A Percy Jackson Scene Had The Show's Boss Legitimately Scared For His Young Stars' Safety

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians" has no shortage of iconic moments that fans of Rick Riordan's novels are waiting to see play out on Disney+. One scene in Season 2 had the showrunner genuinely scared for the safety of his young actors. When it comes to the chariot races at Camp Half-Blood, the creative team knew they had to match what readers imagined on the page.

Showrunner Jonathan E. Steinberg is well-aware that Percy Jackson (Walker Scobel) and his friends were going to set some hearts racing in Season 2. That said, fans know that Rick Riordan and the show's creative team aren't afraid to go off-book at times. Still, the chariot races in "The Sea of Monsters" and "The Battle of the Labyrinth" are massive moments for fans of the books. 

In the December 2025 issue of SFX Magazine, Steinberg explained how nerve-wracking it was to send the young cast onto the racetrack. Safety was the crew's top concern throughout production. Even so, the creative team felt they couldn't do the books justice without making the chariot races truly dynamic. "It was the first thing, at the beginning of the writing process, that we all had a moment to decide, 'Can we do this? Can we do it safely? Can we do it well?'" Steinberg remembered. "When you think about this book, the race just pops into your memory, so we felt like, 'All right, let's figure out a way to do this without hurting anyone.'"

Once the crew committed to using practical elements for the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" chariot race, they focused on making it as impressive as possible. It was a razor-thin line to walk, but the team was up for the challenge. They prepared the animals and carefully blocked out how the action would unfold on camera.

This is an important consideration when discussing a set piece of this scale. Having human actors in this large-scale action scene is difficult enough, but adding animal performers introduces an entirely different set of variables, since their behavior can be unpredictable on any given take. Steinberg admitted that, despite that difficulty, accomplishing the chariot race made him very proud of everyone involved. "It was a big deal, and something I'm really proud of," the showrunner shared. "It's one of the biggest things I've ever been a part of shooting, having however many horses and children doing full-speed hairpin turns. It was an ordeal, but it looks pretty good, and nobody got hurt."

Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Jeffries (Annabeth Chase), and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) also deserve some credit for pulling it off. One of the biggest differences between this iteration of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and the films is its commitment to making iconic moments from the novels feel immediate and grounded.