After Rick Riordan announced the first cast member for the Disney+ adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Walker Scobell is our new Percy – I got to wondering what the original adaptation’s cast is up to nowadays. I rounded up 15 cast members that played pretty significant roles in both films. And while the movies may have failed and devastated most fans, let’s be thankful that the series is getting a second chance.
Uma Thurman: Medusa
I absolutely adored Uma Thurman in this role. Sadly, I doubt she’s going to appear in the Disney+ show, so fingers crossed the new casting fits just as well.
Since her Medusa days, she has been active in political and environmental advocacy. She’s also starred in several movies, shows, and a play. Her most recent shows were Suspicion and Super Pumped. Thurman also has two movies releasing soon, Hollywood Stargirl and The Kill Room.
Rosario Dawson: Persephone
I don’t know what I expected Persephone to look like; I never really thought about it until after the Disney+ show was announced. I wouldn’t have pictured her as Rosario Dawson, though! Dawson appeared recently in The Mandalorian as Ahsoka Tano and will reprise the role to star in Ahsoka on Disney+.
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Steve Coogan: Hades
Much like most of the gods in The Lightning Thief, Steven Coogan wasn’t quite what anyone expected. He did fine in the adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but there was something missing that made Rick Riordan’s Hades unique.
Some of Coogan’s notable work includes voicing Silas Ramsbottom in the Despicable Me franchise and reprising his role as Alan Partridge in several projects.
Kevin McKidd: Poseidon
Kevin McKidd isn’t how I pictured Poseiden when I first read the books. That said, the script he was given definitely played to his strengths as an actor. I’m perfectly fine that we only saw him for a few minutes in The Lightning Thief, but they were a memorable few minutes!
Before he even appeared in The Lightning Thief, McKidd earned a role on Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Owen Hunt, which he still stars in over a decade later. In addition, he voiced Fenn Rau in Star Wars Rebels and Batman in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.
Catherine Keener: Sally Jackson
Catherine Keener was great in this role. If we were going to get any of the movie’s cast back for the new series, I’d rather it be Keener. She’s an excellent Sally Jackson, and the films robbed us of so much banter between her and Percy.
Twelve years after appearing as Sally Jackson, Catherine Keener starred alongside the new Percy, Walker Scobell, in The Adam Project. Other than that, she’s been in several films and shows, including Brand New Cherry Flavor and Incredibles 2.
Pierce Brosnan: Chiron in ‘The Lightning Thief’
I don’t know what the producers were thinking. Pierce Brosnan’s casting was out of left field–and probably should have been left there. While he’s had plenty of memorable roles before The Lightning Thief, including James Bond, this just wasn’t the right role for him.
He’s continued to have success in nearly every genre, from musicals (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again and Amazon’s Cinderella) to westerns (The Son) to fantasy (The King’s Daughter). Brosnan is also set to appear in Black Adam as Doctor Fate.
Anthony Head: Chiron in ‘Sea of Monsters’
Following Pierce Brosnan as the second Chiron is Anthony Head. Honestly, this was a reverse-Dumbledore where we got the better casting choice the second time around.
If you’re a Bridgerton fan, you might want to rewatch episode five of season two and see if you can recognize Anthony Head in it. In addition to this one-episode stint, he’s also been in Ted Lasso as Rupert, Shadowhunters as the Angel Raziel, and was recently the Headmaster in School’s Out Forever. Of course, he’s forever Giles in our hearts.
Read More: Sorting ‘Buffy’ Characters into Their Hogwarts Houses
Nathan Fillion: Hermes in ‘Sea of Monsters’
I don’t know about you, but I think Nathan Fillion was an excellent choice for the movie adaptation of Percy Jackson. Though the movie failed, the way Hermes was written perfectly fit Fillion’s personality and acting style amazingly well at the time.
Outside of his acting, Fillion has been active with the non-profit Kids Need to Read and Charity: Water. Since 2018, he’s starred in The Rookie. Fillion has also voiced Hal Jordan in several Justice League films, appeared as T.D.K. in The Suicide Squad, and voiced Wonder Man in Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. You might have even seen him star as Nathan Drake in an Uncharted fan film.
Stanley Tucci: Mr. D in ‘Sea of Monsters’
We all know and love Stanley Tucci. That said, I didn’t even recognize him in Sea of Monsters with that awful wig. However, he was a perfect casting choice for Dionysus.
Stanley Tucci has starred in several blockbuster films since his time as Mr. D. From Lumiere in the live-action Beauty and the Beast to Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games franchise, you can’t miss him. Outside of acting, he hosted Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.
Tucci released a memoir titled Taste: My Life Through Food shortly after revealing he had been diagnosed with cancer in 2018. The tumor was removed and is not likely to return. He talked about his battle and relationship with food in the memoir.
Douglas Smith: Tyson
Other than the wonky CGI, Douglas Smith did a great job as Tyson. And while he never quite became as likeable as the character from the books (blame the script, not the actor), I do wish we’d gotten more of him in Sea of Monsters.
Smith prefers to keep his personal life somewhat private, but we do know he got married in 2018. His most notable roles since Sea of Monsters are as Corey in Big Little Lies, Tyson in Clarice, and Marcus in The Alienist.
See related: Have You Watched These Shows Based on Books?
Leven Rambin: Clarisse La Rue
I love Leven Rambin, but her performance as Clarisse just wasn’t it. Rambin’ casting never made sense, other than the fact that she was already well-liked by fans who had seen her in The Hunger Games. Honestly, I thought she was too pretty. And I’m still bitter Clarisse wasn’t even mentioned in the first movie.
Rambin’s most recent film role was in The Forever Purge in 2021. Since 2013’s Sea of Monsters, she’s had several recurring roles in popular shows, but her first starring role since the movie was in 2017’s Gone. In addition to acting, Rambin has written for Paper Magazine and Page Six and is active with Surf for Life.
Jake Abel: Luke Castellan
You’ve definitely seen a lot of Jake since he played the villain in The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters. The only thing he needed to be the perfect Luke was the scar the book described across the character’s face. Hopefully, Disney remembers this little detail.
Shortly before his appearance as Luke, he was cast as Adam Milligan in Supernatural and reprised that role in the last season. Abel’s personal life is somewhat private, but he shares bits and pieces of his family on Instagram. Jake has a movie, Unspoken, in production and recently starred in Another Life.
Brandon T. Jackson: Grover Underwood
Brandon T. Jackson’s casting as Grover was out of the left field and made the nervous satyr much more confident and sassy than his book counterpart. Despite that, I enjoyed his scenes a little. Since finishing with the franchise, he’s moved on to several projects.
His most recent film role was in 2019’s All the Way with You. He also portrayed Barack Obama in Historical Roasts in 2019. Since then, he’s been quiet in the acting department, but his Instagram is buzzing with his personal life and professional ventures.
Alexandra Daddario: Annabeth Chase
Fans were not happy when Alexandra Daddario was cast as Annabeth Chase. She was too old, too brunette, and lacked the nerdy-but-athletic vibe that we love about Annabeth. Thankfully, Daddario has since moved on to several leading roles that make better use of her talents.
After wrapping Sea of Monsters, Daddario didn’t shy away from the spotlight. She’s been in movies and shows in nearly every genre, from Baywatch to We Have Always Lived in the Castle to The White Lotus. Daddario is also extremely active on social media, notably TikTok and Instagram.
See Related: Books With Unreliable Narrators That You Need to Read
Logan Lerman: Percy Jackson
Talk about “right person, wrong time,” am I right? Logan was nearly perfect as Percy Jackson, aside from being a bit too old. The Lightning Thief was nowhere near his first role, but it catapulted him to stardom.
Before reprising his role as Percy Jackson in Sea of Monsters, Lerman found a hit as Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. After Sea of Monsters, he starred in several films. Lerman has two movies out soon: he’s a producer for Press Play and will star in Bullet Train. He’s also currently starring in Amazon’s Hunters.
