Tamara Smart is ready for the world to see the version of Thalia Grace that she brings to the screen in Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3, even if it may not have been what she had originally planned.
After previewing the first few moments of the upcoming installment at San Diego Comic-Con in July, showing the first battle of the season — well, two battles if you count Thalia and Percy (Walker Scobell) having a war of words — the young actress is gearing up for fans to see how she brings the daughter of Zeus (Courtney B. Vance) to life in a fiestier way than in Season 2.
“It’s a really interesting thing to build up tenacity and strength and intimidation. But I think it’s so easy with the resources that I’m given, specifically costume and hair and makeup and all of the accessories that came with being Thalia, which was a fun thing for me. I have spoken about how the EPs and the producers are incredible about us letting us have creative choice over what we want to do,” Smart told DECIDER backstage at Comic-Con, adding, “I came in with a whole idea for Thalia and then some of it went out the window when we got the scripts and there were new things brought in. I genuinely can say that every single thing about Thalia has been thought down to a T and I’m so, so proud of it and that was something that really helped me.”
One thing in particular that assisted the U.K. born actress to find Thalia Grace’s footing (pun intended) in Season 3? Her shoes. According to Smart, this season will feature Thalia sporting some platform Doc Martens as she, Percy, Grover (Aryan Simhadri), and a few others try to track down Luke (Charlie Bushnell), who is holding Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) captive. Given the intense mission the group must go on to keep Kronos from rising to power again as laid out in Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse — the third book in the Rick Riordan series the Disney+ show is adapted from — Smart says having the costuming to fall back on made all the difference in bringing this character to life in a fresh and complex way.
“Even the shoes had me walking different and it just kind of gets you in this time step that you can’t lose until you’re fully out of it. I think part of it was just want I want this to be good for the fans; this is the first time we’re seeing Thalia be her full true self. I want young women to watch it and feel empowered,” she said.
Smart added, “There was a wake-up [moment] every morning, [where I thought] ‘I want to do this justice, I want to do them proud, I want this so we’re gonna do it.’”
Here’s hoping she’s just as cool and kick-ass as she is in the books and in Season 2.
The first two seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians are now streaming on Disney+. Season 3 premieres on November 20.
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