“There’s a certain White Lotus touch”: Derek Waters, Anna Konkle and Annamarie Kasper on Side Quest
Expanding the Mythic Quest universe in unexpected ways, Side Quest trades the main office drama for an anthology of standalone stories that explore the ripple effects of the game beyond its creators. From a cellist trapped in a dream-turned-nightmare to comic book superfans battling for a single issue, each episode shifts focus to the lives shaped – sometimes upended – by MQ. Whether it’s an overworked art director on a doomed vacation or long-time guildmates facing a game-breaking glitch, the four-part expansion series proves that the most compelling stories aren’t always found at the top of the leaderboard.
Ahead of the release of Side Quest on Apple TV+, Derek Waters, returning as Art Director Phil, along with newcomers Anna Konkle and Annamarie Kasper, spoke with The Upcoming to share their thoughts on the evolution of relationships – both romantic and professional – within the series, the intriguing new characters, the beauty of video game music, and the significance of side quests in expanding the Mythic Quest universe.
Hi Derek and Anna, it’s so lovely to speak with you today. To start things off, can you share what viewers can expect from Song and Dance, the first episode of Side Quest?
Derek Waters: In Side Quest, what you guys can look forward to here is seeing Phil, the art director from Mythic Quest, in his personal life. He’s trying his best to be with the love of his life on vacation, and he’s getting distracted. There’s heart, there’s comedy, and it’s called Song and Dance – there’s no singing, but I dance.
Anna, can you tell us a bit about your character, Maude?
Anna Konkle: I think Maude is trying to charm a lot, and she loves her fiancé – or her almost fiancé – and I think she’s hoping that he’s the one forever, and this is a little bit of a telling moment, if he will be or not, so it’s fun. It’s a love story and something we can all relate to – your identity tied to your work versus love and personal life and self-care.
What makes Hawaii a great setting for this episode, in your opinion?
Anna Konkle: I wish I was in Hawaii right now.
DW: Yeah, we wish we shot it in Hawaii; we shot it in Malibu. But Hawaii is the place of love, and that’s Maude and Phi in love. So it was a perfect place, a great location. Love Hawaii.
Anna Konkle: And it’s always fun to watch something where you want to be, there’s a certain White Lotus touch.
DW: I watched The Little Mermaid because I want to be “under the sea”.
How do you see this episode functioning as a “side quest” for Phil?
Anna Konkle: Your character in Mythic Quest had a lot of anxiety right?
DW: Yes, Phil has a lot of anxiety and this is kind of him standing up to the man and him taking a stand. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think you see Phil’s inner turmoil become exterior, and it’s a lot. You get to see it explode as a song and dance.
Can you tell us a bit about Phil and Maud’s relationship?
Anna Konkle: Playful? Gentle, loving and nagging on my end, I’d say.
DW: They’re best friends.
Anna Konkle: Best friends. You’re Bug, and I’m Momo. Bug and Momo.
DW: Best friends, and funny.
Anna Konkle: And you don’t see sex scenes, but like, very good lovers.
DW: And also, I was such a big fan of Anna, and I couldn’t wait to work with her, so it was very easy.
Anna Konkle: I’m a big fan of you, and I couldn’t wait to work with you.
What was your favourite scene to film, and what made it so memorable?
DW: When I first met Anna, we did a yoga scene, and she kept tickling me, and it was so funny. I loved all the scenes, and I loved being able to dance, but everything with Anna I loved. But I think doing the yoga thing and making each other laugh, I just never had a better scene partner than Hannah. And doing the dance, I was channelling Björk inside of Chris Farley’s body. That was my goal; I want to do more, but I don’t remember how to do it now though.
Anna Konkle: Do you have songs that you personally write? We can make a music video for the songs.
DW: Okay, I’ll do that. Yeah. But Sarah Silkin was the choreographer and she was so great.
Anna Konkle: It was a memorable experience because it brought out shame for me. I was really, really sick during a lot of the filming. I was on antibiotics, I was cleared by a doctor. It was fine for me to be on set, but then there came the scene where we had a kiss, and between each take, I had a pile of Kleenex. It was a sad moment, and you just tried to make me feel not guilty, and you were like,”I have an immune system of steel; don’t worry, I signed up for this.” And then I texted you a week after building, and you’re like, “I’m horrifically sick. I’m ill.” I’m so sorry about that.
DW: It’s okay.
Hi Annamarie, it’s so lovely to speak with thee today. To start things off, can you share with us what viewers can expect from Fugue, the third episode of Side Quest? And can you tell us a bit about your character, Sylvie?
Annamarie Kasper: Fugue is a standalone episode in the theology series, and it explores the music side of the video game Mythic Quest. So we get to meet Sylvie, a cellist whose life dream has been to be a part of the Mythic Quest orchestra, and follow her journey as she joins the orchestra and discovers that her passion for music might take her on a different journey than what she originally thought.
And what drew you to this role?
Annamarie Kasper: So this was a dream role for me. I always joked that Katie, our writer, broke into my house and read my journal and then wrote me up the role that I always wanted. It is so well written. I get to tap into kind of like an old passion of mine, which is playing cello, and I get to really explore an entire arc of a character’s journey, through ups and downs, and just every side of that. So it was truly, like I said, a dream part for me.
With your background and classical music, what are your thoughts on the music featured in Hero’s Passage?
Annamarie Kasper: The music is absolutely phenomenal. Our composer, Takashi Furukawa, who goes by TK, is truly amazing. I don’t know how he does what he does; the way he’s able to bring the episode to life so well, it’s astounding to me. And the music made it so that as an actress, it was easy to tap into this world and tap to this journey. There were times on set when I was like, “Can we actually play the score in the background so I can get into kind of like the head of Sylvie?” Because of the way he was able to capture her in this world, it’s really thrilling. I’m so excited for everyone to hear it.
And what aspect of Sylvie’s character do you think will most resonate with fans of the show?
Annamarie Kasper: Well, Sylvie’s a very passionate gamer, she’s very passionate about Mythic Quest like all of the fans are. What was really nice to see, and what I think people will really relate to is this idea of, watching when your dreams come true and then learning to deal with the parts of that that aren’t as wonderful as you thought they were, and watching that journey and really having a look at the mental health and anxiety side of things. I think that’s something that everyone can relate to, even if they’re not classical musicians, and I think they did a really excellent job of capturing that, and everyone should be able to find the world of that.
And how did you tailor your cello playing to the character of Sylvie?
Annamarie Kasper: What was cool and what was really awesome about playing her is that we both had this background in cello, but also this passion outside of it. So both of us are cellists. Sylvie’s very passionate about video games, that world, and I’m obviously an actress as well. So it was nice to be able to have this shared background – I imagine both of us being classically trained growing up and tapping into that, but then kind of allowing our musicianship to have and flow as we were older. Sylvie’s more of what I would call a “cool cellist” – less Bach and more video game music and things like that.
What was your favourite scene to film, and what made it so memorable?
Annamarie Kasper: Filming the orchestra scenes was really, really cool. We were in this giant theatre downtown in Los Angeles and they hired a whole professional orchestra. Everyone around me was a professional musician, and we played live. The actual recording itself was done later in Nashville with another set of professional musicians, but the whole team was so passionate about being accurate to classical music, to building that world accurately, so to have an entire professional orchestra playing the score was incredible – it was like a dream come true. It was so, so cool to be a part of that and to have the music live; it was amazing.
And were there any scenes or storylines in the episode that challenged you as an actor? How did you approach these moments?
Annamarie Kasper: Absolutely. A breakdown moment can always be challenging, and there were a lot of breakdowns for Sylvie. Because in general I like to think of myself as a very happy person, and so I think tapping into that world and allowing yourself to kind of like go there always can be challenging, but I also think it was so well-written and so the journey was so clear that it made it really easy to log into this world. And also my history with the cello made it really easy to kind of relate to how she would be losing it and the weight of having everything crashed down around you.
And would you want to reprise the role in the future if the opportunity arises?
Annamarie Kasper: Absolutely, sign me up now. I’m ready.
How do you think Fugue functions as a side quest within the broader narrative of Mythic Quest?
I think it does a really great job of looking into the music world, which I don’t think has been explored. We get so much of the visual world of Mythic Quest, so in terms of getting into the audio world, TK has done such an incredible job. TK has been the composer throughout the entire past four seasons, and he’s the reason the music is so alive and so part of it and feeds the world so well. I think it’s going to be so cool for viewers to get that kind of inside look into the music, which is such a huge part of gaming and video games and Mythic Quest in general.
Christina Yang
Side Quest is released on Apple TV+ on 26th March 2025.
Watch the trailer for Side Quest here:
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