Following the announcement of her casting, Leah Sava Jeffries, who will play Annabeth in the series Percy Jackson on Disney+, is the victim of racist attacks on social networks. The books’ author, Rick Riordan, came to her defense.
After the feature films, make way for the series! Disney+ is currently preparing a live-action series adapted from the literary saga Percy Jackson, imagined by the novelist Rick Riordan. The news was announced in May 2020, by the author of the books himself on social networks. He said at the time: “We’re very excited to make a high-quality live-action series, following the storyline of the original five-book saga of Percy Jackson. (…) It will be a fantastic and exciting adventure!”. Since then, Disney has announced that the series will be named Percy Jackson and the Olympians in original version. The cast of the series has progressed well to such an extent that the trio of star actors was unveiled a few days ago. Leah Sava Jeffries, who will play Annabeth, has since been targeted by some fans of the novels.
Rick Riordan warns fans of Percy Jackson who ‘cross the line’ by harassing and insulting actress Leah Sava Jeffries
Some fans of the saga have expressed their outrage on social networks because Leah Sava Jeffries does not resemble the original description made of the character in the Rick Riordan novels. The actress is black while her character is white in the literary saga. The author replied on May 10 in a lengthy blog post. He says it’s a shame to even have to address this issue. “Bullying and Harassing a Child on the Internet is Inexcusable“he said, before adding: “The negative comments she’s received online are out of line. They must stop. Immediately.“
The author of Percy Jackson protests against the racism suffered by the young actress of the series
From the start of casting for the Disney+ series, Rick Riordan made it clear that he was looking for the best actors to bring his characters to life and that physical appearance was secondary. “This trio is the best. Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase”, he indicates. “You are upset/disappointed/frustrated/upset that a black actress has been cast to play a character who is portrayed as white in the books (…) My friends, this is racism,” he concluded. Actress Alexandra Daddario, who plays Annabeth in the movies Percy Jacksonalso commented on the case, supporting the young actress on Twitter: “Leah Jeffries will be an amazing Annabeth!!!”.
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Article written in collaboration with 6Médias