Posted in: Current News, Disney+, TV | Tagged: percy jackson, Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Percy Jackson Cast Discuss Showrunners, Grover's Journey, and More

Percy Jackson and the Olympians' Scobell, Jeffries, Simhadri, Goodjohn, Bushnell & Diemer discuss the showrunners, Grover's arc, and more.

It's rare for franchises to get a second chance to shine on the screen, but Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ managed to do just that, following 20th Century's maligned film trilogy. Based on the Rick Riordan novels, the series follows the title character, played by Walker Scobell, as he attempts to realize his full potential as a demigod, the son of Poseidon. Joining him are other demigods like Annabeth Chase (Leah Sava Jeffries), daughter of Athena and the satyr, Grover Underwood (Aryan Simhadri). Percy often finds himself at odds with Clarisse La Rue (Dior Goodjohn), daughter of Ares, and Luke Castellan (Charlie Bushnell), son of Hermes, who worked with the trio before revealing his true allegiance to Kronos (Nick Boraine).

With season two, Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood a year later to find out that it's under threat from Kronos, one of his best friends is missing, and he must venture into the Sea of Monsters to retrieve the legendary Golden Fleece. Helping him along the way is Tyson (Daniel Diemer), a cyclops trying to fit in the group, holding back a chip on his shoulder, battling prejudice along the way. Scobell, Jeffries, Simhadri, Goodjohn, Diemer, and Bushnell spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with showrunners Jonathan E. Steinberg and Dan Shotz in transitioning into season two, developing new chemistry with Diemer's Tyson while missing Simhadri's Grover, and Simhadri's handling of Grover's journey.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Cast on Season Two Transition, Developing a Dynamic Between Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson, and Grover's Journey

How do you feel about the showrunners, Jonathan and Dan, and what they've done this season?

Scobell: Oh, they did a great job.

Bushnell: Amazing.

Goodjohn: They did such a good job of making sure that we felt taken care of and that the show…anything new was doing the story a service, not a disservice. They've been careful about it. It's their baby.

Scobell: They try to make sure that everything makes sense and that we don't do anything that doesn't make sense or for no reason, you know.

Jeffries: It's kind of the same, but different, because the producers and crew from the first season are here in the second. At the same time, even though Aryan's not there, and he was there in the beginning and now, he's not there, it's kind of the same because it's still two boys and one girl.

Diemer: So identical.

Simhadri: Yeah.

Jeffries: Everything's good, so it is different, because I lose my guy, I gain a guy, but it's like there are still guys [laughs]. That sounds right. The same, but different, I miss Aryan, gain Aryan.

Simhadri: [To Jeffries] I think it's really funny how you're like [Daniel's] basically the same as Aryan, because it's a dude and…

Jeffries: No, I mean it's the same, because it's not like everything's going to be different now. It's not like, "I don't know how to handle it now", where it's like one boy, one full-grown man, adult, and then one little girl again. It's not like, "It's Walker, and then a cat and Leah." It's not totally different

Simhadri: A cat and Leah? I'm sorry, keep going.

Jeffries: As long as you know what I mean. What I'm saying is that it's not like this huge, drastic difference, basically. I'm just saying that it's still the same, and I would like to think of it as the same and not like, "Oh my gosh! Danny was terrible! Ary! Come back right now!" Everything felt the same.

Ary, what was it like to film your scenes in this early part of the season? I imagine it might have felt a little isolating?

Simhadri: A little bit, yeah. It was very weird to be aware of everything that was going on, but not a part of it. It feels like in Phineas and Ferb, how Ferb never talks, but he's still a main character. That's kind of what it felt like. I felt whenever I was reading the script, like Grover's always being discussed, but he's not actually there, and I was very aware of everything that was going on, but not being there was odd. As I said earlier, I genuinely did miss Walker and Leah.

I'm fortunate enough to have not only them play my friends on the show, but very close friends in real life. It was basically the same thing that Grover goes through. He is separated from his friends, and I didn't really have to act much to kind of believe that. It was odd, but I'm glad that I was able to work with Charlie (Bushnell) and Tamara (Smart), who are incredible actors. It was like watching a master class.

Season two of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which also stars Glynn Turman, Jason Mantzoukas, Megan Mullally, Timm Sharp, Kevin Chacón, and Adam Copeland, premieres its first two episodes on December 10th on Disney+. New episodes will be released on Wednesdays through January 21st, 2026.

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