'Percy Jackson' Series Cast on What They're Most Excited for Book Fans to See, Stunt Training & More | THR News Video
Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhardi spoke to THR's Tiffany Taylor all about their new Disney+ series, 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians', which is based on the popular book series of the same name. They opened up about shooting on the volume stage, going to Camp Half Blood and the extensive stunt training they went through before filming the series. Plus, the actors also revealed what they're most excited for fans of the book series to see in the show. 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' premieres Dec. 20 on Disney+.
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00:00 I know that people are on the editor's seat saying,
00:02 "I cannot wait for this part, I cannot wait for this part."
00:03 And then we're like, "We're giving it to you, baby."
00:06 Okay, not baby, but like, you know what I mean?
00:09 Like, "We're giving it to you."
00:10 - You are a half-blood,
00:13 and half-bloods are not safe in the world.
00:16 - The beginning of the series finds your characters
00:18 at camp half-blood.
00:19 When you were on set, did it ever feel
00:21 like you were actually at camp at all?
00:23 - Oh, all the time. - All the time.
00:24 - Yeah. - Definitely.
00:26 - They built all the cabins for real.
00:28 Most of them have insides, too.
00:30 They're all still there, I think.
00:31 They have like a 24-hour security guard.
00:33 - Seriously? - Yeah, that's guarding them.
00:34 I don't think they tore 'em down.
00:35 It's pretty awesome. - That's crazy.
00:37 - It looks like most of the sets were real places.
00:39 Were you on location for most of the stuff
00:41 you were shooting?
00:42 - For a lot of it, yeah. - Yeah.
00:43 - They built these huge set pieces.
00:45 Like, when we were in the underworld,
00:47 I was not at all expecting them to do this.
00:48 They made these massive sand dunes
00:52 for us to slide down into targets into.
00:54 It was like, they brought an excavator inside the studio
00:57 just to load and unload all of the sand.
01:00 - Oh my God. - It was awesome.
01:01 - Yeah, and also, but a lot of it,
01:03 like a lot of the really big places,
01:04 like when we were in New York,
01:05 and a lot of that was on the volume stage.
01:08 And it's insane how real it looks.
01:09 And Montauk Beach, all of that,
01:11 that's all on the volume stage, which is crazy.
01:14 - Percy, the stories I have told you
01:17 about great gods and monsters,
01:19 they are real.
01:22 - There's lots of special effects in the show.
01:24 So when you are shooting those scenes with these monsters,
01:26 what's it like having to imagine that something's there
01:29 that's gonna be added in later?
01:31 - It can get a little tricky, but again,
01:32 ILM did such a good job with the volume stage
01:35 that as little that you can leave up to imagination,
01:40 they went all out.
01:42 And all of the actors, all of the stunt people
01:43 that they brought on, so like,
01:45 I know Walker worked with the guy
01:46 who played the Minotaur in the Chimera.
01:49 - Yeah, he's like seven foot.
01:51 And it's pretty fine because he's,
01:55 you're supposed to be afraid of this giant monster,
01:57 but he's a guy in a tight, what do they call it?
02:01 Yeah, a body suit, holding a Minotaur head.
02:04 And so it's a lot less intimidating
02:06 than you think it'd be, you know?
02:07 - So when you're shooting that scene,
02:09 are you up on his shoulders when you're on top of him?
02:12 - So they also made a blue screen model with fur on it.
02:17 And they had it on the gimbal thing.
02:19 It was like airbags underneath it,
02:20 and they just shook it around,
02:22 and I was on top of it holding onto its fur.
02:24 So yeah, that was real, yeah.
02:26 - The master boat has been stolen.
02:29 If you don't return the boat, there will be war.
02:32 That is your quest.
02:36 - Did you have to do any combat and stunt training?
02:38 - A lot, yeah.
02:40 We all did, when we got there in May,
02:41 there was a month of just like stunt rehearsals,
02:44 and we did a lot of wire work and sword fighting and stuff,
02:48 and learning how to walk like a goat, so.
02:50 - That's my share of the stunts.
02:51 - Yeah.
02:52 - Also the swimming training was a lot.
02:54 - Oh yeah.
02:55 You got your junior diver's license, right?
02:56 - I did, yeah.
02:57 - The fans of these books are so passionate.
03:00 What are you most excited for fans of the books
03:02 to see in this series?
03:03 - I'm excited for them to see everything,
03:05 but the big parts like Camp Half-Blood,
03:08 the Ares fight, the ton of love, and Hades Palace,
03:12 because I know that people are on the editor's seat saying,
03:14 "How can I wait for this part?
03:15 "How can I wait for this part?"
03:16 And then we're like, "We're giving it to you, baby."
03:19 Okay, not baby, but like, you know what I mean?
03:21 Like, "We're giving it to you."
03:23 That's what I'm really most excited for them to see,
03:25 'cause just a lot of things in how we did
03:29 and how it really turned out is amazing.
03:32 (whooshing)
03:34 (upbeat music)