Warning! This article contains mild spoilers for “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”: Season two!
Fans are absolutely raving over the newest casting announcement for hit show “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”; Tamara Smart (Netflix’s “Resident Evil”) will be joining the show as Thalia Grace! Smart is, in my opinion, a perfect cast for Thalia, and is joining a cast of likewise perfect members of the team building a phenomenal show.
Smart is the most recent addition to the wonderful cast seen in season one, along with Daniel Deimer (who will be playing Tyson the cyclops). The two join Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood), Leah Sava Jefferies (Annabeth Chase), Dior Goodjohn (Clarisse La Rue), and Charlie Bushnell (Luke Castellan).
Thalia Grace is a central character in the latter half of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” book series. She is the fabled daughter of Zeus, and protector of Camp Half-Blood — a safe haven for demigods of all parentage. Her arrival to the camp is detailed in the first book (“Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”); Thalia arrived with Luke and Annabeth, and had to make a final stand to protect her found family. In her final moments, Zeus turned Thalia into a pine tree, tall and strong enough to protect the entirety of Camp Half-Blood from the monsters of myth.
In his official statement on his website, Rick Riordan, author of the book series and co-producer of the TV show, wrote, “Thalia Grace is one of the most important characters in the Percy Jackson universe, so the right casting was critical. Thalia is a powerful warrior, a fiercely loyal friend, and a demigod rebel with a very ‘punk’ / ‘rage-against-the-machine’ sensibility. As soon as we saw Tamara Smart play this role, we knew we had found our daughter of Zeus. She was, no pun intended, electric. Tamara puts the ‘grace’ in Thalia Grace!” There is no doubt in many fans’ minds that Riordan is right!
Smart has named this role a special one to her. The actor for Zeus in season one was the amazing Lance Reddick, who has since passed away. Smart had the opportunity to work with him in Netflix’s show “Resident Evil,” where she played the daughter of Reddick’s character, Albert Wesker, Jade. In this new season of “Percy Jackson,” Smart has the opportunity to connect with Reddick. Smart called the role “close to her heart,” saying “Lance Reddick and I always spoke about working together again, so it’s that much more special and important to me to play his daughter once more as Thalia, and to keep his memory alive. I feel his presence all around me and strive to make him proud on this exciting journey.”
The character of Thalia Grace plays a crucial role in book two of the “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series, and it will be exciting to see how Smart plays the character! I, for one, am looking forward to watching the second season, airing on Disney+ in 2025!