Walker Scobell: Percy Jackson on TV explores ‘every little detail’ from books

Walker Scobell has said the new TV version of Percy Jackson And The Olympians is able to explore “every little detail from the books”, thanks to its episodical format.

The 14-year-old American actor stars as the lead role in a new series based on the six fantasy novels of the same name written by Rick Riordan.

Speaking to the PA news agency at the series premiere in London’s Leicester Square on Saturday, Scobell said: “I think it (the series) has something for everybody.

“People who have read the books can enjoy it and people who haven’t read the books; I mean this is a great time to experience it for the first time.

“I think the show format helps it a lot because it kind of lets you flesh out every character, because you have so much time to do that and just get every little detail from the books.”

Co-star Leah Jeffries, 14, who plays Annabeth Chase on the show, added: “This is a series that we’re going to grow into, and we’re the right age, doing it like it is in the books, so we have a lot of detail.”

Executive producer Rebecca Riordan said of the series: “It’s very authentic and is so much like the books and, obviously, because it’s not in first-person, we get to explore the world a little bit more and go outside the books and see the things that should’ve been in the books, but we didn’t see them because Percy wasn’t in all those scenes.”

The show follows a young Percy who is on a dangerous quest across America to return Zeus’s master bolt and stop a war.

After losing his mother, Percy is sheltered at Camp Half-Blood, a sanctuary for demigod children and must prove himself and confront his origins once he discovers he too is a demigod.

Logan Lerman starred as Percy Jackson in two film adaptations released in 2010 and 2013.

Percy Jackson And The Olympians from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television, launches with two episodes on Wednesday December 20 on Disney+.