By Jocelyn Buhlman and Cassandra Pinkney
The Percy Jackson book series has been a pivotal part of children’s literature since the release of The Lightning Thief in 2005. And it now has a new home on Disney+ in the form of the Emmy® Award-winning Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series, the second season of which is slated to premiere December 10. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Percy Jackson, D23 sat down with the author Rick Riordan in an exclusive interview about his memories of creating the world of Percy for both page and screen.
D23: You started the Percy Jackson series as a bedtime story for your son. When did you decide that these stories should become a book series?
Rick Riordan (RR): When I was telling Percy Jackson to my son as a bedtime story, I had a feeling early on that this might resonate with other kids as well. My son is the one who told me, “Dad, you really need to write this down.” So, I guess we owe it all to him!
D23: You were a teacher before you became a writer. How did that experience shape the way your introduced mythology into the series?
RR: I think my experience as a teacher affected everything about the way I write. I used to write adult mysteries back in the 1990s and my students would always say, “Why aren’t you writing for us? Why don’t you write for this age group?” And I didn’t really get it, but they were right. I should have put my two skill sets together—my knowledge of the middle school classroom and my writing. And when I finally did, that’s where Percy Jackson came from.
So yes, every time I taught Greek mythology, I would look for ways to make it relevant and try to modernize the language and the situations so that kids could latch onto it and feel like, “Okay, these stories may be old, but they still speak to me. I can see myself in these stories.” And that’s where Percy Jackson, I think, gets its power.
D23: The Percy Jackson series got so many people into reading, and potentially writing as well. Do you have any advice for readers who might want to try writing books themselves?
RR: I usually say it boils down to three things: The first is, read a lot. It’s very difficult to write book if you don’t read books. Reading will give you an idea of what kind of book you like. Think as you’re reading, “What is it that I like about this? How do they do the dialog? How do they do the action? What is it I’m drawn to about this book?” That will be your sort of “on-the-job training.”
The second thing, write a lot. You cannot become a writer without writing! I mean, it sounds obvious, but that’s the only way to get better is to keep writing, especially if it seems too hard. Do it anyway.
And the third thing is, don’t give up. Every writer who got published has one thing in common—they didn’t give up.
D23: Why you first started writing these books, did you ever imagine it would lead to you winning an Emmy® Award?
RR: No! When I started writing the books, the idea of winning an Emmy was not something that would ever have occurred to me. To quote Juliet, “It is an honor I dream not of.” I am still not quite sure why they sent me one, but thank you!
D23: What were the challenges in translating the first-person narration of the book series into the TV series—which have many different perspectives?
RR: Yeah, the first-person narration in the books—and how to translate that into a TV show—was, and continues to be, one of our biggest challenges. How do you take that sort of internal monologue, that snarky narration that is so critical to Percy Jackson, and convey that in a totally different medium like television? You can do a voiceover monologue, but you can’t do that the whole time. So, we had to look at other ways to get that sense of snarkiness and humor across to augment what you’re seeing on the screen so you still feel like you’re close to Percy. So, it’s a give and take, and I think we’re still working on it—but I think we threaded the needle about as well as we could.
D23: Speaking of the Disney+ series, is there anything that you’re really excited for fans to see in season 2?
RR: There is so much great stuff coming in season two! I am particularly excited to see the scenes on Circe’s Island—those are fan favorites. They are definitely some of my favorites, and I think the actors did a phenomenal job.
D23: The actors bring the characters to life so well. Did they bring anything to these characters that you hadn’t thought of before?
RR: All of the actors were chosen because the team and I agreed that they channeled the spirit and the energy of the characters that they’re portraying. I think in the case of Walker [Scobell, who plays Percy], it’s a sense of courage and bravery and an incredible sense of humor. He is just the kind of guy that you can imagine wisecracking while he’s swinging a sword at a monster.
In the case of Leah [Sava’ Jeffries, who portrays Annabeth], it’s her focus and her intelligence and her willing to question anybody. That was our first conversation. She came up to me [immediately] and said, “Hi Rick, I have some questions about the character. I want to talk to you about Annabeth.” I said, “Oh, okay!”
And Aryan [Simhadri, who plays Grover] is just such a sweetheart. He’s got the biggest heart in the world and a fantastic sense of humor, too. He’s exactly who you would want to be your best friend.
D23: In a lot of books series, fan-favorite characters tend to be the “side characters” rather than the main ones. But for Percy Jackson, a lot of people’s favorite character is Percy. Why do you think he resonates so strongly with fans?
RR: If people are drawn to Percy above the other characters, it’s probably because of the first-person narration, which—when I wrote it—was very unusual in children’s fiction. You didn’t see a lot of first-person narrators. But with Percy, you are with him in his head, in his thoughts, 100% of the time. So, I understand that he is going to be the touchstone for most people because he’s your narrator. He’s your sidekick during this whole adventure. Having said that, there are a lot of “stans” for the other characters, too!
D23: Were there any characters that surprised you, in terms of how much the fans took to them?
RR: One of the things that surprised me was Dior Goodjohn as Clarice [La Rue] and just how much energy and life she brought to the character. I thought I knew Clarice as a character—but now having seen Dior act that part, she has so much more vitality and charisma than I was giving Clarice credit for. She improved quite heavily on the character that I had written.
D23: Last question: What character do you think you’re most like in the Percy Jackson series?
RR: I think the character I would most be like would probably be Dionysus, “Mr. D.” I’m the guy that would be sitting on the porch, drinking my Diet Coke, saying, “Yeah, go do whatever it is you do… call me when it gets interesting!”
The newest book in the Percy Jackson series, The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro, is available September 23. Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians premieres December 10 on Disney+, and the first season is streaming now.