Percy Jackson New Character Reveal: The Cyclops Tyson
Logan Lerman reprises the titular
role as the teen demigod son of Poseidon prophesied to save the world of the
gods’ children sired with humans in “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.”
Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox |
Produced by Chris Columbus whose successful string of blockbusters includes the
“Harry Potter” films, “Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief,” “Fantastic Four,”
“Fantastic Four: Rise of the Surfer,” “Night at the Museum” and “Night at the
Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” the latest adventure of Percy Jackson
adapted from Rick Riordan’s 2nd book from the best selling series
“Percy Jackson and The Olympians” finds Percy at waters’ ends dealing with
shocking family revelations, saving his best friend Grover from a cyclops and
battling fellow demigods to ultimately stop the evil Kronos from wreaking havoc
to their world.
In “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” the Oracle further complicates Percy’s
sense of self and duty, says Lerman, when it tells him he “is either going to
destroy Olympus or save it. He’s not sure if he can rise to the
occasion.” Percy has a lot at stake, according to
Freudenthal. “He’s trying to save Camp Half-Blood and prove himself as a
hero. He’s grown distant from his father, who is not really responding to
his requests for help. Percy embarks upon his ‘odyssey’ for two reasons:
to save his home, and to ascertain if he is indeed a hero.”
On his journey to battle demigod Luke (played by Jake Abel) and retrieve the
Golden Fleece, Percy discovers he has a half-brother, Tyson (Douglas Smith),
who is a Cyclops. “Tyson is a sweet, teenage Cyclops,” says director Thor
Freudenthal. “Cyclopes are viewed as monsters, but everything about Tyson
is the opposite of that.”
“Tyson is a warrior, of sorts,” says Douglas Smith, who plays the one-eyed
teen. “He’s a really soulful, salt of the earth Cyclops. Tyson is
one of those people who seem overly simple but he’s actually got a deep wisdom.
It comes in handy in the quest because he’s got a variety of skills that only
Cyclopes have. He’s a good guy, and identifies more with the Half-Bloods
than with the other Cyclopes, who like to eat demigods. Tyson looks like
a villain, but he has a heart of gold and that can be very confusing when
people meet him. And it’s confusing for him, too.”
Like Percy, Tyson is a son of Poseidon, but while Percy’s mother is human,
Tyson’s mother was a sea nymph. Smith describes the sibling relationship:
“Percy and Tyson are half-brothers, but Tyson doesn’t like to harp on
that. Percy doesn’t expect to have a brother show up at camp, he doesn’t
expect to bring him along on the journey, and he does not expect to be won over
by Tyson’s optimism and point of view, which is fresh and filled with
wonder. Ultimately, Percy realizes that Poseidon is looking out for him,
because he sent Tyson to Percy.”
Initially, the filmmakers planned to give Smith a prosthetic eye, but they
decided to create the eye mostly through visual effects. The prosthetic
shrank in size from a full facemask to a small forehead application that
created the effect of a single brow, which Smith only had to sport when Tyson
wears sunglasses. And, as in the book, an application of magical mist
creates the illusion of Tyson having two eyes; for those scenes, Smith wears
only his own visage.
Douglas Smith is best known for his starring role as Ben Henrickson on HBO’s
critically acclaimed series “Big Love,” starring Bill Paxton and Jeanne
Tripplehorn. He also starred in the indie film “Remember the Daze,” opposite
Amber Heard, Leighton Meester and Lyndsy Fonseca, He recently starred in the
independent “The Boy Who Smells Like Fish,” opposite ZoĂ« Kravitz and was
recently seen in Brandon Cronenberg’s “Antiviral.”
“Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” (3D and 2D) opens August 7 in theaters nationwide from 20th Century Fox to
be distributed by Warner Bros.
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