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.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Episode 7.)
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 have a 15-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, and they have each read the series of books at least five times. It is hands-down their favorite piece of art across any medium. I have read the books to my kids, I have heard them over Audible on road trips, they have been the bedtime routine—we hit play on the audiobook and they fall asleep to it. We live in a Percy Jackson house.
That is why, when I saw that Disney was making the TV show and that Rick [Riordan] was going to be centered in the creativity of it, coupled with my kids’ disappointment in the movie series, I told my agent, “If there’s any way, I’d like to be a part of it.” I did not think that I would get this role.
What role did you originally think you’d get?
The teacher, Mr. Brunner (Glynn Turman). The only reason is because my kids were like, “Oh, you’re going to be Mr. Brunner.” They were convinced. There was a moment where we were talking about the possibility, but they went a different way with the casting, which makes total sense. I wasn’t sure if there would be a spot for me, but eventually, [the producers] offered me Hades. My kids’ eyes popped out of their head when I told them that. It was unexpected and maybe more exciting for them.
As a parent steeped in these books, I had forgotten that [finding] Hades is the journey of the whole first book, the whole first season. It’s made me a little nervous as the series has gone on, like, “Oh my God, this is all leading to me. I better not mess it up.”
Jay Duplass.
David Bukach/DisneyIt’s nerve-wracking! He’s a legendary character. Are you ready for your kids to watch you become Hades?
None of it really feels real. The time when it started to feel really real was during the opening credits when there’s the cartoon depiction of the world of the gods and I’m there, and it definitely looks like me, on some level. I saw my 11-year-old son, his face was like, “Oh, shit. That’s dad.” I mostly do very grown-up stuff as an actor. I honestly don’t know if they’ve seen me in anything I’ve done so far.
Not even Industry? They’re not allowed to watch that?
[Laughs] They’re not watching Industry on the regular! Can you imagine trying to pause and send them out of the room on that show? They’re not watching Transparent. It’s going to be wild to watch them watch it, that’s for sure.
How did you try to make Hades your own character?
Beyond Percy Jackson, people have an awareness of Hades. I went to a five-year Jesuit classics school, I studied Greek and Roman myth and took five years of Latin. I definitely had a lot jammed in the noggin already about him. More than anything, I tried to be open to what the team wanted him to be like. Obviously, this dude has a tough lot in life.
The [Percy Jackson creative team] did such a good job of making the interactions very personal and lived in, in this fantastical realm. It was a very large show, but it felt like a real core group of people making a very specific, personal piece of art. I drafted off of that feeling.
What were you imagining the Underworld might look like behind you as you were acting?
I had no idea. I really had no idea what kind of world they were going to create. I didn’t know if I was going to have prosthetics. The more than I talked to them, it became clear that I was going to be a messy being with a lot going on. I do think that the set they created is the perfect blend of what I love about the show. We’re on a volume stage, I’m floating in the middle of the Underworld, but there’s also a nice couch and some books and some snacks on the coffee table.
Let’s talk about the kids. I watched a video where Walker talks about shooting a firecracker into your foot. Did that actually happen?
He did. It’s totally true. After the first day of shooting, we were outside eating snacks, and they had some kind of firecrackers that they were messing with. The first one went off right under me. Those boys were having a lot of fun there. I showed up eight months into the process, and I imagined seeing these weary kids—but they were not. They were having the time of their lives.
My daughter has been telling many people that my relationship with [Walker Scobell] is defined by him setting firecrackers off on me, which delights her to no end. That’s all she wants to do—light a fire under me, basically.
The behind-the-scenes action sounds chaotic—but fun! What was it like to act alongside Walker and Aryan Simhadri (Grover)?
They were really the tone-setters of everything. They felt like two human kids walking into a wild place. They were just so real and grounded in what it is that they wanted and what it is they were trying to accomplish. Percy’s mom was behind me and Walker had to play that scene with all those feelings about his mom (Virginia Kull) right there.
I’m walking into a world that already exists, as an actor. You really are taking your cues most imminently from the actors that you’re there with. I thought they were amazing. That’s what we, as a family, have been enjoying about Percy Jackson. It’s very easy for us to imagine what it’s like to be humans grappling with stuff like this.
If Percy Jackson continues into Season 2, would you want to stick around as Hades?
Oh my God, I would do anything anytime. I was talking to my kids this morning on the way to school, like, “OK, so remind me again, how does Hades show up again?” Because my experience with Percy Jackson is all over the place. My kids would be on different books at different times. The kids were like, “Well, it’s mostly dreams for a while, and then he starts to become more and more of a critical part of the story.” Like, OK. I’ll do dreams!
