Aryan Simhadri stars as Grover Underwood in season two of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which concludes with Wednesday’s finale, streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. The show’s third season is currently in production.
Percy Jackson returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon.
“I am constantly aspiring to be more like Grover. I’ve personally, as Aryan, been thinking a lot about — Walker and I went to dinner the other night, and we were talking about this — what does it mean to love someone unconditionally? And I think Grover is kind of the perfect embodiment of that because if there’s one trait I can give to him, it is that he understands. No matter what, he understands,” the actor explained. “He is able to empathize, even, I think, their relationship isn’t really defined, but with Luke, he carries a lot of that guilt on himself. He not only understands, he feels, he almost pities Luke, and he pities himself because it’s like, Luke never would have happened if I just did my job, you know? I think because he carries so much guilt with him and he carries it for other people, and he’s willing to carry those burdens, he is able to empathize with other people and [because of] that, I am proud to be Grover. I hope that one day I can be more like him because he’s just such a good person and I think that’s what everyone should be.”
Simhadri also opened up to me about having a larger role in the second season compared to the second installment of the book series, Rick Riordan’s The Sea of Monsters:
“Grover’s always been my favorite character, even in the books, and getting to spend time with him alone in the cave was awesome. Frankly, as much as I hate to admit this, I’m kind of a die-hard book fan, and you just instinctually, even though you know it’s stupid, it’s that little kind of animal instinct in your brain that’s like, change! And so, Dan, Jon, and Rick all sat me down and were like, ‘We, obviously, intend to change the script to include you more. He’s not in the book as much, and we want that to change.’ I can look back at it and be like, yes, it was not just an act of kindness thing, it was a very important thing. However, I was almost scared that any excess inclusion of Grover was going to take away from the main story, and I had absolutely no reason to be afraid because our writers are incredible when it comes to incorporating what’s happening at Camp and what’s happening in the quest, what’s happening a hundred miles away and what’s happening here and they just blended both sides so beautifully. I’m so happy that I got to be in it more, and I’m so happy that Grover gets to be a more dynamic three-dimensional part of the story, even if his character just at the end of the day boils down to being of service that in and of itself gets to be nuanced, and I’m so happy that it is.”
We discussed why he’s proud to be recognized for this role, bringing the storyline in Polyphemus’ Cave to life, recalling past moments he’s filmed for future seasons, what he admires about how Grover has evolved, having a singular quest that extends throughout the series, and much more.
Watch my full interview below:
