The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney+ series has added five new cast members. Glynn Turman, Megan Mullally, Jason Mantzoukas, Virginia Kull, and Timm Sharp will join the series in recurring roles. Author Rick Riordan will executive produce the series as well as contribute to its writing. He shared details about each new cast member on his personal blog on June 2 — the first day of production.
Turman (Women of the Movement, The Wire, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) will play Chiron, aka Mr. Brunner, a wise centaur, per Variety. Chiron disguises himself as Percy Jackson’s Latin teacher, but in reality, he’s a famous trainer of Olympian heroes at Camp Half-Blood. Chiron will morally guide Percy (played by Walker Scobell) through his adventures in the series. Pierce Brosnan played Chiron in the Percy Jackson films.
“Not only is he a multitalented actor, Glynn is also a champion rodeo cowboy who has run Camp Gid D Up in Southern California since 1992 to introduce inner city and at-risk youth to horsemanship at a working ranch,” Riordan said of the actor. “In other words, he is the perfect Chiron, the immortal centaur and trainer of heroes at Camp Half-Blood.”
Mullally (Will & Grace, Party Down, Crush) will play the monstrous Alecto. She disguises herself as Mrs. Dodds, Percy’s math teacher who’s a literal monster loyal to Hades, god of the underworld.
Mantzoukas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Big Mouth, The Good Place) will take on the comedic role of Dionysus, known to Camp Half-Blood as Mr. D. In the books, Mr. D was cursed by Zeus to run Camp Half-Blood and only drink sodas. Not great for the god of wine! Riordan said “Jason is the perfect guy to inhabit everyone’s favorite grumpy wine god and head of camp.”
Kull (Super Pumped, Big Little Lies) will play Percy’s mother, Sally Jackson. She raised her son (whom she shares with Poseidon, god of the sea) knowing that one day, he’d have to leave home to join the world of Olympian gods and demigods. She’s loving, selfless, and protective. On his site, Riordan said Kull’s “combination of strength, humor, and heart makes her just the Sally Jackson we need. In the table read for Episode 101, her performance moved us to tears.”
Sharp (Enlightened, Blunt Talk) will play Sally’s husband and Percy’s step-dad, Gabe Ugliano, a brash and combative man who doesn’t treat Sally and Percy well. As Riordan shared, “Timm had us laughing out loud with his take on Gabe Ugliano.”
These are the first adults cast in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Scobell’s (The Adam Project) casting in the titular role was announced April 11. Percy’s best friends and fellow adventurers, Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood, will be played by Leah Jeffries (Empire, Rel) and Aryan Simhadri (Disney’s Spin, Cheaper By The Dozen).
First day of camp vibes ???? Your first #PercyPreview is here.
Production is underway on #PercyJackson and The Olympians coming to @DisneyPlus! pic.twitter.com/NWALMOvMVH
— Percy Jackson (@PercySeries) June 2, 2022
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is now in production in Vancouver. In addition to the casting news, the show’s Twitter account shared the first #PercyPreview, giving a small glimpse into the set. The photos showed a director’s chair with the show’s logo, as well as the slate for the first take of the first scene. The background behind the slate is blurred, but it looks like a museum. The first book’s opening scene takes place at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Now, the biggest casting news fans are eagerly awaiting is Poseidon’s. Many are vying for Logan Lerman, who played Percy in the movies, to play him. On June 1, fans tweeted comparisons to Lerman and Scobell’s appearances, saying they look enough alike to play a father-son duo. Lerman has said he’s open to appearing in the series.
“I’m open to anything. I’m curious to see what’s going to happen with it,” he told Access in 2020. “I’m just glad that Rick Riordan, the writer, is in control.”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Series Premiere, TBA, Disney+