Disney+’s upcoming series adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians has just cast the other two roles in the series’ main trio. Joining Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson are Aryan Simhadri (Cheaper by the Dozen) as Grover and Leah Sava Jeffries (Empire) as Annabeth.
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is set to follow the journey of the titular 12-year-old demigod (Scobell), who’s just coming to terms with his newfound identity as the son of the Greek god Poseidon when Zeus accuses him of stealing his lightning bolt.
Grover is “a satyr, half boy and half goat, disguised as a 12 year old boy. He cares deeply about others and will always choose what is best for them, sometimes at his own expense. Though cautious by nature, he’ll always throw himself into a fight to protect his friends, especially his best friend Percy.”
Annabeth is “a true daughter of the Greek goddess, Athena. She is a brilliant strategist with an active and curious mind. After having spent the last five years at Camp Half-Blood, she longs to test her mettle in the human world, of which she barely remembers. She trains Percy to survive the mythological world, and in turn, he helps her connect with her humanity.”
Heroes in the making. 🗡⚡️🐐 Meet Annabeth, Percy, and Grover from #PercyJackson and The Olympians, an Original series coming to #DisneyPlus. @PercySeries pic.twitter.com/HMjdYoxob3
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) May 5, 2022
On his blog, Rick Riordan, the creator and author of the Percy Jackson series, explained what he saw in Simhadri and Jeffries that drew him to the roles of Grover and Annabeth.
For Simhadri, Riordan said “he had me laughing out loud with his delivery and timing. He has a mixture of sweetness, humor and internal toughness that is perfect for our favorite satyr. Grover has some big flying shoes to fill, but Aryan is exactly the right guy for the job. He and Walker already have a great dynamic together.”
As for Jeffries, her audition was everything Riordan wanted from someone to play Annabeth as he said “Leah is exactly the way I imagined Annabeth in the books: smart, strong and courageous, a true daughter of Athena who has zero patience for the foolishness of a certain Seaweed Brain. Watching her act with Walker and Aryan, I saw Annabeth Chase come to life. As soon as you see her on the screen, you will know what I mean. The Wise Girl has arrived!”
Riordan and Jon Steinberg (Black Sails) will be writing the pilot episode with James Bobin (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) directing. Steinberg and his producing partner Dan Shotz will be overseeing the project and serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, and Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg. The series will be produced by 20th Century Television and is set to begin production in Vancouver this summer.
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