After much anticipation, Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 is finally here. Almost 20 years after the book it’s based on, The Sea of Monsters, was first published, season 2 follows Percy, Annabeth, and Grover as they navigate a new playing field, the Bermuda Triangle. And with it comes a whole other world, with different monsters and different versions of our main characters. When it comes to creating that immersive experience for viewers, Jeannie Chow, the head of Percy Jackson’s hair department, spared no detail.
Chow and her team do everything from conjuring up looks for the monsters to perfecting the main characters’ signature hairstyles. With a show like this, which already has a following from readers of the books, interpretations vary, and that’s something the team knows and wants to lean into.
“When I read a novel, I have it in my head how I envision the story, but sometimes seeing somebody else’s perspective or vision can just make it that much better than how I imagined it in my own head,” Chow tells Teen Vogue. “And so I’m hoping that the viewers and the fans of the book are taking that in as well.”
Below, we chat with Chow about styling the characters of Percy Jackson season 2 and what to look forward to for season 3. But, scroll cautiously.
This story contains some spoilers for Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Teen Vogue: What was the process of ideating, creating, and perfecting everyone’s hairstyles?
JC: From the very beginning, we just wanted them to look like kids. It’s a coming of age story, it’s a self-discovery story, and we wanted the kids to just look very approachable. We wanted them to look like everyday kids. There are other shows out there that I think really hit the fashion or the glam looks, and that’s kind of what they’re revolving around. I feel like Percy is such a deeper story, and you can meld both of those together. And it’s not just about the visuals and what the latest trends are, or whatnot, which, of course, we obviously try to tie in together. But at the heart of the story, it’s an adventure, it’s a quest. It’s about friendship and bonding, and learning about yourselves, so that’s where the basis of all of those looks came from; we just wanted them to look real and authentic. There’s a lot of fake out there.
TV: A detail that I noticed was that Annabeth also wears a couple of different looks, like the half-up, half-down look on the quest, the pigtails for Capture the Flag, and in the last episode of season 1, the French-braided pigtails are so beautiful. What made you put that fun addition into her character, especially since she is a little bit more of a goal-oriented, serious character in the beginning?
JC: We wanted to aim for confidence and warrior energy. We wanted her to keep her looks practical, because she is on an adventure. They are on a quest. But we also wanted her to look like a young teenager, so [we were] balancing keeping her strong and age-appropriate, yet still practical for the scenes that she was doing.
JC: What’s really nice about working with Leah, and working with her on multiple seasons, is seeing her grow, but also seeing Annabeth grow as well. And so I think once we get into season two, you’ll see this kind of transition, where she has kind of come from a young girl to a young teen, and I’m hoping that’s conveyed in her hair. There’s a little bit more maturity, and there’s a little bit more style to it, but it still is in tune with her being on an adventure.
