Walker Scobell reveals the ‘most difficult part’ of playing Percy Jackson

Emlyn TravisSun, October 11, 2026 at 4:44 PM UTC

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Walker Scobell in ‘Percy Jackson’ season 2.Credit: Disney/David BukachKey Points -

Walker Scobell reveals what he considers to be the hardest part of playing Percy Jackson.

The actor made the reveal at a Percy Jackson season 3 panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday.

He plays the titular demigod on the Disney+ series, which is set to return on Nov. 20.

Walker Scobell has admitted it’s difficult to go toe-to-toe with the titans… of comedy.

The actor, who stars as Percy Jackson on the hit Disney+ series, revealed that it’s incredibly tricky to keep a straight face when sharing scenes with his comedic costars Kate McKinnon, Jason Mantzoukas, and Kristen Schaal.

“I’m not gonna lie, we always have these comedians for these really funny characters and they do their job really well, so it’s really hard for me to be all serious,” Scobell explained at the “Inside Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3” panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday.

Walker Scobell attends Inside “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” Season 3: A Conversation with Walker Scobell during New York Comic Con 2026 at Javits Center on Oct. 10, 2026, in New York City.Credit: Jason Mendez/Getty

“The most difficult part about playing Percy is working with all these amazing actors and then having to constantly look really confused and angry all the time, you know what I mean?” he continued. “I kind of have to not like them always, which is really difficult. Especially when they’re all so likable.”

To be fair, many of the comedians on the Percy Jackson cast portray gods with whom Percy has an adversarial relationship, like Mantzoukas’ Dionysus. Schaal, meanwhile, stars as Tempest, one of the Gray sisters who dragged Percy on a wild taxi ride to Camp Half-Blood in season 2.

The demigod son of Poseidon is also set to meet McKinnon’s Aphrodite in the upcoming third season, which is slated to release its first two episodes on Nov. 20.

When it comes to McKinnon, Scobell admitted that he couldn’t help but break character whenever they filmed together. “There was never a take where she did the same thing,” he said, “And there was never a take where it wasn’t funny.”

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So, the 17-year-old devised a trick to help himself out. “When it was on her, I kind of just covered my face a little,” he said. “I didn’t look at her. And I tried to just hear the words, but it’s… I don’t know. I feel kind of bad. I made that day a lot longer than it should’ve been.”

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McKinnon is one of several new gods making their debut in Percy Jackson season 3. Alongside her, Dafne Keen has been tapped to play the goddess of the hunt herself Artemis, with Ming-Na Wen stepping in as Hera, Jennifer Beals as Demeter, and Hubert Smielecki as Apollo. They join an already-star-studded cast of Greek gods that includes Courtney B. Vance, Adam Copeland, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jay Duplass, and more.

And some new demigods will also be getting involved in this season’s action, too. Levi Chrisopulos and Olive Abercrombie are set to star as fan-favorite siblings Nico and Bianca di Angelo. Saara Chaudry will also portray celebrated warrior Zoë Nightshade.

Walker Scobell and Leah Sava Jeffries in ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ season 2Credit: David Bukach/Disney

Abercrombie, Chrisopulos, and Chaudry also appeared in a short sequence that was showcased during the NYCC panel. In it, Percy and Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) slow dance together as a ploy to spot any potential threats at a packed school dance.

While the pair keep an eye on their two extraction targets, Bianca and Nico, Percy also catches a brief glimpse of Zoë standing amongst the partygoers and alerts Annabeth. However, when she sways them along the dance floor to view the mysterious warrior, she has already disappeared.

Percy Jackson season 3 premieres on Nov. 20 on Disney+.

on Entertainment Weekly

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