When Disney announced the cast for their brand new Percy Jackson series, there was inevitably some backlash. Most of that seemed to be targeted at one cast member, particularly for some pretty harsh reasons. In response to the backlash, Alexandra Daddario, someone near and dear to the Percy Jackson IP, has spoken out.
In the Percy Jackson series, there is a Golden Trio of the main characters that fans are most excited to see again - The main character, Percy Jackson, along with his two closest allies Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood. By far, the most controversy has been centered around the young actress announced to play Annabeth, Leah Jeffries.
The first adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians featured Daddario in the role of Annabeth. It was her big break into the film industry, turning her into a star. Fans of the series loved Daddario in that role, so it's no surprise that fans were looking to her for approval. This seems especially true now that the casting of Jeffries for the Percy Jackson series has been so highly criticized. However, those who were worried about whether Daddario is okay with it should fret no longer. In a simple tweet, Daddario gives her full-fledged support. What may have prompted such blatant support from Daddario is the nature of a lot of the criticism.
In the original Percy Jackson books, the character of Annabeth is portrayed as white. Daddario is also white. Jeffries however, is Black. Many fans are unhappy with this choice, as it makes a change from the books, but people involved in the series have been calling out this racism. The amount of hate that Jeffries, who is only 12, has gotten even caused her TikTok account to be shut down.
Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson books, has also voiced his support and called for stopping the online hate. On May 10, he published an entire blog post on his website entitled "Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase" in which he defends the casting, asks fans to stop bullying the child actress, and explains how criticism related to her race is, indeed, racist. Riordan is adamant that this group of actors will do the best possible job in bringing these characters to life, and that fans should be excited.
Filming for Percy Jackson and the Olympians is to begin in Vancouver in June of 2022. While no release date is confirmed, it's speculated that the show will premiere on Disney Plus in early 2023.
Source: Alexandra Daddario