One of the strongest additions to Percy Jackson and the Olympians in Season 2 is easily Daniel Diemer's Tyson. This protective, yet gentle, cyclops is introduced as Percy's adopted brother, for all intents and purposes. While he and Percy get along, the same can't quite be said for Tyson and Annabeth.
It's clear that Annabeth has notable hesitations towards Tyson, but the reasoning hasn't been explained—though book readers will know. While Tyson's feelings for Annabeth haven't been explored extensively, the first few minutes of Season 2, Episode 4 suggest that he might be hesitant about her as well, given how she treats and talks to Percy.
The Direct sat down with Percy Jackson and the Olympians star Daniel Diemer, where he explained how aware Tyson is of Annabeth's feelings towards him, and how he feels about her in return.
Diemer explained that when it comes to how aware Tyson is of Annabeth's feelings about him, "Tyson's got such great emotional intelligence and such a great awareness," but "he's also not psychic."
Despite Annabeth's coldness to him, Tyson still "wants to be such good friends with people that Percy loves," and that "there's a certain amount of Annabeth that he's really impressed by and looks up to."
The rest of Daniel Diemer's interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim, where he also teases the ramifications of Season 2, Episode 4's ending, can be read below. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is now streaming on Disney+.
Be sure to check out more of The Direct's interviews with the cast at the show's PaleyLive NY event.
Here's What Tyson Thinks of Annabeth
"He Wants to Be Able to Be Such Good Friends With People That Percy Loves."
- The Direct: "At the very start of Episode 4, Tyson gets upset with how Annabeth is talking to Percy. And Annabeth isn't really a fan of Tyson either at this point. Do you think he really understands why that is?"
Daniel Diemer: No, definitely not. No. I think Tyson's got such great emotional intelligence and such a great awareness. I think he really senses the feelings of those around him, but he's also not psychic. So I think until Annabeth opens up to him, I think that understanding is completely void.
So, I think there's hurt in that, there's kind of confusion in that, maybe even a little bit of frustration, because he wants to be able to be such good friends with people that Percy loves. And I think there's a certain amount of Annabeth that he's really impressed by and looks up to... But no, I think the details he, I think he's completely unaware of, but it is something that I think he is very curious about.
Tyson's Guilt After the Ship's Explosion In Episode 4
"He Has Such a Protective Nature..."
- The Direct: "Tyson is great at inventing and fixing things, but he couldn't, obviously, keep the ship from failing, and everything kind of blows up. Teasing what's ahead, do you think he'll feel any guilt about not being able to stop that, even if there was nothing he could do about it?"
Daniel Diemer: Oh yeah... I think he has these creative skill sets. But more than that, he has such a protective nature. Like, I think he wants to be the best version of that he can be. He wants to be what everybody needs him to be. And so there, he definitely takes on the responsibility of safety with this crew...
I mean, even from the beginning, you see Tyson picking up Percy when the taxi comes screeching to a halt, you see him jumping in front of the fireball. He's somebody who, again, puts everybody else above himself. So yeah, 100% I think there's a lot of guilt there that he needs to kind of go through, and hopefully Percy's there to kind of take that guilt away as well.
Building Tyson and Choosing Another Father
Daniel Diemer Wants To Explore "Why He Becomes Such a Protector..."
- The Direct: "When you were building what you felt Tyson was with your performance, what is something that you think you added to the character that maybe wasn't originally on the page, but then you just kind of felt or that you just bought naturally [to your performance]?"
Daniel Diemer: There's nothing specific that I tried to do that wasn't there. I think again, the dialogue that we have in the show—There are moments where it's a little bit like in the books, he doesn't talk as much, and when it's a little bit shortened. But with the scripts that I was given, with the kind of language that I was given to use, I think the heart and soul of who Tyson was in the books, I think it was exactly what I tried to replicate.
And so anything that was more than that, I think I give credit to the writers for building him out. Hopefully, I was able to honestly capture those things and to be able to show these different aspects.
Because, I mean, when in the books, he talks about the Sphinx, and the life on the streets, and not having a family, and so there's this kind of impact of that, and the kind of heartbreaking aspects of that, and the pain of that, that you don't see as much in the books, despite it still being there.
And so I think it was a little bit more of a fleshing out of what that is, how that impacts him, but also kind of how that progresses into why he becomes such a protector throughout the rest of the series.
- The Direct: "If Tyson wasn't the son of Poseidon, what other god's banner do you think he might fit under?"
Diemer: Oh, man, probably Hephaestus. I think it would be the easy answer... [He has that] creativity. I mean, if we go to the books, I don't want to spoil anything, but there's a certain son of Hephaestus that he gets along quite well with.
The full interview can be viewed below:
