Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Tamara Smart Cast as Thalia Grace, Exclusive Comments From Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Olympians continues to round out its Camp Half-Blood ensemble. The serialized adaptation of Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels centers around Walker Scobell’s titular demigod while simultaneously telling auxiliary stories of the sons and daughters of Mount Olympus’s mightiest. At the time of The Lightning Thief, Percy, a son of Poseidon, is thought to be the only living child of the Big Three (Poseidon, Zeus, Hades). As the core pentalogy plays out, it is slowly revealed that demigod sons and daughters of the god of lightning and god of the dead are also roaming the mortal world.

Percy Jackson Season 2 Casts Thalia Grace

The daughter of Zeus has been found.

As reported by TheWrap, Tamara Smart (Resident Evil) has been cast as Thalia Grace. Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, is a centerpiece of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters, the novel that Percy Jackson Season 2 is based on. Her backstory was detailed by Luke (Charlie Bushnell) in a conversation with Percy (Walker Scobell) in Percy Jackson Season 1 Episode 2.

Prior to the events of Season 1, Thalia is attacked by monsters on her way to Camp Half-Blood. Zeus spares her life by turning her into a tree that gives Camp Half-Blood a magical protective barrier. In The Sea of Monsters, someone poisons Thalia’s Tree, leading a group of demigods to venture to that sub-titular ocean to find The Golden Fleece, a mystical object capable of restoring life to whoever or whatever wears it. In the book, The Golden Fleece works overtime and brings Thalia back to life from out of the tree itself. It’s unclear as to if Percy Jackson Season 2 will utilize Smart in just the finale episode or if she will also film flashback scenes.

Speaking to ComicBook while promoting the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Wrath of the Triple Goddess book, author Rick Riordan described the role as “the most anticipated casting announcement” among Percy Jackson fans.

“We are announcing the casting for Thalia Grace, who is probably the most anticipated casting announcement among the fans. That wasn’t my decision, Disney just said, ‘Hey, okay, today we can do this,’ and I was like, ‘Wow, cool!’”

Riordan described Smart as “so perfect” for the role of Thalia, teasing that “the story” of how the casting came to be is “worthy of a movie.”

“I am so thrilled with the person we got, and the story of how we got them and why is so perfect,” Riordan added. “It is itself like worthy of a movie. It’s really incredible.”

Riordan added that he will speak more on Thalia’s casting during his upcoming virtual Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Wrath of the Triple Goddess events, which go down on Tuesday, September 24th and Wednesday, September 25th. Tickets for each event can be found at those respective links.

“I’ll be able to talk about it a little bit in more in detail during the virtual events over the next couple of nights for for The Wrath of the Triple Goddess,” Riordan added. “If viewers are interested and they can tune into those, they can find out more.”

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 is currently in production. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Wrath of the Triple Goddess hits bookshelves on Tuesday, September 24th.