How did you land this part?
When I was approached about the film and heard that Chris Columbus was directing, I said: ‘Man I have to be a part of this’. Chris was my hero growing up. The Harry Potter films just blew me away. When I read the first Percy Jackson book I liked it a lot. Chris is a fantastic, brilliant filmmaker and I am so happy to be part of this film.
Who is Percy Jackson and what is the story all about?
The movie starts off with a dilemma because Zeus has lost his powerful lightening bolt and they are all pointing fingers at Percy Jackson. But Percy himself has no idea who he is and knows nothing about his background. He is thrown into this dangerous situation and has to save the world and his mom.
Does it feel like a big responsibility playing Percy?
It does not feel like pressure. I didn’t realise what I had got myself into when I started out. The scale of the film and what it meant hit me only when we started filming. And you know it is a big responsibility. I just have to step up and try to do my part to make it good.
So you think that teenagers will be able to identify with Percy?
Yes, a lot of people will be able to relate to Percy. Kids will know what he’s going through. The story proves that when someone is thrown into a difficult situation, they can rise to the challenge.
Can you relate to Percy?
In some ways I can. But the best thing about playing a character though, you don’t need to relate to every part of the character you are going to play. You just need to find a way to understand him and get into that emotion and feeling of who he is.
What kind of teenager would you say you are? An adventurer like Percy?
I’m boring. I’m a boring person (laughs) not at all like most teenagers. My best friend Dean Collins, who is also an actor, and I are both film geeks. We do nothing but study film all day-long, film and music. That’s me as a teenager.”
Are you prepared for the changes that might happen to you once this movie comes out?
To be honest, it is interesting. People are just going to be screaming: ‘Percy Jackson’ all the time. And I’m going to be known as Grover everywhere, it’s going to be crazy. But somehow I can’t imagine people knowing who I am from any movie. So if that does happen, I will be very surprised.
