Imagine a world where the stakes are high, the barrier to entry is impossible, and everyday feels like a never-ending quest for survival—and that's just in the offices. The Apple TV+ workplace comedy series Mythic Quest created by Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, and Rob McElhenney is now in its fourth season! After premiering in 2020, the video game-development centric show has had much success on the streamer and has been nominated for Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, a TCA Award, and Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards.
If you aren't tapped into Mythic Quest yet, the show follows the fictional video game studio that produces the game 'Mythic Quest, a popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG, run by the game's creator and creative director Ian Grimm. The show has a seriously stacked cast that includes Rob McElhenney as Ian Grimm, Ashly Burch, Jessie Ennis, Imani Hakim, David Hornsby, Charlotte Nicdao, Danny Pudi, F. Murray Abraham, and Naomi Ekperigin, just to name a few. The show is executive produced by Charlie Day, Megan Ganz, David Hornsby, Rob McElhenney, David Gordon Green, Nicholas Frenkel, Michael Rotenberg, Jason Altman, Danielle Kreinik, and Gérard Guillemot from RCG Productions, 3 Arts Entertainment, Ubisoft Film & Television, and Lionsgate Television.
Also, there is a much-anticipated anthology series, Side Quest will make its global debut on Mar. 26 with all four episodes. The show will explore the lives of employees, players, and fans who are impacted by the game in an anthology format.
In an interview with Culturess, Alanna Ubach (Ted, Euphoria) who portrays Ian's cynical ex-partner Shannon and Elisha Henig (American Vandal, Alex Inc.) who portrays Pootie Shoe aka Brendan, Ian's son and one of the most influential streamers of Mythic Quest, talk about their portrayal of a unique family dynamic, their similarities as child actors, and what it’s like to be apart of a show centered on the world of video game development through the lens of comedy. Buckle up because Henig also wrote Season 4 Episode 8 called 'Rebrand' and talks about the experience of writing that episode. Read on!
Culturess: Your characters are so unique in the already unique world of Mythic Quest. The show has been on for half a decade now! With both Shannon and Pootie Shoe, there isn't so much that we can grab onto other than talk of Ian and his estranged relationship with his son. How did you guys develop the relationship off-screen and how that can bleed into the on-screen perception?
Alanna Ubach: Elisha is such a hang. That's just the bottom line. He is such a hang. He is the human that you can hang out with and just not really say much. Just do your thing, and you leave each other alone. And that's just it. He's so comfortable in his own skin. I've never seen anything like it in someone his age. I was a mess at his age. I was just all over the place and very lost. He's grounded. He is who he is. He makes no excuse and it shows in his work. It's so much fun to watch and to be a part of.
Elisha Henig: It's a great time. The funnest part of doing this, the only reason I agreed to do it was because I'd get to be with Elana. Because we had such a great time on... Gosh, when was it? I guess, 2020 now. Jesus, you're right. It has been a happy- Elijah was a puppy when we met.
AU: You were shorter than me. Do you remember? Which seems impossible to believe. He was like, This little. And he's just lots of chatter. When we're in the car together and I thought, Oh, this boy is so sweet. And then all of a sudden, cut to, years go by, and then he's written this amazing episode, and I meet him, and he just towers over me.
EH: Which is not hard to do. It's not hard to do at all.
AU: It gave me a protective feeling, which was nice. [Elisha] started acting when [he] were 13, and there's so much to talk to someone who has that perspective. There's so much immediately for us to relate about. It's a very specific experience to be a child actor. Those stage moms that live vicariously through the success of their kids.
EH: We talk a lot about that on set.
AU: All the details of the stage moms in the '90s and the 2000s.
Elisha, getting out of the child actor world, where you are having to just perform, Now that you're writing and you're able to write about your character that's central to the plot of the story, how was that? What was the writing process and even getting that opportunity to do it for this show?
EH: I've always written since being a little kid. This was a way to explore a little bit some of those ideas of being a child actor and the emotional impact it has through this version of this adjacent thing, which is being a streaming gamer. [As a writer], you have a little more control. You feel a little more behind the scenes. You're sitting with the producers and you're talking about stuff. That's nice. Being an actor is very...I don't like being told what to do. That's all you get. That's all it is, being an actor.
Check out a sneak peek of Mythic Quest's Season 4 Episode 8 'Rebrand' below:
AU: Really? See, I love being told what to do.
EH: You like being told what to do?
AU: I love it. I want to be put in a box, taken out, wound up, and sent on my way. You know what I mean?
EH: Maybe she's right. I think I agree with her. I like being told to do.
AU: I'm addicted to daydreaming. So it's like, 'Okay, you tell me what to do, and I'll just be in my little world.'
While a guest role, Shannon packs a punch! In Season 4, Episode 5, you're sitting with Poppy, and you say, "I had a combination Pilates and AA meeting around the corner" and it's just so funny! The lines are just hilarious. Looking at the scripts prior to actually shooting, what excites you the most? You have these incredible lines to play with.
AU: What excites me the most is the rest of the cast and how she's this juxtaposition to Charlotte Nicdao's character. The moment I met Charlotte, I thought, 'Oh, this is going to be funny.' because she's so understated and she's intellectual, and she's heady, and speaks quickly, and is sometimes unsure of herself. Then you have this, what I like to call them, 'aggressive fools' and those are my favorite characters to play. I love aggressive Fools. There's nothing better. Nothing more entertaining.
EH: That was my nickname in high school. [laughs]
I'd love to know and gain your perspective on the response that you've received, whether it's from people in your circle or even outside of it.
AU: Well, my fan base tends to be between 30 to 45 [years old]. The gamers are really into Mythic Quest, and some of the few gamers that do follow me are all about it. It's really interesting. People in this business, a lot of actors are huge, huge fans of the show, comedians, because it's so unique. It's such a great storyline. The concept is perfect. It has nougat and caramel and nuts and chews and chocolate, and nougat. Did I say nougat? Yeah, it's got that, too! It's a very, very unique show.
EH: Proud to be a part of it. One of the first times I encountered real-world, I was talking to some of these Tisch students, NYU Tisch students who are in the gaming department at Tisch, and they were like, We watch this show. Everybody watches that show. It's one of the only representations of gaming in media, really, the gaming industry. It's definitely built a really a wonderful purpose.
You can stream all current seasons of Mythic Quest on Apple TV+.