Percy Jackson EPs Still in a ‘Bit of Denial’ About Recasting the Late Lance Reddick’s Zeus

Keisha Hatchett
·2 min read

With the recently renewed Percy Jackson and the Olympians set to tackle Rick Riordan’s second book Sea of Monsters in Season 2, the creatives behind the immensely popular Disney+ show have the unfortunate task of recasting the late Lance Reddick’s Zeus, who is due to appear in the forthcoming installment.

On Saturday, series co-creator and executive producer Jon Steinberg revealed that he hasn’t yet begun the difficult work of replacing the late actor, who passed away last March.

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“I don’t think anybody’s there yet…there’s also a little bit of denial that that’s something we’re going to have to deal with,” Steinberg said during the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, also noting that he didn’t envy whoever will eventually take over the role.

Dan Shotz, who also serves as an executive producer on the project, shared that he and Steinberg “recently got a text from [Reddick’s] wife who said how proud he would’ve been of seeing it.”

In a previous interview with TVLine, Shotz remembered Reddick as a great man. “I got to spend some real time with Lance in the weeks that we had him, and he was an exceptional human being,” the EP said. “I think about how he connected to the kids, what he brought to the show, the power, the soulfulness. He was incredible man, and it was pretty heartbreaking for all of us to lose him the way we did.”

Toby Stephens, who plays Poseidon and worked alongside Reddick in the Season 1 finale, also spoke on his time with the late actor.

“I remember the last thing I said to him before leaving was, ‘I’m really looking forward to working with you again,’ and it was genuine,” Stephens recalled. “I really enjoyed working with him and I was a big admirer of his.”

He added that Reddick was “so physically impressive and perfect” as Zeus. The late actor also had “this powerful charisma and yet, was such a lovely, humble, regular guy as well… It was a great honor to work with him, and I was just so sad [when he died].”

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