The highly anticipated season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is finally here and before its release, we chatted with Daniel Diemer, who stars as Tyson, Percy Jackson’s Cyclops half-brother. Daniel revealed what his audition process for Tyson looked like, what he learned from the rest of the cast, and how he prepared to play a character with one eye.
Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians officially hit Disney+ on December 10th, with new episodes dropping weekly on Wednesdays. The second season is based on Rick Riordan’s novel The Sea of Monsters and follows Percy’s quest to find his best friend Grover after he goes missing. With help from Annabeth, Clarisse, and his cyclops half-brother Tyson, Percy’s survival becomes essential to stopping Luke, the Titan Kronos, and their plan to bring down Camp Half-Blood. The series returns Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Dior Goodjohn, and more!
Daniel booked the biggest role of his career thus far with Percy Jackson but he has also starred as Paul in the Netflix film The Half of It and appeared in shows like The Man in the High Castle and Sacred Lies.
“From the very beginning, I knew what I wanted to do with Tyson. I was very excited about the process.”
Auditioning for Tyson was a fourth month process for Daniel, including a self tape, camera test, a director and producer session, and finally a chemistry read with Walker and Leah. Daniel said he instantly got along great with the main cast and they were all excited to see how he would portray Tyson.
“[Walker and Leah] are exceptional. They are so talented and they were so happy to be back for season two.”
Daniel also reunited with a special figure in his life on set: acting coach Andrew McIlroy, who worked a lot with the younger stars in the show. Daniel said Andrew is the reason he became an actor, as after taking a seven year break from acting, he took one of Andrew’s acting classes and fell back in love with the craft. Reunited again!
“Andrew is the reason I am an actor.”
Daniel said he learned so much from the rest of the cast after joining in season two, especially his on-screen brother Walker Scobell. Daniel said Walker embodied the best kind of leader on set, and came into each day excited to play Percy.
“Walker shows up so patiently for everyone and is so prepared and confident in the work.”
It sounds like Daniel was destined to play the one-eyed Tyson, and he said he was very mindful of his acting when it came to having just one eye. Being very aware of his physicality and mindset while acting was important when it came to this role, and he said he would have to think about how someone with impaired vision would act in different situations. Talk about commitment!
“A lot of [pretending to have one eye] was about physicality, and what does it mean to have one eye and how does that impact things.”
Thanks to Daniel for chatting with Young Entertainment! Watch the rest of the interview to hear more about Daniel’s acting tips and who he thinks would be most likely to play a prank on set. Be sure to like and subscribe to our channel for the latest news in young entertainment.
Consider this:
- Stay away with complacency while acting. Whether it is an emotional scene or a physical scene, dive deep into every single one and approach the craft of acting with respect.
