SPOILERS are ahead for Percy Jackson and the Olympians Episode 6, titled “We Take A Zebra To Vegas,” now streaming with a Disney+ subscription and/or Hulu subscription.
At the end of this week’s episode of the hit book-to-TV adaptation Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the trio of demigods found themselves being trapped in a Las Vegas casino pumped with the aromas of the Lotus flower before escaping with Hermes' magical taxi. As the episode came to a close, Percy Jackson spoke underwater with a nereid, who delivered him a message from his father, Poseidon. After being immersed in the underwater sequence, CinemaBlend spoke to the series’ cinematographer, who revealed that Walker Scobell actually spoke underwater!
Now, when I say “spoke underwater,” I don’t mean the cameras actually caught the sound of Walker Scobell speaking, but the lead of the Percy Jackson cast was in fact moving his lips while submerged in water on set, per what Pierre Gill, the show’s cinematographer, told us. Before we get into the specifics of how Scobell did it, Gill had this to say about the challenges involved when it comes to shooting scenes underwater, and how Scobell in particular embraced the challenges involved as the son of Poseidon in the series:
Shooting with water is very long. It's very complicated. You need a lot of security. So what happened is, the actors, whoever it is, have to go underwater, they need the divers next to them with air tanks down there, and then we count at the time, then they take it out. And depending on the actor, you have 20 seconds to a minute and a half to shoot so people can hold their breath, some can't… It's super cool to shoot under the water, of course, but you need to have time. Now, one thing, which is amazing because Walker actually is absolutely phenomenal because first of all, he's a lovely guy. He's a great actor. He's so professional. He knew his lines, and he's there every day with lines and lines and lines and lines and lines, and it's a lot. I swear to God, for an actor, it's a lot. And then on top of it, he has to do stunts and he has to figure out choreography for fighting. So for the underwater stuff, he was able to jump in the water and stay there for a minute. So it was unbelievable.
If you’ve ever wondered how underwater sequences are shot... that is, when they actually are underwater (movies like The Little Mermaid and Aquaman primarily use blue screen), Pierre Gill shared that it’s no easy task. When they do opt for it, the actors receive a lot of support from divers who feed them air in between takes.
Scobell already had a leg up on some fellow actors due to his ability to hold his breath for a minute, but he went above and beyond. As Gill continued:
That was amazing because it was mostly Dan Shotz's decision to say, ‘I don’t want VFX, I don’t want him talking on a blue screen and doing fake hair on the water. I want him underwater’ So, Walker learned to say his line underwater without making bubbles. It was unbelievable, and he did it. So we added him in a huge tank with divers, he would take his breath, go down, wait, put his bubbles out and then talk. It was unbelievable, I’ve never seen this before. So in the sequence, of course there’s VFX with the nereid and yeah, there’s a few bubbles to erase, but he was able to say his lines underwater with [minimal] air bubbles. It was really, really cool.
That’s right, feel free to roll back the end of the episode and allow your mind to be blown now that it has become known. While both Pierre Gill and this interviewer had no idea this was even possible, it’s definitely been accomplished before. (Take a look at YouTuber Kristina Makushenko’s tutorial, for example.) It’s definitely not an easy task that Scobell decided to take on considering he would have had to learn his lines, practice them in a pool and then accomplish it on camera across a variety of takes. It’s safe to say that he accomplished it, and the scene looks incredible!
Now that you’ve enjoyed the latest episode of Percy Jackson, also check out our interview with the producers, where they shared how Lin-Manuel Miranda was cast as Hermes for the episode as well! The show resumes for its seventh episode next Tuesday, January 23!
