The long-anticipated casting of Thalia Grace is finally out, and it’s none other than Tamara Smart.Â
You may know her from The Worst Witch, Evil Dead Rising, or A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting. If you don’t know her, though, you’re about to! And, hopefully, you will love her portrayal of Thalia just as much as the rest of the cast.
Since the end of season one, Percy Jackson fans have been eager to see the Sea of Monsters new cast editions. Daniel Diemer’s casting for the character of Tyson was announced about two months ago, and since then, it’s been a waiting game for who would be cast as Thalia. Since she doesn’t physically arrive until the end of the second book, it does make sense as to why her casting announcement would come later. However, she does appear in Percy’s dreams throughout Sea Of Monsters and becomes a main character in the next one, The Titan’s Curse.Â
Thalia Grace is the daughter of Zeus, and like Percy, she is one of the Big Three’s kin: children of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades destined to fulfill a prophecy that is said to end in death. She’s fierce, but extremely loyal. Tough, but super sweet. An all-around complex character that you can’t help but love. She has faults, most of which concern Luke Castellan—the series’ anti-hero—but she’s very easy to root for. Later in the series, she becomes a badass Hunter of Artemis, an immortal group of young girls who swear to aid in the Hunt (in this universe, this means warding off monsters from the other demigods). From what I’ve seen, Tamara Smart seems like the perfect actress to pull off this formidable character!
What makes Tamara Smart’s casting all the more special is her relation to Lance Reddick, who played Zeus in season one. The pair worked together on Resident Evil, but before Smart was casted as Thalia, Reddick tragically died of coronary heart disease. By playing his daughter, Smart tells The Hollywood Reporter she will, “keep his memory alive.” Her Instagram post after receiving the role has the heartfelt caption, “for you.” Lance Reddick’s Zeus will live on through her portrayal of Thalia.
The Percy Jackson cast has so much diversity that incorporates itself into the character’s stories. One of my favorite Rick Riordan quotes, “Anyone can be a hero,” was said after facing backlash for Annabeth’s casting being an African American actress instead of white and blonde, as described in the books. In a world where people are, for some reason, fixated on accurate character descriptions for books that were written years ago, it’s refreshing to see Rick Riordan defending Leah Sava Jeffries and saying that she is Annabeth Chase, no matter what the haters say. Like Leah, Tamara does not physically look like the book version of Thalia Grace, but her personality and actions speak louder than appearance.
In addition, Tamara Smart is an English actress, and it’s been confirmed she will be keeping her British accent in the show. This is another factor of her character that is not in the books, but I think Rick Riordan sums up the matter pretty well: “Punk was born in England.” And what character is more punk than Thalia Grace?
We can assume—while there hopefully won’t be as much—there will still be negative reactions to the positive outcome of Thalia’s casting. The best we can do is support Tamara for taking on this awesome role through social media and watching the show when it comes out. (And if you still don’t believe me, definitely go watch some Resident Evil clips of her very Thalia-like character!)