Melbourne-born Charlotte Nicdao has been making waves in the US in recent years with her starring role as Poppy in the Apple TV+ workplace comedy, Mythic Quest.
Now, after season four launched this week, show co-star Rob McElhenney has declared the actress a future superstar.
“Charlotte holds a very special place in my heart, certainly in my professional career… I both love her personally, but also professionally,” McElhenney told Rolling Stone AU/NZ in an Australian exclusive conversation.
“She is a killer and she is going to be a massive, massive star.”
Having studied at the Victorian College of Arts, Nicdao went on to appear in a number of notable productions, like ABC’s Please Like Me, Get Krack!n, and even lent her voice in global hit, Bluey.
Charlotte Nicdao and Rob McElhenney in ‘Mythic Quest’
But her audition for Mythic Quest – about a video game design company – changed the game.
The audition was so impressive that not only were McElhenney and co-creators – It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-star Charlie Day and Megan Ganz – forced to entirely change the character of Poppy, but they crafted a new one around Nicdao.
“I noticed that every time I was interacting with Charlotte in this other role that she was playing, I feel like I have comedic chemistry with this woman,” McElhenney recalled.
“I don’t know why or what it is… we never thought that somebody 15, 16 years younger than me would make sense for that role. So we rewrote it for her because we just saw something.”
For Nicdao, to have worked alongside McElhenney and a star-studded cast that includes Danny Pudi, David Hornsby, Imani Hakim and Ashly Burch since the show’s inception in 2020 is something that she never could have dreamed of.
”It is really exciting to get to represent, especially as a Filipina Australian, because I think the rest of the world doesn’t really know that Australians don’t all look like the Hemsworths,” Nicdao told Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
“It’s fun to get to represent that part of my community. But also, Rob, he is such an incredible, I mean, I say boss, but he’s also a friend and I’m so grateful to him for giving me the opportunity. Because at the beginning of Mythic Quest, he had absolutely no reason to expect that I could carry the character that they had written.
“And I pinch myself every day that I got this shot and he was so instrumental in that. I’ve been lucky enough to get an amazing friend out of it as well.
Nicdao’s star has predictably risen as Mythic Quest’s popularity around the world and Australia grows. But she’s not buying into the glitz and glamour just yet, even with the McElhenney endorsement.
“I spend a lot of my time in Australia and Australians are so chill and laid back,” she said.
“I feel like I get stopped on the street way more when I’m in LA than I do when I’m in Australia. But when it happens in Australia, it’s always so low key. I was at a deli once and, and waiting for a sandwich or something and some man next to me just very quietly was like. ‘Love Mythic Quest. You got another season coming?’”
Nicdao is one of a number of local exports taking on Hollywood and thriving, alongside Newcastle’s Geraldine Viswanathan, who stars in new Will Ferrell film, You’re Cordially Invited, and has a role in upcoming Marvels feature, Thunderbolts.
While some may believe that there is only a small crop of Australian names excelling in Hollywood, Nicdao – who also directed a Mythic Quest episode this season – believes that local talent has always performed well overseas.
Jessie Ennis, Imani Hakim and Danny Pudi in ‘Mythic Quest’
“The industry in Australia, there’s not a lot of money in it. And so if you decide to be an actor, it’s not for the glamour and it’s not for the fame, because no one’s really famous in Australia,” she said.
“It’s because you love what you do and you’re willing to work really, really hard to get to do that job. And I think that people overseas really respond to that.
“What I do think is new is the ownership that Australia is taking of actors and especially actors of color that are finding success overseas.”
One example comes in the new season of Mythic Quest when Poppy’s sister makes an appearance, played by Sydney-born actress and close friend, Natasha Lou Bordizzo, who recently featured in Star Wars’ Ahsoka series.
“We had so much fun on set together because we know each other from Australia,” Nicdao said.
“And we were talking about how this might be the first time on an international screen that you’ve had two Asian Australian actors using their dialects. natural accent. And that was a really exciting milestone for us.”
Despite the overseas success, Nicdao is still actively involved in the Australian screen industry. Just this month, her directorial debut, ASIAN MALE, 60s, LEAD, premiered at Sydney’s Flickerfest.
Should Mythic Quest continue for many more seasons (which McElhenney and Nicdao both insist is the plan), she intends to continue splitting her time between Australia and LA.
“I have such a deep love for the Australian industry, and I feel like we’re going through such an exciting moment in the Australian industry as well.
“I’m really interested in producing in Australia. I’m developing a feature film at the moment to hopefully, to hopefully produce in Australia.
“I love our industry. It’s the industry that I came up in. I worked in Australia for many years before coming over to LA and I’m so lucky that I get to spend time both here and back at home working.”
Season four of Mythic Quest is available to watch on Apple TV+ now.
