Vampires have had their moment. Now it’s time for the greek gods to shine, according to Brandon T. Jackson, star of the new family adventure Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, in theaters next Friday. “With this and Clash of the Titans, I think we can really bring in that genre.” Directed by Chris Columbus, who helmed the first two Harry Potter movies, and based on the Rick Riordan book series, Percy Jackson stars Logan Lerman as the title character, a boy who discovers that he’s the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), the god of the sea. He teams with his best friend Grover (Jackson), who’s a half-man, half-goat satyr, and Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of Athena, in order to find the stolen lightning bolt of Zeus (Sean Bean) and prevent an all-out war of the gods. I talked with Jackson, a Detroit native and standup comedian who had a breakout role in 2008’s Tropic Thunder, for this weekend’s Who’s News page, but read below for more of the interview and check out an exclusive clip from Percy Jackson.

Photos courtesy of Fox

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Is Percy Jackson the most you’ve worked with green screen?
I think it is. I did a little with Tooth Fairy, but it wasn’t like this. This has dragons and all that, and I’m a satyr so I had to wear green pants all the time, and they had all the markers and the dots on my legs to make the effect of me being half goat and half man. It’s great when I tell my friends and they’re like, “I don’t get it.” They see the preview and they’re like, “You got them goat legs, dawg. It’s kind of weird.” [Laughs] It’s kind of funny going back to my friends and saying. “Yeah, man, I’m half goat.” They don’t know how to deal with that.

What did you think the first time you saw the special effects and the goat legs?
I almost flipped out. My dad thought I was possessed. My dad’s a pastor so he’s like, “Oh, that’s the devil! Them goat legs is the devil!” I was like, “No, Dad. It’s CGI, if you really want to get technical with it, but yeah, you can call it what you want to.” It was cool because I saw it for the first time, and I don’t know how people are going to react to it because it’s so different. It’s set in Brooklyn and it’s normal kids, this high school that’s made for misfits and people who aren’t accepted or who have ADD problems or special learning skills. It’s not set in Narnia or this Harry Potter world of adventure. It’s very modern, very western, very American. It’s a different twist on it.”

Were you familiar with the books at all?
Yeah, my sister had the books lying around. When they said they wanted me to look at this part for Percy Jackson, I didn’t know what they were talking about. I asked my sister about it, and she gave me the book, and I thought it was really, really cool.

Your mom’s a pastor, too?
She’s more chill. My dad’s the strict one.

Do they enjoy your movies?
They’re very exciting about seeing it. Greek mythology is not a big deal to people from Detroit, they don’t really care that much, but at the same time my parents are open and happy. Especially my mom. My mom’s very artistic and crafty. She has a different sense of art. They’re both excited, but my mom especially is really excited to see it.

Of all the movies you’ve done, do they have a favorite?
They liked Roll Bounce. Tropic Thunder they liked, but it was too vulgar for them. They thought it was crazy. I think Percy Jackson is going to be their favorite. It’s just one of those movies that everybody can enjoy.

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