Slowly but surely, the lineup for the upcoming Disney+ series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been coming together rather with a variety of casting announcements that introduces who plays the characters of the Greek Pantheon. Before the announcement of Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hermes, we were informed that Jessica Parker Kennedy would be playing the infamous Medusa in the upcoming series adaptation. Parker Kennedy has recently now spoken about the challenges she endured while doing the special effects for her character.
Medusa, seduced by the god Poseidon in the temple of Athena and punished by the goddess for the sacrilege, sees her hair turned to snakes, making her one of the most feared gorgons in Greek mythology. Should any look upon her, they turn to stone. Getting the proper mass of snakes on the head of Medusa will be a challenge, one that will have to be tackled using CGI. Now Kennedy, while speaking to Cageside has revealed that filming of the character has posed a bit of a challenge for the studio, stating the limitations and discomfort she has had to endure.
Of the process, Kennedy said:
Parts of the scenes we did with some prosthetic snakes, so that was very cool. And other stuff, I had the little mo-cap on my head, which is like a very ridiculous, horrible looking little cap that doesn't flatter anyone. And so I was doing this regal part with that on. So you really just have to deep dive into character and do the best that you can, but it's easy because the writing is really wonderful in the show. I think people are going to love it.
While Kennedy might be having a bit of a hard time getting through the CGI requirements while filming, the actress will certainly not be the only one who would be put in those shoes. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is set to be a very close adaptation of Rick Riordan’s work, attaching the best-selling author as executive producer. This means there will be a good number of the Greek Pantheon to depict which means others with a bit of CGI work needed to make their characters screen worthy.
The cast of the series includes Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Megan Mullally, Jason Mantzoukas, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman, Tim Sharp, Dior Goodjohn, Olivea Morton, Adam Copeland, Suzanne Cryer, and Charlie Bushnell. Newly announced casting additions set to guest star are Jay Duplass and Timothy Omundson. Riordan and Jon Steinberg co-wrote the pilot episode that's directed by James Bobin. Steinberg, Bobin, Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Dan Shotz, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, Anders Engström, Jet Wilkinson, Gotham Group's Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, and D.J. Goldberg executive produce. Filming on the series is nearing completion.
There's currently no release date for Season 1 of the series, but it is currently aiming for a 2024 release. Watch a teaser below: