‘Percy Jackson’: Where Fans Have Seen Walker Scobell Before
An exciting new Percy Jackson series is coming to Disney+. Percy Jackson and the Olympians stars Walker Scobell as the titular hero. The actor might look familiar to some. So here’s a breakdown of Walker Scobell’s career and what other projects he’s attached to.
Walker Scobell played a young version of Ryan Reynolds’ character in ‘The Adam Project’
Scobell is an American actor born into a military family and has lived all over the country. He began acting in drama classes as an elementary school student and went on to star in theater productions at his middle school.
Scobell decided to pursue an acting career, according to his IMDb page. And in 2021, the now-13-year-old landed a major role in Netflix’s The Adam Project opposite Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner, Zoe Saldana, and Mark Ruffalo. In the film, Scobell portrays the younger version of Reynolds’ character, Adam.
The Adam Project premiered on Netflix in March 2022. And Scobell already has two other major projects lined up for the year.
He will also appear in Secret Headquarters, a new sci-fi superhero film starring Owen Wilson, Jesse Williams, and Michael Peña. And he’s taking on the role of author Rick Riordan’s beloved character, Percy Jackson, in the upcoming Disney+ series.
Secret Headquarters comes out in August 2022. Percy Jackson and the Olympians will begin production this year and will likely debut in 2023.
Author Rick Riordan himself announced Walker Scobell’s role in ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’
Riordan captivated a new generation of readers with his Percy Jackson books. The series — which includes The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian — follows the titular demigod as he learns of his origins and takes on other powerful Greek gods, including Zeus and Poseidon.
The author is now bringing his stories to television with Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+. Riordan wrote the pilot episode. And he was the one who announced Scobell’s casting as Percy on the official Rick Riordan website.
“Demigods, the time has come,” Riordan wrote. “I am thrilled to introduce you to Percy Jackson. Walker Scobell is an incredibly talented young man who blew us away with his audition tapes for the role of Percy. Many of you recently discovered how great Walker is when you watched his movie The Adam Project.
“We were fortunate enough to audition Walker months before that movie came out, but the film only confirmed what we already knew about his talent,” the author continued. “It was obvious to me and the rest of the team that Walker had the perfect mix of comedic timing, sweetness, rebelliousness, snark, and heroism to embody our hero Percy Jackson.”
The author also revealed 2 other additions to the ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ cast
Days after revealing Walker Scobell’s role, Riordan announced Cheaper by the Dozen and Spin star Aryan Simhadri will play Percy’s best friend, Grover Underwood, in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The author also announced that Empire star Leah Sava Jeffries will portray Percy’s fellow demigod and future girlfriend, Annabeth Chase.
“In his auditions for Grover Underwood, Aryan won our hearts,” Riordan revealed in a website post. “He had me laughing out loud with his delivery and timing. He has a mixture of sweetness, humor, and internal toughness that is perfect for our favorite satyr.
“Leah is exactly the way I imagined Annabeth in the books: smart, strong, and courageous, a true daughter of Athena who has zero patience for the foolishness of a certain Seaweed Brain,” the author added. “Watching her act with Walker and Aryan, I saw Annabeth Chase come to life.”
Riordan’s books The Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters were adapted into two feature films starring Logan Lerman as Percy, Brandon T. Jackson as Grover, and Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth. The movies were commercial successes, grossing over $425 million worldwide.
