How does it feel to star in the adaptation of your favourite book? Ask Aryan Simhadri, the Grover to Percy Jackson in the new series
All Percy Jackson & The Olympians novel fans will agree – the series with the same name that recently released on OTT had quite the pressure to deliver, given that the movie adaptations didn’t quite hit the spot. The show has been lauded, and a boy in particular, who grew up reading the novels, saw a dream come true as he went on to play a character he loved. 17-year-old Aryan Simhadri, who essays the role of Percy Jackson’s friend Grover Underwood, has been an actor since he was four. However, this is his breakthrough in more ways than one. Simhadri joins us for a conversation from LA, and lets us in on his journey.
GRAZIA: You’ve been acting since you were four. What was your childhood like?
ARYAN SIMHADRI: Right now, as I’m applying to colleges and the process requires you to talk about your childhood and how you grew up, I’m realising because I started doing this so young, I never really had time for anything else other than acting. I wouldn’t have it any other way because I love this. As a kid, I’m fortunate that I had parents who were smart enough manage both sides for me – they wanted me make friends and go to school, but they were also willing to drive me two hours up to LA and pull me out of class when I have an audition. Making friends wasn’t hard as such, I did make friends at school, but once I started to get more and more into acting, a lot of my closest friends now are from the industry.
G: How does your experience factor into the kind of projects that you choose?
AS: In my family, it became a game: Every time I got a project, the next one would be one level higher. I kept moving from doing voiceover, working on Broadway, to booking commercials, getting a co-star role, becoming a guest star, and getting recurring roles. But a series regular was yet to happen. Eventually I got Percy Jackson, and this is my first job as a lead, or series regular.
G: How did you land this role?
AS: I auditioned when I was in New York doing a different project. At first it was like ‘this is too iconic for me to bag’ [laughs] but My mum insisted that I audition for it. So I auditioned for both Percy and Grover, knowing fully well that I’m not getting Percy. Auditioning for Grover, honestly, felt more real to me. I submitted a tape and didn’t hear back for three months, and forgot all about it. But then I got the call. They remembered who I was, and I did a few more auditions, I got to the producer session and the chemistry read, which is where I first met Walker [Scobell, who plays Percy Jackson] and Leah [Jeffries, who plays Annabeth Chase], and I was blown.
G: It is quite an iconic show to land. What were your biggest challenges in playing Grover?
AS: The biggest challenge, as a fan of the books, is to make something that I’m proud of. I want to do justice to something that I genuinely love. So there was a lot of pressure that everyone was putting on themselves, even the crew. We’re making this for people who had grown up with the show, and for people whose first introduction to the books could be this show. Rick Reordan [author] was on the project, and it was his chance to revisit and readapt the books that he had written almost a decade or two ago. We wanted to make him proud.
G: Having made it to your first lead role, how does the focus on diversity in the West right now make you feel about your future?
AS: I don’t think I could be happier about where the industry is. More time and effort and more resources are being put into finding genuinely talented people of colour, and I think that’s incredible. It’s something that we’ve needed for a long time and I’m really glad that it’s finally happening. Ten, 15, or even 20 years back, this was unimaginable. Look at the new Mean Girls: Avantika, who plays Karen, is a friend of mine. Momona, another close friend, she’s playing Ty Lee in Avatar. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come.
G: You recently visited Telangana, your grandparents live here. Do you want to act in India at some point too?
AS: Oh absolutely. I grew up watching Bollywood, my parents speak Telugu at home so I grew up speaking it. The first film I ever watched when I was nine months old in the cinema was a Ravi Teja film. But yes, I love Bollywood and would definitely want to work there at some point.
Photograph: BEN COPE
All Percy Jackson & The Olympians novel fans will agree – the series with the same name that recently released on OTT had quite the pressure to deliver, given that the movie adaptations didn’t quite hit the spot. The show has been lauded, and a boy in particular, who grew up reading the novels, saw a dream come true as he went on to play a character he loved. 17-year-old Aryan Simhadri, who essays the role of Percy Jackson’s friend Grover Underwood, has been an actor since he was four. However, this is his breakthrough in more ways than one. Simhadri joins us for a conversation from LA, and lets us in on his journey.
GRAZIA: You’ve been acting since you were four. What was your childhood like?
ARYAN SIMHADRI: Right now, as I’m applying to colleges and the process requires you to talk about your childhood and how you grew up, I’m realising because I started doing this so young, I never really had time for anything else other than acting. I wouldn’t have it any other way because I love this. As a kid, I’m fortunate that I had parents who were smart enough manage both sides for me – they wanted me make friends and go to school, but they were also willing to drive me two hours up to LA and pull me out of class when I have an audition. Making friends wasn’t hard as such, I did make friends at school, but once I started to get more and more into acting, a lot of my closest friends now are from the industry.
G: How does your experience factor into the kind of projects that you choose?
AS: In my family, it became a game: Every time I got a project, the next one would be one level higher. I kept moving from doing voiceover, working on Broadway, to booking commercials, getting a co-star role, becoming a guest star, and getting recurring roles. But a series regular was yet to happen. Eventually I got Percy Jackson, and this is my first job as a lead, or series regular.
G: How did you land this role?
AS: I auditioned when I was in New York doing a different project. At first it was like ‘this is too iconic for me to bag’ [laughs] but My mum insisted that I audition for it. So I auditioned for both Percy and Grover, knowing fully well that I’m not getting Percy. Auditioning for Grover, honestly, felt more real to me. I submitted a tape and didn’t hear back for three months, and forgot all about it. But then I got the call. They remembered who I was, and I did a few more auditions, I got to the producer session and the chemistry read, which is where I first met Walker [Scobell, who plays Percy Jackson] and Leah [Jeffries, who plays Annabeth Chase], and I was blown.
G: It is quite an iconic show to land. What were your biggest challenges in playing Grover?
AS: The biggest challenge, as a fan of the books, is to make something that I’m proud of. I want to do justice to something that I genuinely love. So there was a lot of pressure that everyone was putting on themselves, even the crew. We’re making this for people who had grown up with the show, and for people whose first introduction to the books could be this show. Rick Reordan [author] was on the project, and it was his chance to revisit and readapt the books that he had written almost a decade or two ago. We wanted to make him proud.
G: Having made it to your first lead role, how does the focus on diversity in the West right now make you feel about your future?
AS: I don’t think I could be happier about where the industry is. More time and effort and more resources are being put into finding genuinely talented people of colour, and I think that’s incredible. It’s something that we’ve needed for a long time and I’m really glad that it’s finally happening. Ten, 15, or even 20 years back, this was unimaginable. Look at the new Mean Girls: Avantika, who plays Karen, is a friend of mine. Momona, another close friend, she’s playing Ty Lee in Avatar. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come.
G: You recently visited Telangana, your grandparents live here. Do you want to act in India at some point too?
AS: Oh absolutely. I grew up watching Bollywood, my parents speak Telugu at home so I grew up speaking it. The first film I ever watched when I was nine months old in the cinema was a Ravi Teja film. But yes, I love Bollywood and would definitely want to work there at some point.
Photograph: BEN COPE
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