Aryan Simhadri On Finding His Footing and Growing With Grover

Photos by Lia Hansen, Styled by Sarah D’Arcey, Grooming by Megan Harkness, Produced by Lucy Ivey, Shot at CC Media Studios

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Aryan Simhadri is on a week-long break from filming when we speak, still carrying the ease of someone deeply familiar with the rhythm of a set. Percy Jackson and the Olympians has been part of his life since he was fifteen. He is nineteen now, older in a way that feels measured and intentional, less about acceleration and more about awareness.

He speaks carefully, often pausing not out of hesitation, but thoughtfulness. Aryan is not rushing toward conclusions. He is grounded in the process.

Raised in a close-knit South Asian community, Aryan grew up in a Telugu household where family, tradition, and practicality shaped daily life. Many of his friends followed similar paths, attending the same colleges, earning similar degrees, and stepping into futures built on structure and certainty. Acting did not neatly fit into that mold. “It was kind of assumed I’d give up on it,” he says.

Still, there was never much uncertainty on his end. “I always knew it couldn’t be anything other than acting.” The clarity was not about ambition or visibility. It was about necessity. Acting was not something he was experimenting with. It was something he needed.

When Aryan first read the Percy Jackson books as a kid, it was not the spectacle that stayed with him. It was Grover Underwood. Grover’s love for nature stood out not as a quirk, but as purpose. “It’s kind of his life’s mission,” Aryan says. Raised by a father who is deeply spiritual and connected to the natural world, he felt an immediate connection. “I saw a lot of myself in Grover.”

That familiarity translated naturally to the screen. In a genre often driven by physical strength, Grover operates differently. “He’s not really a fighter,” Aryan explains. “Part of being a protector and a mentor is that he’s more of a lover, but you still have to fight for your love.” Emotional intelligence and adaptability are not secondary traits. They are the foundation of who Grover is.

Aryan often describes Grover as the emotional center of the trio. Percy is the body. Annabeth is the brain. Grover is the heart.

Filming the first season at fifteen came with a kind of openness. Looking back, Aryan reflects on a scene from season one and the energy he brought to it. “There’s something very free about a scene that only two kids, or really good friends, can achieve.” That freedom, he notes, comes naturally when you are younger.

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Season two required a shift. The story grew more complex, and so did his approach. “I realized that wasn’t going to work if I wanted to do justice to the rest of the series,” he says of his earlier process. “I had to think a lot more about what this character meant to me.”

A steady presence throughout Aryan’s time on Percy Jackson has been his acting coach, Andrew McIlroy, who has helped him understand Grover not just emotionally, but physically. Andrew often reminds him that Grover leads with anxiety and instinct, something that shows up in the way he moves through space. Early on, that energy came naturally. As Aryan has grown more grounded with age, Andrew has pushed him to remain conscious of Grover’s posture and physical choices, encouraging him to stay lifted and forward rather than settle. It is a subtle adjustment, but one that changes how Grover thinks, speaks, and reacts. That guidance has shaped Aryan’s approach to the role, teaching him that growth as an actor is not just about emotional depth, but about maintaining intention even as instinct evolves.

Preparation became central. Understanding Grover’s inner life, his anxiety, his growth, and his emotional logic became just as important as learning lines. Even physicality mattered. As Aryan has grown more grounded in his own life, certain instincts now require intention. Growth, he has learned, does not just change you. It changes how you move through a character.

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Belonging is a theme Aryan returns to often. For a long time, pursuing acting made him feel out of place within the community he grew up in. “For a long time I felt kind of out of sorts,” he says. That feeling shifted once he found his people. “Eventually, I found a community of very like-minded people.” That sense of belonging became especially tangible on the Percy Jackson set. “These are some of the greatest people I could have ever asked to be around.”

As the show’s reach has expanded, Aryan has stayed grounded in familiar ways. Family plays a central role. “I have the best parents in the whole world, and they constantly remind me that I’m never too famous for them.” Fame has not changed his life, he says, but it has heightened his sense of responsibility. “There are so many kids who watch the show and watch what we do.” Because of that, “being the best version of myself publicly has been a big thing for me.”

That responsibility extends to representation. Working at this scale as a Telugu actor and Indian American performer, Aryan approaches the conversation with humility. “It’s insane to me that I’m part of the discussion when it comes to representation.” He speaks warmly about peers like Avantika, whose success feels personal. “We grew up together,” he says. “The fact that she’s killing it out there is amazing to me.”

For Aryan, representation is about momentum, not exception. “Indian American actors have been sidelined for so long in Hollywood,” he says. “So it’s nice to finally see them get the representation they deserve because they’re so talented.”

Despite the scale of the series, what excites him most remains unchanged: the work. Press tours are meaningful, but they only reinforce where he wants to be. “This just makes me want to go back to work even more,” he says.

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When asked what advice he would give to Gen Z actors still waiting for their first opportunity, Aryan is careful. Acting and celebrity, he explains, are not the same thing. “They are intertwined, but they are two different careers.” His advice is simple. “Only do this if you love doing this.”

Aryan Simhadri is not in a rush to define himself. He is growing steadily, choosing intention over noise, and allowing the work to lead the way.

For now, that feels exactly right.

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