Percy Jackson and the Olympians is on the 2025 TV schedule for Season 2, and even though we’re early in the season, there’s a lot of exciting developments for the characters already taking place. In the latest episode, “We Board The Princess Andromeda” Dior Goodjohn’s character of Clarisse has a memorable moment, and CinemaBlend talked with the actress about it. SPOILERS AHEAD for Season 2, Episode 3, so be warned if you haven't yet watched via Disney+ subscription!
Dior Goodjohn Talks About Clarisse’s Big Episode 3 Speech
Clarisse has been billed as the Camp Half Blood bully and mean girl, but there’s a shift that’s happening in this season. In episode 3, we get to see things from her perspective as her dad, Ares, gives her an ironclad warship and an undead army to help her on her quest. We see how Clarisse initially struggles with captaining the ship, and how she gains the confidence to get them on her side. Here’s how Dior Goodjohn recalled filming the scene:
That speech, I remember that day 'cause it was one week where my mom had gone down like back to LA to work. So I was up in Vancouver being a little adult and like doing my thing by myself. And I remember prepping that speech so much with Andrea. I was like, I have to get this right. I'm gonna get this right. And there was one moment where like, I felt lost in it and I was like, completely taken over. My face got hot and my stomach was tight and I was giving a speech. And then I finished it and it was really quiet for a second afterwards. And then everybody started clapping and like I was, I started crying 'cause I was like, ‘Guys, wait, you're really proud of me. This is insane.’ But I remember that speech. It was very, very energetically charged day to say the least.
It’s been a while since I read the Percy Jackson books, but I’m definitely catching on to some added depth for Clarisse La Rue in Season 2. This is definitely the most memorable scene she’s had to far (in my opinion) and the actress shared how the experience was for her, calling it “energetically charged” and emotional.
How Clarisse’s Arc Is Different Than Season 1
During our interview with Dior Goodjohn, the 19-year-old also talked to us about Clarisse having a bigger role to play this time around. In her words:
That was one of the big things that I was really excited about coming back to the season after being off for so long is that I knew I was gonna be able to get to work with everyone much, much more because Season 1 I was really just popping in and out… but what was really, really exciting for me was building out Clarisse as a character and fully actualizing her as a human being.
Even mean girls deserve to be developed into fully fledged characters, and I love to see that the Percy Jackson series is doing so with Clarisse. There’s a lot of shifts already in Season 2, between the core trio being switched up as Grover is captured by Polyphemus.
I know I’m loving seeing Percy and Tyson sharing scenes together (like that awesome chariot sequence). Here’s what Goodjohn also said about returning to her role for Season 2:
Creating all of that backstory for Clarice and really understanding her as a person was the most amazing thing of all. It was a very therapeutic experience and a very kind of triumphant thing that I got to do this season. The season changed my life before the show even started. I'm a completely different person, so I'm very excited for everybody to see.
I know that Clarisse has been an unexpected highlight for me in Season 2, and I cannot wait to see how this adaptation of Sea of Monsters continues to progress. You can watch Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ or with a Hulu subscription. New episodes drop every Wednesday until the finale caps off the season on January 21.
