Diego Peralta
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is looking to bring the magic of Rick Riordan‘s series of novels to life on Disney+. The show follows Percy (Walker Scobell) as he tries to uncover secrets from his past while he learns what it means to be a demigod. With the fate of the Olympus at stake, Percy will do what it takes to find out who stole Zeus’ (Lance Reddick) lightning bolt before it’s too late.
But Percy wouldn’t be able to face unpredictable odds without Grover’s (Aryan Simhadri) help, as the satyr has a lot more experience with the world of gods and monsters than the boy. Awards Radar had the opportunity to interview Simhadri, who was happy to share his experience of working on the show and what he expects from the character’s future.
When asked about his favorite moment from the books that he’d like to see adapted into live-action, Simhadri mentioned a fight from The Last Olympian, when Percy and Grover team up to fight against Hyperion in Central Park: “Grover and Percy just go to town on that poor guy, I’m really looking forward to that. And whenever he meets Pan in (The Battle of the Labyrinth).”
Simhadri understands how important Percy’s quest is to Grover because he’s in charge of both Jackson and Annabeth’s (Leah Sava Jeffries) safety, stating: “This is his redeeming quest. If he messes this up, he doesn’t get another chance after Thalia and Annabeth and Luke. He lost a child of the Big Three. He’s still very hard on himself for that. He hasn’t let that go, and that influences the way he feels about Percy and Annabeth. And I think he’s that much closer to Percy and Annabeth than he was with Thalia. He’s best friends with these two.”
Grover’s powers are unique, making the character stand out from the rest of the kids at Camp Half-Blood. Simhadri explained what was important about Grover’s abilities: “I think the biggest thing with (Grover) is that a lot of his powers are very people-oriented powers. He’s naturally empathetic, especially with people he cares about. For people like Percy and Annabeth, who don’t come outright and talk about what they feel all the time, having that insight is very helpful.
Grover is the biggest role Symhadri has taken on over the course of his young career. Reflecting on his big break, he mentioned how grateful he feels for the opportunity to be a part of a project as big as Percy Jackson and the Olympians: “I’m going to be honest. This is a prettu substantial role for your first series regular. In my family, there’s a running joke. I’ve been acting for thirteen years, and I did commercials, guest stars, co-stars, recurring, movies, and now finally series. In every milestone, my parents said “Yeah, whatever. Get a series regular and then we’ll be impressed.”, as a joke. And I came so close to doing it before and they went on a different way. I kept being disheartened. And having this as my first leading role? That’s a dream come true.”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is available for streaming on Disney+, with the season finale dropping on January 30, 2024.
(This interview was edited for length and clarity purposes.)
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