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Meet the Unexpectedly Charming Hades on ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’
As soon as Jay Duplass heard “Percy Jackson” was getting a TV adaptation, he knew he had to star in it to impress his kids—but he never imagined he’d be cast as Hades.
Hades may not be the most beloved god in ancient Greek mythology, but he’s surely an important one. Gods like Zeus, Athena, and Poseidon know that the God of the Underworld leads a deadly life, but Percy Jackson (Walker Scobell) is about to enter Hades’ frightening realm—he has to, in order to complete his quest to find a missing lightning bolt.
In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Hades is played by actor Jay Duplass, known for roles on Industry and Transparent. Hades might not be the devil, but he does sport a devilishly handsome silk suit with emerald green swirls embedded in the fabric. As Hades, Duplass is sarcastic, lonely, and evil—well, somewhat. Surprisingly, the God of the Underworld is not the main villain of this story.
Duplass, whose two kids are big fans of the book, was elated to find out he’d been cast as the character. “My kids now call me Hades half the time. They’ll literally yell at me, ‘It’s time for dinner—would Hades please come down?’” Duplass tells The Daily Beast’s Obsessed over Zoom, in an interview ahead of his Percy Jackson debut. After the episode drops on Disney+, the star adds, “It’s going to change a little bit of what it’s like to be at my kids’ schools. Hopefully not for the worse.”
It can’t be that bad—after all, Duplass isn’t playing Kronos, who was, in this week’s episode, revealed as Percy Jackson’s real Big Bad. Plus, Duplass has already enjoyed hearing his daughter tell all of her friends about the time Percy Jackson himself lit a firecracker underneath his foot.
Duplass’ two kids have already cast themselves in the show, volunteering for the roles of Hades’ kids: “I have heard my daughter say to my little boy, ‘I’m Bianco and you’re Nico,’” the actor says with a laugh. Has he heard any of the rumors about Nico and Bianca popping up in the Lotus Casino episode? “I haven’t heard about those,” he adds, although he says he’s “not that deep” in the fan theories.
Below, Duplass chats about the hilarity of working with pyrotechnics and child actors, his take on the Greek god, and what’s next for Hades in the Percy Jackson story.
What was your relationship with the books before you signed onto the series?I
