Percy Jackson season 3 cast on friendships and changing loyalties

The short answer: Annabeth’s capture sends Percy on a new quest, while the cast explores Percy and Grover’s friendship, Luke’s relationship with Annabeth and how the Hunters became a close-knit group.

In this article

1. Percy and Grover become more equal friends
2. Seeing Luke beyond Percy’s point of view
3. Building a bond among the Hunters

Walker Scobell had to adjust to a different rhythm on the set of Percy Jackson’s third season: Leah Sava’ Jeffries wasn’t by his side for parts of filming. Speaking at August’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, he described how strange it felt to work without his usual scene partner. Annabeth’s capture sends Percy to find her, giving the cast new relationships to explore.

At a D23 event in November, the cast discussed the new season. Based on The Titan’s Curse, the third book in Rick Riordan’s series, season 3 follows Percy as he tries to rescue Annabeth from the forces of Kronos. Grover joins him, along with some unlikely companions. It is the first screen adaptation of the novel.

Percy and Grover become more equal friends

Aryan Simhadri said Percy’s growing experience is changing his friendship with Grover. After two quests and a better understanding of his powers, Percy is finding his feet. Their mentor-and-student dynamic shifts, leaving more room for the pair to talk as friends.

I think one of the things I’m most excited for people to see this season is that we get to spend a lot more time with them just talking as friends. Aryan Simhadri, at August’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event

The actors worked to bring that ease to their scenes. Simhadri and Scobell live next door to each other, and rehearsed together, improvising and interrupting one another. They even practised at the gym. Simhadri, whose earlier Disney series Just Roll With It featured audience choices shaping scenes, said Percy and Grover’s conversations feel closer to his own friendship with Scobell.

Seeing Luke beyond Percy’s point of view

Annabeth’s separation from Percy also gives Charlie Bushnell more time with Luke. Bushnell said she spends much of the season with him, giving the show more scope to explore their relationship. As Scobell adjusted to working without Jeffries, Bushnell had the chance to develop that connection with her.

The series also lets Bushnell explore Luke beyond Percy’s hostility towards him. Bushnell’s reading of the books is that Percy’s perspective, particularly after The Lightning Thief, shapes how readers see Luke. Percy still despises him in the show, but the adaptation gives Bushnell room to explore Luke’s good and bad sides, and the uncertainty in between.

Building a bond among the Hunters

For Dafne Keen, who plays Artemis, making the relationships believable began before filming. The Hunters trained together at a dedicated camp, learning archery and how to move as a pack. Keen said the challenge was to make the group feel as though its members had been together for millennia.

Getting to know the other women before arriving on set mattered just as much as learning the movements. The performers didn’t have to meet as strangers and immediately act as one another’s closest confidantes. Training gave them time to build familiarity before bringing it to the screen.

Olive Abercrombie described similar preparation for siblings Bianca and Nico, played by Abercrombie and Levi Chrisopulos. They spent weeks working on their sibling dynamic before filming. Abercrombie said she had never done so much character preparation, and that it helped her find her version of Bianca.

Season 3 premieres on 20 November with two episodes, followed by two episodes each week on Disney+ and Hulu.