Is Walker Scobell's Height Book-Accurate?
Amelia Brooks Percy Jackson and the Olympians stars Walker Scobell as the titular demigod, but does the actor's height match up with his fictional counterpart's?
Summary
- Walker Scobell's height and appearance as Percy Jackson in the Disney+ series matches up well with the character's description in the books, meeting the expectations of the fanbase.
- Scobell experienced a growth spurt during the filming of the first season, going from 5'1" to 5'7", which aligns with Percy Jackson's age and height progression in the series.
- Percy Jackson's height is never explicitly stated in the books, but his portrayal as an average-height teenager in both the books and the TV series suggest that Scobell's height is appropriate for the character.
In the Disney+ TV series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Walker Scobell portrays the titular character, but is he the right height for the son of Poseidon? Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on the book series of the same name that also inspired two movies, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), as well as a musical based on the first book. Percy Jackson and the Olympians in December 2023 is the first foray into television for the Greek myth teen drama franchise.
Both Logan Lerman and Walker Scobell have played Percy Jackson now on screen, with Scobell taking the lead role in the eight-episode first season for Disney+. Unlike Lerman, who was a known quantity before his performance thanks to movies like Hoot and 3:10 to Yuma, Scobell was a much bigger question mark when he received the role as Percy. Scobell only had two other acting credits before this role, in The Adam Project as a younger version of Ryan Reynolds' character and Secret Headquarters as Charlie Kincaid. As Percy, Scobell had to meet the high expectations of the fanbase, including how well his appearance matched up.
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In the middle of filming Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 1, Walker Scobell hit a growth spurt (via Teen Vogue). In the nine months it took to film the first season, Scobell shot up from 5' 1" to 5' 7". Percy Jackson is also age 12 at the start of the series, making the 15-year-old Scobell a decent match for that character in at least that respect. The first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an adaptation of the first book in the series, The Lightning Thief.
In that book, Percy tells the reader that his friend Annabeth, played by Leah Sava Jeffries, is quite a bit taller than him, which is not the case in the series where they are about the same height, with Percy being just a hair taller. Scobell is somewhere between 5' 1" and 5' 7" in the show If Percy Jackson is the same size as the average American 12-year-old, then he should be somewhere between 4' 8" and 5' 4" (via CDC), making Scobell roughly accurate with Percy's most likely height.
Percy Jackson's Height Is Never Specified In The Books
Percy Jackson's height is never explicitly stated in the books, though he does frequently mention that he is shorter than Annabeth. A forum on Riordan Wiki claims that the Official UK Percy Jackson site says Percy is 5' 10" at age 13. However, there isn't much more information available than that and Rick Riordan's website does not have the heights of the characters posted as the forum claims it does.
A key element of the Percy Jackson franchise is that Percy does not know he is the son of a god until the start of the book. If his birth meant that he was of exceptional height, something like 5' 10" at the age of 13, that would certainly have been commented on by either himself or someone else. Instead, he's treated as a normal kid, indicating that Percy in the books and in Percy Jackson and the Olympians is an average height for someone his age and that maybe Walker Scobell is the one of exceptional height.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
- Release Date
- December 20, 2023
- Cast
- Walker Scobell , Leah Sava Jeffries , Aryan Simhadri , Jason Mantzoukas , Megan Mullally , Glynn Turman , Adam Copeland , Virginia Kull , Lance Reddick
