Leah Jeffries

Leah Sava Jeffries (/sə.ˈveɪ/; born September 25, 2009)^[1][2] is an American actress.^[3][4] Jeffries made her acting debut on the American musical drama, Empire (2015) and later her feature film debut in the action-thriller Beast (2022). In 2022, Jeffries was cast as Annabeth Chase in the television adaptation of Rick Riordan's fantasy novel series, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, which earned her two NAACP Image Awards, along with a nomination for the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Performer.

Leah Sava Jeffries
Jeffries in 2025
Born	Leah Sava Jeffries (2009-09-25) September 25, 2009 (age 15) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress and model
Years active	2014–present

Early life

Jeffries was born in Detroit, Michigan to Leah Jeffries and Floyd S. Jeffries Jr.^[5][6] She has an older brother, Floyd Jeffries, who is also an actor and model.^[6] She attended school in the Novi Community School District.^[3]

Career

Prior to her acting debut, Jeffries worked as a model for children's products for Carol's Daughter.^[6] Jeffries' acting debut was at age 5 as Lola Lyon on Empire.^[6][7]

On May 5, 2022, Jeffries was announced as Annabeth Chase in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Immediately following the casting announcement, Jeffries received harassment online because she was African-American, while her character, Annabeth Chase, was portrayed as white in the book series the show was based on.^[4][8] On May 10, the books' author, Rick Riordan, posted a blog post in which he condemned the backlash against Jeffries and reaffirmed his support of her.^[4][8][9] Alexandra Daddario, the actress who played Annabeth in the two movie adaptations, also posted support for Jeffries online.^[9] Members of the fanbase who supported Jeffries' casting posted support online with the hashtag #LeahIsOurAnnabeth.^[10]

In August 2022, the film Beast was released, in which Jeffries played Norah Samuels.^[7] Later that year, Something from Tiffany's, in which Jeffries played Daisy Greene, was released.^[11]

Filmography

Film

Year	Project	Role	Notes	Ref.
2018	Faith Under Fire	Fiona	TV Movie
2019	PawParazzi	Monique
2022	Beast	Norah Samuels		[7]
2022	Something from Tiffany's	Daisy Greene		[10]

Television

Year	Project	Role	Notes	Ref.
2015–2016	Empire	Lola Lyon	Recurring role; 6 episodes	[6]
2018–2019	Rel	Brandi	11 episodes	[7]
2023–present	Percy Jackson and the Olympians	Annabeth Chase	Main Role	[12]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2024	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited-series)	Percy Jackson and the Olympians	Won	[13]
	Séries em Cena Awards	Best Actress in an International Series		Nominated	[14]
	BET Awards	BET YoungStars Award		Nominated	[15]
2025	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited-Series)		Won	[16]
	Children's and Family Emmy Awards	Outstanding Younger Performer in a Preschool, Children's or Young Teen Program		Nominated	[17]