Disney changed ‘Percy Jackson’ character because they didn’t want kids to start eating tin cans

An actor from Percy Jackson And The Olympians has shared the reason behind a drastic character change from the novels to the series.

Aryan Simhadri, who plays the character Grover Underwood in the Disney+ adaptation, has opened up about a key difference in the character’s presentation.

Grover, a close friend of Percy’s, is a satyr, a Greek mythological creature that is half goat, half human. In the novel series by Rick Riordan, Grover’s primary diet consisted of furniture, aluminium and tin cans.

However, according to The Direct, Simhadri has explained why this detail had to be altered for the series, which guest stars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lance Reddick and Toby Stephens, among others.

“Because you know, a lot of younger kids are going to be watching the show, and we don’t really want any eight-year-olds eating tin cans,” he explained.

“So, yeah, we’ve maybe went a little light on eating sharp metal objects.”

It is also mentioned several times in the novel series that Grover likes cheese enchiladas, so this trait was utilised in the adaptation.

“Now [the diet’s] mostly consisting of enchiladas and banana bread, I think,” the actor explained.

However, it seems the prop team did initially try to represent the character’s tin can preference, as Simhadri shared: “The props team came up with like a fondant tin can. And I downed two of those things. And I’m pretty sure the fear was if they put those in the show, I wouldn’t stop eating them.”

In other news, a writer on the reboot of Lizzie McGuire has revealed the plot details which reportedly made Disney “uncomfortable”.