Charlie Bushnell says Disney+’s Percy Jackson “hit the jackpot” when it comes to casting — and we could not agree more. The actor plays Luke Castellan, a brilliant swordsman and son of Hermes, in the Disney+ live-action adaption, and revealed that he met some of his “closest friends” while on the set of the show. Keep reading for our exclusive interview with Charlie.
With author of the original books Rick Riordan at the helm of the Disney+ show, Percy Jackson is already being praised for its near perfect portrayal of the beloved characters — from Walker Scobell taking on the titular role to Leah Sava Jeffries‘ Annabeth Chase and Aryan Simhadri‘s Grover Underwood.
“It did not feel like work,” Charlie gushed to J-14 exclusively. “I just was so excited to go to set every day and see everyone. We definitely got super close, all the cast. We, for sure, hit the jackpot with this team. I consider everyone on set to be some of my closest friends to this day, and we still talk all the time.”
One costar in particular, Walker, is someone he talks to nearly every day — and the pair often play Fortnite together.
“Everyone is just extremely talented, amazing,” he added. “So I’m honored to be a part of this with all of them.”
Since the show premiered in December 2023, fans of the books (and TV show!) have not disappointed on the TikTok front — posting thousands of edits of their favorite characters — which the cast have *definitely* seen, Charlie admitted.
“We have [sent TikTok edits] a little bit in the group chat,” Charlie teased. “Whenever I see a cool edit on my For You page, I’ll send it over and they’ll do the same. Yeah, it’s been awesome. The reactions have been amazing, and I’m so glad people are enjoying it.”
As for the fan reaction in general, the Diary of a Future President star said it’s been pretty surreal.
“For the most part people seem to be happy with it, and obviously we have new fans and then fans with the books,” he said. “I remember [producer] Jon [Steinberg] was saying that, I think I heard him in an interview saying that, we’re making four shows essentially. One for the fans, one for the new fans, one for kids and one for adults. So I think everyone’s enjoying it as far as I’m concerned.”
And the filming experience wasn’t so shabby either, according to Charlie.
“I didn’t feel like I was on a set, a TV set,” he gushed. “I truly felt like I was at Camp Half-Blood while we were filming. They really brought it to life.”
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