“Remember, I picked you”: Rick Riordan Asked Leah Sava Jeffries to Ignore Racist Percy Jackson Fans
American author Rick Riordan is best known for writing Percy Jackson & the Olympians, one of the most well-known book series ever. The series consists of six fantasy novels set in the world of Greek Gods in the 21st century and follows the demi-god Percy Jackson on his journey to save the world from the Titans, led by the leader of their clan, Kronos.
Following the failed attempt to adapt the books into a movie series, the development of a series being executive produced by Rick Riordan began in 2020. By May 2022, Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri were cast as the three main characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Grover Underwood. There was a lot of fan outrage regarding this casting. Recently, Jeffries revealed how Riordan was supportive of her amid all the criticism.
Read More: Rick Riordan Believes Disney+ Percy Jackson Reboot Will Erase The Abominable Movie Series
Rick Riordan’s Heartfelt Advice to Leah Sava Jeffries
Much like J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter book series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians has also been one of those book series that millions of children around the world grew up reading. Having their favorite literary series adapted into another form of media was obviously an exciting prospect for ardent fans of the series.
However, that excitement did not take long to turn into resentment with the announcement of the cast. The Annabeth Chase that people knew from the books was a fair-skinned girl with stormy grey eyes and blonde hair (much like her Greek goddess mother Athena).
Leah Sava Jeffries was the exact opposite of this in terms of appearance, but Rick Riordan refused to give in to fan demand. Consequently, Jeffries became a target of online hate due to her race, which must have affected her adversely. Thankfully, Riordan had her back.
In a recent interview with Comicbook.com, Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri reflected on one piece of valuable advice that Riordan gave them. Jeffries recalled the advice saying:
“He told me one thing. He said, ‘No matter what people say about you.’ He said, ‘Remember I picked you.’ That was just something there and I was like ‘Okie dokie!'”
Being the creator of the entire Percy Jackson world, Riordan definitely knows what he is doing with all these choices that he is making. So, it is best to just trust his judgment rather than tearing down an artist for their race.
Rick Riordan Publicly Addressed the Hate Directed Towards Leah Sava Jeffries
Leah Sava Jeffries made her acting debut in 2015 and her feature debut came in 2022 when she landed a starring role alongside Idris Elba and Iyana Halley in the 2022 movie Beast. It was the announcement of her casting in Percy Jackson and the Olympians that attracted an insane amount of attention to her.
Read More: Things The Percy Jackson Disney+ Show Needs To Do Better Than The Movies
When netizens started expressing their discontent with the casting, Rick Riordan wrote a blog post defending Jeffries’ portrayal of Annabeth Chase in the TV series. He wrote:
“If you have a problem with this casting, however, take it up with me. You have no one else to blame. Whatever else you take from this post, we should be able to agree that bullying and harassing a child online is inexcusably wrong. “
Jeffries also pushed back on the criticism of her race bravely. The negative comments have lessened in numbers over time and hopefully, fans have accepted the young actress as their Annabeth Chase.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be available for streaming on Disney+ from December 20, 2023.
