Timothy Omundson on ‘Percy Jackson’ Disability Representation: It’s a ‘Great Responsibility’

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1 Episode 5, “A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers.”]

Timothy Omundson was just as impressed by the young stars of Percy Jackson and the Olympians as fans were while watching Episode 5.

“A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers,” streaming now on Disney+, left fans of Rick Riordan‘s books elated following the first true “Percabeth” moment in Hephaestus’ amusement park. The god of craftsmen meant to trap one demigod in his golden throne as payment for Ares’ (Adam Copeland) shield, but Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries) — usually led by her head, not her heart — made an emotional appeal to the god that convinced him to set Percy (Walker Scobell) free from the gilded prison.

“Percabeth” is the couple name fans of the Percy Jackson books have longed used for this pair. Read anything about this middle-grade mythology series and you’ll know that this is one of young-adult literature’s most beloved romantic duos. There was already immense pressure to get this TV adaptation right following the disappointing film adaptations in 2010 and 2013. Sticking the landing on the Percabeth plot is vital to the show’s success. Episode 5 provided the first real glimpse into how this young love story will be handled, and it didn’t disappoint.

Omundson worked with Jeffries and Scobell on the Tunnel of Love scene, but he shared most of his scenes with Jeffries. His presence in Season 1 is a departure from the source material. While the amusement park Tunnel of Love scene does take place in book one, The Lightning Thief, Hephaestus doesn’t actually physically appear until book three, The Titan’s Curse. In that book, it’s Percy who has to save Annabeth while Hephaestus watches. Fans on social media are thrilled that Disney+’s Percy Jackson decided to show Hephaestus earlier, in a moment where he witnesses Annabeth saving Percy, building the foundation for what could come in future seasons.

The most important part about Hephaestus’ Season 1 debut is the disability representation it brings. The series has already included a demigod who uses a wheelchair, seen at Camp Half-Blood in Episode 2. And now, we’ve met the disabled, “outsider” Olympian god.

In the Greek myth, the son of Zeus and Hera was thrown down from Olympus when he was young, leaving him physically disabled. Riordan told TV Insider that “it was going to be important to have Hephaestus represent the disabled community because Hephaestus is a disabled god. It was important that we honor that part of who his character is by finding an actor who knows that journey, who knows what that is like.”

Omundson suffered a major stroke in 2017 that paralyzed his left side. He uses a mobility device himself, just as Hephaestus does in the episode. Since Episode 5 debuted on January 9, the Psych star tells TV Insider that he’s already received loving messages from members of the disabled community expressing what the representation means to them.

Here, Omundson breaks down his Percy Jackson and the Olympians role and his hopes for the future of the series.

What was your connection to Percy Jackson before signing on for the show?

Timothy Omundson: Well, I have two daughters, so we read the books for them when they were little, which was a long time ago because they’re now junior adults. So I certainly knew of them. My bigger connection is to [executive producers and showrunners] Dan Shotz and Jon Steinberg. I think it’s actually the fourth project we’ve done together over the years. We met about, I think it was about 17 years ago. We did a show together. [Omundson was in Jericho and Human Target, created by Steinberg and produced by Steinberg and Shotz. They also created Black Sails starring Percy Jackson guest stars Jessica Parker Kennedy and Toby Stephens.]

I think this is a cool new thing for them. You wouldn’t expect it, but it fits right in.

You really wouldn’t. They’re so talented and this is certainly unlike anything we’ve done before in the past together. I think what really shocked me watching these episodes is just how funny they are. I actually texted Jon after the pilot and said, “Who knew you knew comedy like this?” They even surprised me with that.

I’ve found myself cracking up at so many of the lines in the show, like in Episode 3 when Percy says, “Their voting system is broken.”

Yeah, and I mean, a funny script is no good without funny actors. So between Walker, certainly, and all of [the young cast], they all have great comedic timing … I was really impressed by them.

Hephaestus promises to put a good word in with Annabeth’s mother, Athena (Disney+)

I don’t know if you’ve seen fan reactions to last night’s episode, but they’re so excited by the energy that Walker and Leah are already bringing to these scenes and what it means for the Percabeth character development moving forward. What impressed you about Walker and Leah on that day of filming?

It was my first time really meeting Leah, I think, and the first time I was working with her. What impressed me was just how great she was in the scene, even in spite of the fact that there was a great physical distance between us in the scene. She was really able to deliver her lines. I was at the very top of the soundstage and she was on the floor. Even with having to sort of yell the lines back and forth to each other, she still was able to convey the emotion of the scene that defines Annabeth. She really impressed me right from the get go. And in the small moments when we could rehearse closer together, right from the get go I knew she was going to be a force to be reckoned with as an actress, which absolutely played out in the episode.

She is powerful. She and Walker both in that scene, I was like, this is more emotion than I’ve seen from adults on TV, this is crazy. They’re so talented.

Absolutely. And there’s a reason the scene’s mostly played in closeups on her face. It’s ’cause she was just really delivering. They’re great together.

Timothy Omundson as Hephaestus, the outsider Olympian (Disney/David Bukach)

We only get to see a small snippet of you in the episode, but it’s a treat anyway because Hephaestus technically doesn’t physically appear until book three, The Titan’s Curse. I think this was a really fun improvement to The Lightning Thief story. What moved you most about how the series has portrayed Hephaestus?

Well, to me the most obvious answer is embracing his disability without really shining a light on his disability at this point. We don’t really talk about or explain anything about why he’s disabled in this particular episode. It is just who he is, much like it is who I am. So I just appreciated how they chose to handle that. As a matter of fact, I’ve already gotten several DMs in my Instagram account from the disabled community just thanking me for even showing him walking with a cane.

There was one message in particular where this guy — who uses a cane himself, a mobility device user, as they say — who said he’s never really seen it portrayed on screen before, which, I mean, there’s great responsibility for me as a member of the disabled community to really show that in the correct light. I’m just really grateful that Dan and Jon and Rick have given me the platform to do that.

If we get to come back for more, and if Hephaestus gets to come back, I’m really hoping they’ll dig a little more into the emotional side of Hephaestus, which you mentioned in your article earlier that Rick was saying Hephaestus was the outsider of his family, and Rick was saying they wanted to hire an actor who could identify with that. So I really do hope we get the chance to dig into that a little more.

Your Season 1 appearance builds the foundation for when he could return in a potential Season 3. Fans seem excited by this possibility.

Well, I know it was such a mission of Rick’s to improve upon how this material’s been used in the past. I mean, the films that are never spoken about, the films that shall not be mentioned. So I know that Rick, it was really important to all of them — to Jet [Wilkinson, director of Episodes 5, 6, and 8] to Dan, to Jon — to really get this one right for such a dedicated fan base like this. [They wanted] to really honor those fans and get it right for them. They took it all very, very seriously.