Based on the beloved novel series by Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians marks the latest attempt by Disney+ to bring high-quality, family-friendly prestige television to the popular streaming service. The series follows a teenage demigod who finds himself crossing paths with Zeus, Ares, and other figures from Greek mythology while training at Camp Half-Blood.
The Disney+ marks the second attempt to adapt Riordan’s novels, following an attempt at a film series, which sadly ended after only two installments. All told, there are six novels in Riordan’s series, and the Disney+ show aims to tackle one book with each season of episodic television.
Percy Jackson And The Olympians Cast & Character Guide
The cast of Percy Jackson and the Olympians for Disney+ includes a mix of rising talent and veteran actors to bring Rick Riordan’s books to life.
Screen Rant attended the world premiere of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to interview the cast and producers of the series. They spoke about how the show is different from the movies, and how the expanded real estate of a TV series allows for a more complete adaptation of the books.
Cast & Crew Talk Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Timothy Omundson
Timothy Omundson: I’m very lucky in my career. I’ve played gods. No, I’ve played kings. This is the first time I’ve played a god. So I think President is next!
Screen Rant: We’re wondering if you have any memories of working with Lance Reddick that you’d like to share, sharing scenes with him or even behind the scenes?
Timothy Omundson: Very unfortunately, I did not get to work with Lance and I never met him. But I do know that everybody across the board has nothing but the most kind things to say about what an amazing man he was.
Screen Rant: Can you tell us a little about Hephaestus? Can you tell us about your take on this character?
Timothy Omundson: I started with how handsome he was and sort of built out from there. The biggest thing for me about playing Hephaestus was the fact that he’s a disabled god, and I, of course, am a disabled performer. So it was really important for me to get to represent one in four of Americans out there. I was pretty lucky in this, in that our exec producers, Rick and Dan and Jon could not have been more supportive in making sure I had all the support I needed. Just wrapped me within an entire blanket of love the entire time.
Danny and Jon and I have been friends for seventeen years, I think we’ve been working together. So when they called me and asked me if I wanted to be in this, I just couldn’t be more thrilled. And then pretty terrified. But once I got to set, they took such amazing care of me.
Dior Goodjohn
Screen Rant: I bet you’re excited to see the show! Or maybe you’ve seen it a hundred times already.
Dior Goodjohn: I haven’t. Tonight is going to be the first time I’m ever seeing anything, and I’m so happy because I’m going to see it on the big screen with the right sound, and it’s going to be so yummy!
Screen Rant: Can you tell us a little about your character and their role in moving the story forward?
Dior Goodjohn: Clarice is the daughter of Ares, the god of war. She’s the head of Cabin 12. She’s a total rock star. Like, if there’s something that she wants, she will get it, and nothing is going to stop her. She’s unapologetically herself, and I love that about her.
Screen Rant: Did Adam “Edge” Copeland teach you any sick wrestling moves?
Dior Goodjohn: I didn’t get to work with my dad on set! I met him for the very first time on this carpet!
Screen Rant: Were you a fan of the Percy Jackson universe before this, or did you become initiated when you got cast?
Dior Goodjohn: So, it’s a mix of both. My cousins were about 12, 13, when the books originally came out. And they’re my older cousins, so I was obsessed with everything they did. So I knew about the Percy Jackson series because they would never shut up about it! And then, in turn, it catapulted me into the world of studying ancient Greek mythology as well as ancient Egyptian mythology. And then I kind of put it away as I got older, but when I got the audition, I picked up the books again and I fell in love!
Olivea Morton
Screen Rant: First of all, can you tell us a little bit about your character and her role in moving the story forward?
Olivea Morton: Yes, of course! Nancy Bobofit, she is the one who picks on Percy, and she’s the one who also, when Percy pushed me, he discovered that he was powers for the first time. It was kind of, like, a realization for him, and for me, also a realization, like, woah, okay, do not pick on that kid again! (Laughs)
Screen Rant: Did you get to play around with the green screens and the volume and all that fun stuff?
Olivea Morton: We filmed on a volume stage. So it’s like this big, round, it’s 3D, it was amazing. I would probably, if I were to mess around with that stage, I would probably put the Eiffel Tower on there. I’ve been dreaming to go to Paris. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to go to New York, and here I am! Like, I was just telling my mom earlier today, if, let’s say if I was six years old and I told my six year old self, “Hey, you’re going to New York at 14,” I would never believe myself! But it’s just amazing being here.
Screen Rant: Is this your first time here? Have you been able to carve out any time to go see stuff?
Olivea Morton: This is my first time in New York! Kinda. We did a little bit of that today, but we’re doing some of that tomorrow. We’re gonna travel around, see what’s around, and maybe, hopefully, see the Statue of Liberty!
Timm Sharp
Timm Sharp: If you’re a fan of the books, you’re going to be very, very happy, and surprised. Because it’s honoring the books, but it’s also bringing new twists to it, as well, that I think everyone is going to enjoy.
Screen Rant: Can you talk about how it’s different from the movies, which I know sputtered out, but are still beloved to the generation that grew up with them?
Timm Sharp: I honestly haven’t seen the movies! I haven’t even seen this! So I don’t know how it’s different. All I know is that Joey Pants played my character in the movies. That’s all I need to know! He’s always great, but I know that I’m doing a very different version of this character than he did.
Screen Rant: With hair!
Timm Sharp: With hair, and maybe a little humor, hopefully!
Screen Rant: Can you tell us a little bit about your role in moving the story forward?
Timm Sharp: I think I lend a Camaro to my wife, and then I never see that Camaro again, and it breaks my heart.
Screen Rant: I’ve been there.
Timm Sharp: Your spiritual Camaro has been taken from you?
Screen Rant: My spiritual Camaro is in the state of the car from Ferris Bueller.
Timm Sharp: Yes, yes, it’s in perpetual reverse? (Laughs) That’s amazing. That’s a deep answer, I think. You and I just created a deep… There’s metaphors within metaphors.
Screen Rant: What excites you about the show, about Disney, about getting to articulate these characters in the way that you do?
Timm Sharp: I think what excites me about getting to do this show is, I love the books so much. And I, like, became way too emotionally invested in this books when I read them. So to be part of that in any way is just an honor. And, like, who doesn’t like to play a stinky jerk? You know? On Disney!
Screen Rant: Were you a fan before you got cast?
Timm Sharp: No! I got cast. I was like, “What’s this, you say? Percy Jackson?” And then I read the first book and fell in love and immediately read all the others. I read all six within a week. I fell so in love with these books! I was begging Rick to somehow not… You know… Turn me to stone at the very end. But what’s written is written. Maybe…I think Sally has another boyfriend in the future. Maybe she’s, like, really into guys who look exactly like Gabe Ugliano!
Producers Jon Steinberg & Dan Shotz
Screen Rant: Tell us a little bit about bringing this story to life again!
Jon Steinberg: It’s a great story. It’s a story that I think there’s a reason why there are so many millions of people who feel so strongly about it. And being given the opportunity to start with something like that, and start with a story that really has its heart in the right place, and being able to make it as big as we could imagine, and to make it as big as a show can be, I think has been really exciting.
Screen Rant: I know that the movies puttered out, but they’re still beloved to a generation of fans who grew up with them. Can you tell us how this is different?
Dan Shotz: I think we just started from the page. From the first page of Rick’s book. That was a different thing, a different person’s project. And we got to make this as an ongoing series. What’s amazing about the books is that there’s so much to tell. It’s such a massive canvas, so really, the eight episodes to tell that first book, was… You needed that real estate to be able to tell the characters’ stories, to really get in-depth with them. And also, all of these incredible setpieces.
Screen Rant: Since this is the season of surely many to come, can you talk a little bit about telling that complete story while also planting seeds for what’s to come?
Jon Steinberg: I think, when you are starting with a book series that is so complete in the way that it knows how to tell its story and the way that it knows its characters, I think it gives you the ability to be writing from page one, knowing where you’re going. And knowing how everything wants to feel when, hopefully, you get to the end of a number of seasons and can look back and feel like this was all built in one piece.
About Percy Jackson and The Olympians
Percy Jackson is on a dangerous quest. Outrunning monsters and outwitting gods, he must journey across America to return Zeus’ master bolt and stop an all-out war. After losing his mother, Percy is sheltered at Camp Half-Blood, a sanctuary for demigod children. He must prove himself and confront his origins once he discovers he too is a demigod, and will take off into the perils of pursuing enemies in search of the Underworld. With the help of his quest mates Annabeth and Grover, Percy’s journey will lead him closer to the answers he seeks: how to fit into a world where he feels out of place, if he’ll ever see his mother again, and if he can ever find out who he’s destined to be.
See our other Percy Jackson and the Olympians interviews here:
- Becky & Rick Riordan
- Jon Steinberg, Dan Shotz, and James Bobin
- Jon Steinberg and Dan Shotz
- Dan Hennah, Tish Monaghan, Erik Henry, and Jeff White
- Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Based on the novel series by Rick Riordan Percy Jackson & the Olympians is an action-adventure fantasy television series created for Disney+. When Percy Jackson is framed for the theft of Zeus’ almighty thunderbolt, Percy must clear his name, all while harnessing the powers inherited by his father, Poseidon, at a camp created for demi-gods.
- Release Date
- December 20, 2023
- Cast
- Walker Scobell , Leah Sava Jeffries , Aryan Simhadri , Jason Mantzoukas , Megan Mullally , Glynn Turman , Adam Copeland , Virginia Kull , Lance Reddick
- Genres
- Action , Adventure , Fantasy
- Rating
- TV-PG
- Seasons
- 1
- Season List
- Percy Jackson & the Olympians – Season 1
- Story By
- Rick Riordan
- Writers
- Rick Riordan , Jonathan E. Steinberg
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney Plus
- Franchise(s)
- Percy Jackson & The Olympians
- Directors
- James Bobin , Anders Engström
- Showrunner
- Jonathan E. Steinberg , Dan Shotz
