Kevin Chacon now stars in season 2 as the demigod originally played by Andrew Alvarez in season 1.

Percy Jackson EPs explain Chris Rodriguez recasting, reveal original actor still appears in season 2

Kevin Chacon now stars in season 2 as the demigod originally played by Andrew Alvarez in season 1.

By Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum

Sydney Bucksbaum is a staff writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2019 and is a published author. Her work has previously appeared in *TV Guide Magazine*, E! News/E! Online, *The Hollywood Reporter*, Mashable, Bustle, IGN, DCComics.com, Inverse, *The Daily Northwestern*, and more.

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December 10, 2025 10:12 p.m. ET

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Andrew Alvarez in 'Percy Jackson' season 1, Kevin Chacon in 'Percy Jackson' season 2. Credit:

- The role of Chris Rodriguez, the son of Hermes, was recast with Kevin Chacon for season 2.

- Andrew Alvarez, who played the demigod originally in season 1, remains in the cast.

- Chris becomes more of a pivotal character in the story beginning in author Rick Riordan's book *Sea of Monsters*, upon which season 2 is based.**

The Greek gods change their appearance all the time in the world of *Percy Jackson*. But for the first time, one of their demigod children has changed identities.

The role of Chris Rodriguez has been officially recast for the second season of the Disney+ adaptation series, with Kevin Chacon (*Jessica Jones*) now playing the demigod son of Hermes (Lin-Manuel Miranda). The character was originally credited to actor Andrew Alvarez (*School Spirits*) in season 1.

However, the *Percy Jackson* creative team tells ** that Alvarez is still part of the cast under a different, unnamed role at Camp Half-Blood, while Chacon's character should be considered to have always been hanging around the camp in the background, unseen, in all previous episodes.

"I don't remember what we called him, but yes, he's still in the show," co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg tells EW of original actor Alvarez. "He was only really named Chris in the credits [in season 1], but it was almost an Easter egg for the fans. It wasn't something that we had really sort of made substantive. We wanted to just do a slight course-correct there while still keeping as much continuity from the first season as we could."

Kevin Chacon in 'Percy Jackson' season 2.

As fans of author Rick Riordan's Greek mythology books know, Chris becomes more of a pivotal character in the story beginning in *Sea of Monsters* (upon which season 2 is based), as Luke (Charlie Bushnell) grows his demigod rebellion against the gods. That required the producers to consider more seriously who should take on the role, despite having technically credited Alvarez with the character in season 1.

"Chris' role was expanding, but also there was nothing in season 1 — I think it was maybe mentioned in a credit but nobody outright said 'that's Chris Rodriguez' in the show," executive producer Craig Silverstein explains. "And we're also able to take the character that Andrew played and carry that character forward as well. So I look at it as not a recasting, because the character that Andrew played that you met in season 1 continues, and Chris Rodriguez was always there as Kevin."

Riordan agrees that while Alvarez was named Chris in the credits, "it was not really ever obvious who that character was."

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"But when we were looking at what are we going to do in season 2 where the character comes a little more into the forefront, that's the casting that made sense at the time for that part," the author adds. "So much of it is who's the best for the part, who's available for the part, what makes sense with the timing? So this is really the first time that you see Chris Rodriguez as a full character, so it wasn't really so much of a recasting thing. It was just finding the way to make that part work with the right person who was available."

Steinberg admits they weren't "really fully thinking" about where Chris' storyline would go in future seasons — especially his arc with Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn) — when they decided to name Alvarez's background character.

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"This will be fun for people who know the books to see where these characters are when we meet them," the co-creator adds. "And as you get deeper into the story, you start to realize there are things you want to do that some of those decisions have made complicated. Wanting to start a Clarisse story with Chris a little bit fresh and not have it feel like Chris was so tied to Luke in the way that season 1 would have, it required us to separate those two ideas a little bit and give one of them a fresh start."

For more on *Percy Jackson* season 2, check out EW's full cover story. The series releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.**

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