Percy Jackson and the Olympians star Aryan Samhadri revealed who his dream casting for Thalia (a character from the hit Percy Jackson books) would be in live-action.
So far in the Disney+ series, Thalia has not been seen and only mentioned.
Thalia was a forbidden child of Zeus who died just outside of Camp Half-Blood while under the protection of Annabeth, Grover, and Luke. She was unable to escape the monsters hunting her down, getting mortally wounded in the process.
In an act of protection, her father turned Thalia into a tree, which went on to provide a powerful magical barrier protecting the camp boundaries from monsters.
Who Should Play Thalia in Percy Jackson?
In an exclusive interview with The Direct’s Russ Milheim, Aryan Samhadri, who portrays Grover in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, revealed who he would want to cast as Thalia, the forbidden daughter of Zeu in the Disney+ series.
Samhadri noted that the topic of fan castings is something he "and Walker [Scobell] talk about almost 24/7" and how they both think actress Momona Tamada would make for "a pretty cool Thalia:"
"This is something me and Walker [Scobell] talk about almost 24/7. Like every time we call, we have some discussion about fan castings. What I'm most excited to see, [it's the] wedding dress, and it's not even close. As for Thalia... Me and Walker's good friend Momona Tamada, I feel like she'd make a pretty cool Thalia."
Tamada is best known for her work in The Baby-Sitters Club and Secret Headquarters, and will also be portraying Ty Lee in Netflix's upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender project.
The actor continued, explaining how "she’s also just an incredible actress" who has "kind of that punk feel:"
"She's got kind of that punk feel about--she's played characters like that before. And she's also just an incredible actress. She's really, really good. So I don't know. I think she could handle that kind of pressure, that mantle of, you know, Thali. She was even more so an iconic character than first-year Grover... I'm just really glad. I'm really excited to see what they do."
As for who might play Juniper one day, Grover’s love interest in the fourth book of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, Samhadri joked that "they’re actually bringing in Margot Robbie for it:"
“" think they're actually bringing in Margot Robbie for it, it's the strange [laughs]. Um, I don't know. Hopefully, it's just someone I have good chemistry with. I don't know. I feel like it'd be weird if it was one of my friends. I don't know. It kind of depends on what friend it was. Yeah, I just--whoever it is, I hope I just get to do chemistry reads with them beforehand."
Speaking of Grover’s future on the show, when asked which Gods he would love to work with more often, the actor was quick to point to "Toby Stephens," who plays Poseidon partly because "he smells incredible just all the time" thanks to the cologne he wore:
"Toby Stephens, just cause how--I've never met him regretfully. I've never heard the accent that Walker speaks so highly of. Also, Walker pointed this out to me, apparently, he smells incredible just all the time. Whatever cologne he's wearing--Walker bought a bottle of it. Like he asked Toby for it while he was working with him."
Stephens ended up sending "a small bottle," which led to Scobell buying a bunch more:
"He was like, 'Dude, what cologne are you wearing? It smells great. And Toby sent Walker a small bottle of it. And Walker bought a bunch more. And I don't know. I've never gotten the chance to work with him. And I think he's such an incredible actor. He's such like a presence, too."
Samhadri also noted how he’d love to have worked with the late Lance Reddick, who played Zeus:
"And Lance Reddick is someone who I wish I could have worked with. I met him very briefly outside of his trailer, and he was just so sweet. And I saw a lot of the footage--like, I saw one of the dailies, I think, and he just kind of got it right. That presence is that is like that... child-like, attention, like demand for attention that Zeus so often wields. But he also had a maturity and like an age about it, which is, I don't think anybody else could have done it the way that he did it…"
The Direct’s entire interview with Aryan Samhadri can be seen below:
What Role Does Thalia Play in the Percy Jackson Story?
Warning - This article contains spoilers for Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters (Book 2)
Sadly, it will be a long while until Thalia materializes onscreen.
The character remains a tree until the very end of Book 2, The Sea of Monsters, where her poisoned roots are cured thanks to the Golden Fleece, as retrieved by Percy and Clarisse. Its use on the tree has the unintentional side-effect of bringing Thalia back to the land of the living.
From there, the character plays a big part in The Titan’s Curse (Book 3) and The Last Olympian (Book 5), as well as some spin-off stories, such as The Lost Hero.
She is not the only forbidden child of the big three who shows up in the Percy Jackson books. Nico, the son of Hades himself, gets his first introduction in The Titan’s Curse and goes on to play a massive role in the story going forward.
Currently, Percy Jackson and the Olympians has not yet been renewed for a Season 2, but Season 1 can be streamed on Disney+.
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