Anna Konkle on Channeling Margot Tenenbaum in The Afterparty
Spoilers through episode four of the Afterparty.
Anna Konkle is leaving her middle school character behind. The actress, writer, and director, who co-created and starred in PEN15 as a version of her 13-year-old self, returns to television this summer in The Afterparty, Apple TV+'s murder mystery set at a wedding.
Konkle plays Hannah, the adopted sister of the murdered groom Edgar (Zach Woods), who, we learn this week, has feelings for the bride, Grace (Poppy Liu). In her episode, which is told in a distinctly Wes Anderson aesthetic, is one of the standouts of the season for its charm and whimsy, and for introducing the plot twist of Grace and Hannah's romance.
Ahead of the premiere in early July, Konkle spoke with Town & Country about the experience of filming The Afterparty and channeling Margot Tenenbaum.
To start, how did you react when you found out that Hannah's story was going to be portrayed in the Wes Anderson style?
I was so excited. It was the first episode that I read of all of the episodes. We all our own episodes to see first. I felt really lucky and excited to be doing such a character-driven story and something that was about a romance, and unrequited love.
Hannah's story was so exciting in that she got to be the weirdo in the room and do the hard comedy of that, and then also have a real emotional depth that I got to play with in the Wes Anderson episode. I just loved being a part of the season and doing all the genres, honestly, and watching all of the amazing actors work in the different genres.
What characters did you take inspiration from in Anderson's films?
Definitely Margot from Royal Tenenbaums. I mean, that was so on the page. I willed myself to watch a lot more—because the characters are so different, but there's clearly an overlap in inspiration.
They're really walking their own paths and Hannah's repellent to people, versus I feel like Margot, you want more. She's alluring and that's what Hannah would like to be, but isn't. It was the reject version of Margot, in a way. That was intimidating, exciting, and really fun to play in. The Wes Anderson of it all, too, complemented Hannah's inner life: staticness, the awkwardness. There's something impenetrable about his work in moments when it's super composed, or it doesn't feel super human, and then all of a sudden there's a turn and you feel really propelled emotionally in this story. It's amazing how that filmmaking does both, and that really felt like who Hannah is: A bit of stiltedness, and a bit of gooey insides.
If you had to pick a film genre for your own life story, what would it be?
I love Coraline, early Tim Burton movies, and practical effects. Like, magical realism giving some insight into emotional lives. Something a little grotesque—that sounds great. Something offbeat.
What was it like filming this show?
By the end, we did even three genres in one day. I found it really hard. But, you're doing it together. It's like a sleepover at night where you should have gone to sleep hours ago and everyone's getting weird. That's when you end up dancing around, like air humping. When it's the fourth day of 15-hour days and you're just losing it. That's the real bonding, when everyone's exhausted. I remember randomly crying and getting like a group hug from everybody. I don't remember what it was about. I was like, Oh, this is so special. We wrapped a year ago. I really miss everybody!
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