When it comes to Disney+’s adaptation of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” series author — and executive producer on the show — Rick Riordan had a list of things he knew he wanted to get right. But chief among them was making sure his three young leads “felt valued and safe” in a heavily scrutinized process.
Riordan has long made clear that he wasn’t thrilled with the movie adaptations of his book series, and fans had similar issues with the films that starred Logan Lerman and Alexandra Daddario. At the core of the criticisms was the fact that the movies aged Percy Jackson and his friends up instead of making them 12 years old as they are at the start of the books.
So when teens Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri were cast as Percy, Annabeth and Grover respectively in the Disney+ series, fans were immediately more optimistic about the series. And, according to Riordan, “the biggest highlight of this whole process” has been “getting to know the kids and their families.” But he also felt a keen responsibility for their well-being.
“Even before we cast them, we had a lot of conversations with our team about how our primary goal needs to be to support the young actors to make sure they feel valued and safe and productive,” Riordan told TheWrap at his Chicago book tour stop for “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Chalice of the Gods.”
“And that they have the village of people around them, helping them and that our main job is to make sure that they’re OK, and they’re feeling good about what they’re doing. Because it’s a really hard job. And it is a lot of pressure to put on a 12-year-old or a 14-year-old.”
Riordan noted that Scobell and his castmates were “well aware” of the love people have for this franchise, having read the books themselves, and how much pressure might come with that. But, the author noted, he did his best to reassure them that they needn’t be concerned about it, and should just have fun with the parts.
“My job was to say, ‘Don’t worry about that. You guys are here because you’re wonderful, and you’re perfect for this. And you have the chops for it. Don’t worry about it just have fun,’” he explained.
“And I think they did! I mean yes, they worked really hard. But I loved coming up to them, like at the end of the day of shooting and they’re dancing in the parking lot just because they’re having so much fun doing it.”
As for the quality of the episodes themselves? Riordan isn’t worried. He’s seen them already, and assures fans that they can “rest easy.”
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” premieres on Disney+ on December 20.