Leah Sava Jeffries Says Things Got Serious While Filming ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Season 2 Episode 5: “It Was Really Intense For Us That Day”

Leah Sava Jeffries is proud of a lot of her work in Season 2 of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but no more than the relationship and dynamic that she has cultivated with Walker Scobell, especially in the latest episode.

**Spoiler warning: This article contains details from the first five episodes of Percy Jackson Season 2, now streaming on Disney+**

Sitting down with DECIDER to chat about the second season, the actress shared that she and Scobell — who play Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson, respectively — got to improvise a little on Episode 5, “We Check Into C.C.’s Spa & Resort,” and it resulted in some “intense” moments for them as actors.

“There’s a very, very sweet scene between Percy and Annabeth, me and Walker, it was really intense for us that day,” she said of filming Episode 5, which features Circe (Rosemarie Dewitt) turning Percy into a guinea pig, as well as a high-stakes scene involving Annabeth and sirens. “It was very intense — some of the things that were in there were actually improv.”

Jeffries could be referring to the scene near the end of the episode where Percy rescues Annabeth as she is being pulled in by the siren’s song, which also utilizes an appearance from Annabeth’s mother, Athena (Andra Day), who makes an early appearance in the series. In the Rick Riordan book series the show is based on, Day’s Greek goddess character — who has been completely absent from her daughter’s life — doesn’t appear until The Titan’s Curse.

To get to a vulnerable place emotionally, Jeffries explained that she and Scobell tried out different movements until the writers and producers decided to include it in the final cut.

“People actually ask a lot, they’re always asking, ‘Do you guys improv and all that?’ And we always were like, ‘Not that much,’ But it wasn’t like words improv the entire time, it was like physical improv, I think, that wasn’t in the script at first,” she explained of taking risks in the new episode. “And it was actually really, really good for that scene to come out a certain way.”

For his own part, Scobell told DECIDER in a separate interview that he has a special place in his heart for Episode 5, especially since it sets up the complicated relationship between Annabeth and her mom, which will be explored further in Season 3 and beyond.

“I love that scene. I love that scene so much,” Scobell said of Athena’s introduction. “I think it just sets up her relationship with her mom perfectly.”

The first five episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 are currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. New episodes release Wednesdays.

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