Meet Chris McCarrell, Broadway's 'Percy Jackson' Star, with These 10 Fun Facts! (Exclusive)

Percy Jackson has arrived on Broadway and we caught up with Chris McCarrell, the actor playing the beloved literary character, to learn more about him!

The 28-year-old actor previously played the title role in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical during the show’s off-Broadway run and on the national tour.

The show features original music by Rob Rokicki and a book by Be More Chill‘s Joe Tracz. Performances begin TONIGHT (September 20) at the Longacre Theatre in New York City and the musical is playing a limited engagement through January 5.

Get to know Chris with these 10 Fun Facts:

• 1. I started as a musician by getting into violin. I loved it but I was a little too extroverted for the orchestral scene.
• 2. I am big into photography when I’m not busy with theater. I have fun planning shoots in between shows. I post them online on a separate photography account. Check it out @christopherthestargazer. It’s like the other half of my art brain.
• 3. I went to an all-boys high school. Which, the more you know me, the more you wonder how I survived it.
• 4. Both my parents are teachers. My mom is a guidance counselor and my dad is a wood shop teacher. I feel like I fall right in between those two.
• 5. I actually don’t live in New York City. I moved upstate to Sleepy Hollow after the election. Now I drive my Jeep in every day for shows.

Click inside to read the rest of the fun facts…

• 6. I love camping. I used to go alone and just sit in the mountains to get out of the city. My friends never knew where I was.
• 7. I did over a thousand performances of Les Misérables. I still can’t believe I did anything that many times.
• 8. I loved choir during college. I had a really awesome teacher who taught me how to really sing in a group. I owe a lot to him.
• 9. I was never a big fiction reader growing up but I always loved philosophy. Alan Watts and Emerson made a huge impact on my life.
• 10. I read Percy Jackson after I landed the role, and every page I was like… This. Kid. Is. Me. I never had an affinity for water, though.

Go see Chris in The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, now playing for a limited 16-week engagement on Broadway!