Alexandra Daddario is sharing some demigod magic with Leah Sava Jeffries.
Alexandra, who originally played half-mortal half-goddess Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson films, expressed support for Leah, tweeting on May 11, "Leah Jeffries is going to be an incredible Annabeth!!!"
Her tweet comes after some fans reacted badly to the news that Leah would play Annabeth in the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney+ series.
Alexandra isn't the only one defending Leah. On May 10, Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan called out fans for "bullying and harassing a child" in a blog post. Riordan wrote, "It's a shame such posts need to be written, but they do....If you have a problem with this casting, however, take it up with me. You have no one else to blame."
Riordan, who is also a writer on the Disney+ series, shared insight into the casting process: "I have been clear, as the author, that I was looking for the best actors to inhabit and bring to life the personalities of these characters, and that physical appearance was secondary for me," Riordan explained. "We did that. We took a year to do this process thoroughly and find the best of the best. This trio is the best. Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase."
He noted that many critics are taking issue with the fact that Jeffries doesn't look like the character he created in the books, saying, "Friends, that is racism."
According to Disney+, Annabeth is a "true daughter of Athena with a gift for strategy and a curious mind." She is one of three demigods, with Walker Scobell's Percy and Aryan Simhadri's Grover rounding out the trio.
Jeffries shared in a May 9 Instagram post that she's not letting the backlash impact her. "You're just wasting time," Jeffries told critics. "I'm still confident. Everyone else is confident. Everyone else is happy for me. So don't try to bring me down. It's not going to work."
Jeffries, Scobell and Simhadri will begin filming the highly-anticipated Disney+ series this summer.