Walker Scobell, Leah Sava’ Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri star as Percy, Annabeth, and Grover in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is based on the book series by Rick Riordan. The new show will debut December 20 on Disney+ with a two-episode premiere, followed by weekly episodes.

Percy Jackson is on a dangerous quest. Outrunning monsters and outwitting gods, he must journey across America to return Zeus’ master bolt and stop an all-out war. After losing his mother, Percy is sheltered at Camp Half-Blood, a sanctuary for demigod children. He must prove himself and confront his origins once he discovers he too is a demigod, and will take off into the perils of pursuing enemies in search of the Underworld. With the help of his quest mates Annabeth and Grover, Percy’s journey will lead him closer to the answers he seeks: how to fit into a world where he feels out of place, if he’ll ever see his mother again, and if he can ever find out who he’s destined to be.

“Something I didn’t do consciously, like subconsciously, I noticed when I was rewatching all the episodes that physicality-wise, I look very awkward,” Scobell expressed. “I feel like that’s a very good thing ‘cause I mean, he’s a growing boy, he’s 12. It’s something I didn’t add on purpose but it kind of came because I was the same age as him. Hopefully, next season I’m not as awkward but I think it really works for Percy in the first season.”

“When I read the books and stuff… reading that there was one girl in the book — well, I mean, not in the entire book, but in that main trio — I tried to put myself as it. Like, you know when you’re reading a book and you try to imagine everything? When there were certain parts in the book that mainly focused on Annabeth, I picturized me being that person, if that makes sense and when it was Grover and Percy, I imagine looking at them doing it,” Jeffries told me. “So like, when it came to the girl part, I put myself in it because I am a girl, obviously, so I put myself as that and then it made me get into the part of it.”

Simhadri explained, “I definitely appreciate the physicality of Grover a lot more. It’s not something you really think about when you’re reading the books, but especially at Yancy Academy, he’s trying not to kind of show his trot, I guess. And getting to work with like, they brought in a movement coach and we talked about like, ‘Oh, when he’s happy, his stance isn’t as wide and when he wants to run, he’s a little lower to the ground,’ you know? I think it’s not something you really think about when you’re reading the books, but getting to, I guess, bring the physicality of Grover to life was… it’s something I did have to think about.”

We discussed how their view of the trio changed after bringing these beloved characters to life and moments that solidified their off-screen friendship.

Watch our full conversation below: