12 May – Leah Jeffries will not let the negativity over her casting in "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" put a damper on her parade, as she prepares herself to play Annabeth Chase in the upcoming series, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians". The African-American actress, who will be playing the demi-god daughter of Athena, the Goddess of War, expressed her thoughts about the backlash via @updatespercy on Twitter, saying, "To whoever is hating, stop doing that. I know you think that's going to hurt me though. It's not. You're just wasting time. I'm still confident. Everyone else is confident."
Jeffries was not the only child actor whose casting was received with much skepticism, as the choice of Aryan Simhadri as Grover was also criticised by many just for the fact that they are not white. Prior to the two stars, it was revealed that "The Adam Project" actor Walker Scobell was cast to play the titular character of Percy Jackson.