater, television and film actor — his accolades include the best-actor Academy Award for the 1984 drama “Amadeus” — is about to be seen for a second season playing a key character in Apple TV+ comedy series “Mythic Quest,” which is set at a company that makes video games. ¶ Abraham portrays C.W. Longbottom, a washed-up science-fiction author who finds a second professional life as the writer of storylines for the show’s namesake sprawling online role-playing fantasy game. ¶ “No, I’m not,” he says when given the “gamer” question in a recent video interview. “What I am is a pinball guy. But the introduction to this world of video games is astonishing. I had no idea this was as vast as it is. It worries me — I begin to think, ‘How ignorant am I about so many other things?’ I just think, ‘How many people play video games?’ I mean, millions of people, right?” ¶ Yes. ¶ “Well, then I should know more about it,” he continues. “But every time (cast members) try to teach me how to play one, they do nothing but laugh at me … because I’m so inept. I’ll play pinball machine against anyone!”
One of his cast mates, Cleveland native Imani Hakim, allows that she has at least some game.
“I don’t want to carry, like, the title of being ‘a gamer’ because there are some badass gamers out there, but I did enjoy gaming,” she says in a separate interview. “I have all brothers, so it was sort of my way of relating to them.”
Hakim, who was homeschooled, grew up across from Cleveland’s Karamu House and performed in a few plays produced by the acclaimed institution that celebrates through an African-American lens.
“My dad put my brothers and I in theater just to kind of keep us busy and out of trouble, and I fell in love with it,” she says. “That introduced me to writing — I started writing my own scripts at 7 years old, and I would cast all my cousins in (the plays), and I would direct them.”
Her father saw her fire for creation, she says, and years later took a “leap of faith” by bringing her out to Los Angeles for auditions.
“I was one of the lucky few (who was) able to book something pretty soon after my arrival,” says Hakim, who, after playing Tonya on late-2000s sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris,” racked up a number of credits — including 2016’s “Sharknado: The 4th Awakens.”
On “Mythic Quest,” Hakim portrays game tester Dana and says when the opportunity to go for the role came her way, it seemed serendipitous.
“I was writing a pilot about a female gamer, and, I mean, it felt so aligned with where I was in my life,” she says. “Even when I was trying to do research and find out more about that (world) online, it was very hard for me to find a Black woman in that space. I was like, ‘Of course I want to be a part of this project. I want to be
part of that representation.’ Because they exist.”
“Mythic Quest” was cocreated by “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” stars Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, along with Megan Ganz — who, like the actors, also serves as a producer on that long-running FX/FXX series.
McElhenney sits at the head of the “MQ” ensemble cast, as conceited, alphamale creative director Ian Grimm. Charlotte Nicdao (“A gURLs wURLd”) portrays Ian’s brainy if not always confident foil, lead engineer Poppy Li, with the cast also boasting “Sunny” vet David Hornsby and Danny Pudi of “Community” fame.
While Hakim’s Dana is a smart and kind millennial, Abraham’s C.W. is something
very different.
“The thing that is amazing to me is how he gets away with being so outrageous,” Abraham says. “People forgive him for so much.
“The fact is that I think people care about him. I think he’s a good soul. I hope that comes across.”
“Mythic Quest” launched its debut season of nine 30-minute episodes in February 2020 and was generally well-received by critics and fans.
In May 2020, the show offered a remotely filmed 10th episode, “Quarantine,” and attempted to ease out of the novel coronavirus pandemic with the recently released 11th episode, “Everlight.” In it, the gang returns to the office after working from home and holds an annual party that
includes a live-action roleplaying tournament.
“That was terrific — what a piece of work that was,” Abraham says of “Everlight,” “Yeah, it’s a great way to get out of this pandemic crap.”
May 7 will see the debut of the sophomore season, most of it filmed after the shutdown in Los Angeles.
“I filmed one day, and then, you know, lockdown happened,” Hakim says. “And then for months we were just waiting and texting Rob and Megan and I were just, like, ‘Are we going back to work?’ ‘Do we still have jobs?’ You know? We love this show.”
Hakim says it was a “blessing” when they were able to return to work and knows that hasn’t been the case for everyone. And while it was a challenging shoot, the experience was made better by her coworkers.
“There are a lot of emotions happening, and we’re getting poked up our noses and washing our hands 96 times a day,” she says. “I’m so grateful that we got to film this season, and you can really see the chemistry coming through in Season two. Like, we really had each others’ backs, and, I mean, I think it shows.”
However, for much of the season, Abraham’s character is only a virtual presence, C.W. providing his constant un-wokeness via video conferencing.
“Yeah, well, I’d prefer to have shot with the company because it’s so much more fun to shoot with someone face-to-face, but Rob was concerned about a man of my age flying around the country during the pandemic,” he says.
Abraham was concerned about his remotely filmed scenes — producers sent equipment but not personnel to his home, along with instructions for working the cameras and lights.
“I thought, ‘What’s it going to look like?’” he says. “‘How am I going to look like I’m communing with these people?’ And it did work out pretty well. That was a big discovery.”
As the season progresses, Abraham shares scenes with a small number of actors. One of them is guest star William Hurt (“Body Heat,” “A History of Violence”), the fellow veteran playing a character who goes way back with C.W.
“We go way back,” Abraham says of Hurt. “We used to work at The Public Theater (in New York City) a long time ago on stage.
In the episode, “Peter,” their characters eventually hurl insults at each other, with one of C.W.’s really standing out from the fourletter-filled pack.
“What an insult! What I great line! I’m not gonna say it now, but wow!”
(It’s definitely not fit for print — and, well, know that if you search the Web for what Abraham was told by the writer of the episode was a British expression, you will get some results you won’t want on your work computer.)
In the show’s first season, arguably the best episode is its fifth, “A Dark Quiet Death.” It’s set years before the series and stars two actors not in the main cast, Jake Johnson (“New Girl”) and Cristin Milioti (“Palm Springs,” “Made for Love”). This season boasts another prequel of sorts, the sixth episode, “Backstory,” centered around a younger version of C.W. portrayed by Josh Brener (“Silicon Valley”).
Did Abraham work with Brenner on the character before the episode was shot?
“We didn’t have any communication till after the show, and it’s a funny thing, man, to look at yourself being played by someone else,” Abraham says. “You think, ‘What if he can’t act? What does that make me look like?’ But he could act,” he says. “(‘Backstory’) was like a whole movie.”
Although not involved with either, Hakim says “A Dark Quiet Death” and “Backstory” suggest you can’t easily label “Mythic Quest.”
“Sure, it’s a workplace comedy, but it kind of plays with genres a bit,” she says. “It’s definitely a comedy — we find the humor — but we also have so much heart and we have so much soul in the show.”
Expect the mutual attraction her character shares with fellow game tester Rachel (Ashly Burch) to develop further in Season Two and for Dana to start seriously thinking about what’s next for her career-wise.
In real life, Hakim — who admits she doesn’t get home to Northeast Ohio much, preferring her family come to the warm of LA instead — says she hopes Apple renews “Mythic Quest” for a third season and beyond.
It’s a sentiment shared by Pittsburgh native Abraham, seen in recent years as memorable recurring character Dar Adal, a shadowy CIA operative, on the hit showtime drama “Homeland.”
“As far as I’m concerned, I can do (“Mythic Quest”) forever. It’s one of those. It’s one of those fun jobs you can’t wait to get to. That doesn’t happen often.”