Percy Jackson And The Olympians Interview: Percy, Annabeth & Grover Actors On Their Favorite Books And Characters

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on the best-selling novels of the same name by Rick Riordan. The series follows 12-year-old Percy Jackson, who discovers, much to his shock, that he is a modern-day demigod. Sent to a camp full of the children of Greek gods, he befriends Grover and Annabeth. He soon finds himself on the hot seat when Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians was created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg based on Riordan’s novel series. The series is executive produced by Steinberg, Riordan, his wife Rebecca Riordan, Dan Shotz, and James Bobin. Percy Jackson and the Olympians stars Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri, with appearances by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Timothy Omundson, Toby Stephens, and Lance Reddick.

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Screen Rant interviewed the stars of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri. They discussed their characters and the relationships they build. The trio also revealed their favorite book in the series and what they learned about themselves from playing Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.

Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries & Aryan Simhadri Talk Percy Jackson And The Olympians

Screen Rant: Walker, you really embody Percy in such a magical way. What did you want to bring to the role that wasn’t on the page?

Walker Scobell: I think his sense of humor. A sense of humor is very important to his character, and I think I have a very similar sense of humor to him.

Leah, you play Annabeth and do such a phenomenal job in the role. For those that may not know the book series, tell us a little bit about Annabeth and what was your favorite scene from the book to create in real life?

Leah Sava Jeffries: Annabeth is a girl with a deep vulnerability to her. She is independent, she’s strong, she’s tough, and she’s the daughter of Athena, which is a god of wisdom, of course. And I really think that she’s a little girl when she ran away from her home. And when Thalia, Luke, and Grover had found her, and when they took her with and after that, that was a mark that she kept with herself.

And then also what I really wanted to bring to life was the tunnel of love, because I also feel like that’s when Annabeth and Percy started to get closer also because that’s when it started to switch. Because at first, before they had went there, it was always just targeting each other for no reason at all, which is really funny. So it was always like, “No, you’re stupid.” “No, you’re dumb, whatever. You shut up.”

But then after that, when we walked out of that tunnel of love it showed, “You’re not so bad really and all that stuff. Maybe I can handle you a little bit more.” And it was cool to film that part because it was a long sequence really. And during those times of filming, I was told to have a closer and closer friendship with Percy, so it was cool filming that and switching my character.

Aryan, you are phenomenal as Grover and I love the relationship between Grover and Percy because it feels so real and lived in. Can you talk about creating that chemistry with Walker?

Aryan Simhadri: Yeah, sure. I think what really helped was not only Andrew, our acting coach, but also those first couple of weeks at Yancy Academy that we just got to film together. That definitely helped getting to just have a couple of weeks together with Nancy Bobofit too. That was so much fun.

Walker Scobell: Olivia was amazing.

Aryan Simhadri: Olivia was incredible.

What were some of the hardest Greek names or words to pronounce for you guys?

Walker Scobell: Hephaestus’s.

Leah Sava Jeffries: Yeah. I think it was Hephaestus. Is it Hephaestus or philia?

Walker Scobell: There’s a scene in the tunnel of love where I’m going like, “Oh, this is Hephaestus’s story.”

Leah Sava Jeffries: Oh, yeah.

Walker Scobell: And I just couldn’t say it, Hephaestus’s, I kept saying Hephaesus’s. It was just hard.

Aryan Simhadri: Kalos was pretty tough too.

Walker Scobell: Kalos, I just kept forgetting the word.

Aryan Simhadri: Yeah.

What is your favorite book that you want to see brought to life from the series?

Walker Scobell: Five.

Aryan Simhadri: I think definitely five.

Leah Sava Jeffries: For some reason, I also really want to see two. Because I also, in the next season, I will be with Dior. I won’t be the only girl, so it’s going to be cool. Sorry guys!

Walker Scobell: No offense taken.

Leah Sava Jeffries: It is going to be really cool to film with Dior, and she’s a great actress also. When we’re doing the scenes and filming that whole entire series together, it’s going to go out great.

Walker, I know that you can quote Deadpool 2, and a lot of fans are speculating that you’ll be reuniting with Sean Levy and Ryan Reynolds as a kid Deadpool. What are you excited about for Deadpool 3? And what’s your response to the fan casting of yours?

Walker Scobell: I hope, I told Sean and Ryan this, I really hope there’s a monologue, so I can learn another one. I’m not in Deadpool 3. I haven’t heard anything from them, but they told me that there was going to be a monologue for me to learn, so I’m excited for that.

I’m certainly hoping that there is a monologue for you guys to learn, or for you to learn too. Now, what has playing these characters taught you about yourself?

Walker Scobell: That’s a good question.

Aryan Simhadri: That’s a great question.

Leah Sava Jeffries: Taught me about myself?

Walker Scobell: I think Percy does this too, if he’s in a tricky situation. Not tricky, but emotional wise, do you know what I mean? Tricky, emotional wise, he’ll deflect with sarcasm and I think that’s something I do in real life too. So, yeah.

How about for the two of you?

Aryan Simhadri: I think something that Grover does a lot, he allows himself to get trampled over when it comes to other people’s, what they need. And I think that’s something I tend to do, I get it from my dad. But yeah, it’s something that he does a lot that I think I can see myself doing from time to time.

Leah Sava Jeffries: With Annabeth, I feel like me, I used to be a little bit scared and stuff. I would fear doing things that I haven’t done before, if that makes sense. Trying new things and stuff, I was like, “I don’t really know.” But after being in Annabeth’s character, I felt like that really brought out a, “Don’t be scared, just do it.” It’s going to be good and things. And I really feel like that was something that I took from her like “Don’t be scared, just do it.” Do you know what I mean?

About Percy Jackson And The Olympians

Based on Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series by award-winning author Rick Riordan, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is a Disney+ Original series that tells the fantastical story of a 12-year-old modern demigod, Percy Jackson, who’s just coming to terms with his newfound divine powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. With help from his friends Grover and Annabeth, Percy must embark on an adventure of a lifetime to find it and restore order to Olympus.

Check back for our other Percy Jackson and the Olympians interview with executive producers Jon Steinberg & Dan Shotz.