Currently streaming on Paramount+,  Honor Club is a coming-of-age one-act that delivers plenty of unexpected twists and turns. The story follows loftier school senior, Honour Rose (Angourie Rice, Spider-Man: Homecoming), who is willing to do whatever it takes to go into her dream school.

After realizing that a grouping of students could threaten her acceptance to Harvard, Honor concocts a plan to sabotage the contest. Despite her ruthlessness, Honour finds herself at a crossroads when she forms a friendship with rivals Kennedy Smith (Amy Keum, Evil) and Travis Biggins (Armani Jackson, Greyness'south Beefcake), and unexpectedly falls for her biggest foe, Michael Dipnicky (Gaten Matarazzo,Stranger Things).

Screen Rant chats with Honor Society stars, Armani Jackson and Amy Keum, nigh their characters and what they hope audiences take from the motion-picture show.

Amy Keum as Kennedy Smith and Angourie Rice as Honor Rose in Honor Society streaming on Paramount+.

Screen Rant: I really enjoyed this movie. I am non quite sure what I was expecting when I went into it, but information technology definitely wasn't that. It kind of threw me for a loop. There were quite a few plot twists that I did not see coming. What drew each of y'all to the moving picture? Was there anything in item that stood out in the script that made you want to get involved?

Armani Jackson: Yeah, no, I mean, just off the bat I just loved how sweetness it was, how low-cal-hearted, how realistic information technology was, simply I think what made me stay—what kept me engaged—is how every graphic symbol kind of has something to hide and has something to also be revealed. And I think information technology's nice, because sometimes, in movies, you'll see characters that don't go their moment or they don't get their payoff. And then it's absurd to see that each graphic symbol gets their own lilliputian arc and it'due south their own little outcoming payoff in the film.

Amy Keum: Yes, absolutely. And I think, too as like the private payoffs, I think at that place's something I found really sweet in the script near but the friendships that class betwixt—I hateful, I recollect nosotros all know the kind of...the idea of cliques in high school and people kind of sticking to their own lane, but actually, kind of seeing the way all these people from different walks of life come together and end up—not gonna say what—but stop up making something pretty cool together.

Screen Rant: Both of your characters were very easy to honey, which Award discovers for herself pretty early in the movie. And so was there anything that you each particularly liked—or even disliked—nigh your characters?

Amy Keum: I hateful, pretty much as soon as I read the script, I but fell in beloved with the character of Kennedy. She'due south so herself, and so intense, and bright and unintentionally funny. And I think something I really appreciated nearly her, and just the manner that the whole team approached her graphic symbol, likewise, was not to leave her as one-dimensional, but really permit u.s.a. to meet like beyond the, you know, kind of hardened and deadpan dry affair she has going on, just to be able to like see some of the softness and like 18-carat passion and desire to connect with people also. And I establish information technology interesting and challenging and really fun to explore that in creating the grapheme.

Armani Jackson: Aye, I know. With Travis, I felt like I almost had to play two characters at once, at different times. And it was actually absurd, considering I feel like his starting and his endpoint...such a huge contrast. And and so sometimes nosotros'd be filming out of club and and so I would be bouncing dorsum and forth from like a dissimilar role of his arc into a more than confident part of his arc, so it was only cool to accept such a change in [label] as the moving-picture show goes on.

Screen Bluster: Armani, I want to ask about that, because Travis has a pretty cool arc throughout the moving picture. Honestly, when he's starting time introduced, I didn't expect him to play equally big of a role as he concluded up playing—and I really enjoyed that. And then did you lot practice anything to prepare for this role and prepare for the switching dorsum and along? Was that a challenge for you?

Armani Jackson: Yeah, with roles like that, I usually just try and put myself in their shoes, you lot know? And I endeavour and ever bring myself to the role a picayune bit, like, how I am—my authentic self. Merely also, while just kind of piling on summit, if I was in the state of affairs, similar, how do I think I would react to it? And I wanted to keep it understated and realistic, considering it's a very realistic position to be in. I think a lot of kids are in that position. And I think it's a groovy part for kids to run into and exist like, "Hey, this is a good example, to gear up." And especially for kids who are much younger, who maybe haven't fifty-fifty seen a rom com before. This is their kickoff 1. I recollect it'southward only a good starting example of what it can exist like to just open up.

Screen Rant: Absolutely. I completely agree. That was honestly part of why I enjoyed the film so much. It was very refreshing. I very much enjoyed that aspect of information technology. And then, Amy, I particularly loved Kennedy. I think she was my favorite grapheme...I actually loved her. She just has so many things going on. You don't really get much from her at the beginning, but as soon equally she has simply a couple of conversations with Laurels, her walls start to come down and this whole different person comes out. What was it like to play her?

Amy Keum: I tin can relate to Armani in the manner of—particularly when nosotros're jumping back and forth between like filming the terminate of the flick and the first—I think just finding, and actually relating to that too, moments of my life of just feeling like, "Well, the only way to feel like I am safe, and I'thou going to get done, what I need to get done is only to kind of shut people out."

And I think it was really fun and challenging to—especially in some of the middle scenes, where it's like, you lot see her wrestling, like, "I don't know if I should trust this person or not." Only to kind of explore, "Well, what is that process of, even in real life, kind of letting those walls down and sharing, maybe vulnerably, and showing other feelings of enthusiasm and not having to exist so you know, hard and intense all the time?"

Yes, and I honey that that friendship with Honor—even with Travis—really helped bring that out of her. I beloved movies where friendships are the centre and middle of the moving-picture show. It's not something you lot see all the time and it's heartwarming. What was it like crafting this human relationship betwixt all of you?

Armani Jackson: We all hung out a lot. Even when we weren't in scenes together, we would all hang out while we weren't filming. So I feel like nosotros had a natural bail on its own. And that's always of import when you're filming a movie or a bear witness to get to know everyone earlier because information technology shows on screen, yous know, your comfortability around people. So I think, on top of the film having a huge aspect of friendship, in that location was too a huge aspect of friendship off camera while we were out there filming.

Amy Keum: Yeah, information technology was only a good group of people. I mean, nosotros'd sit down in the greenroom and play a game. Fifty-fifty the outset fourth dimension I met Armani, I call up, it was just similar, "Hey, let's drive altogether and go somewhere and hang out." I will also say Angourie, who practise you know, obviously is like the centre betoken of this film, she just did a wonderful job kind of setting the scene for that and creating an surround where I think everyone felt really welcomed. I recall we just genuinely enjoyed hanging out—probably too much. I mean, nosotros probably weren't supposed to be hanging out that much!

I love that because the authenticity actually comes through onscreen. That was a neat bond and dynamic to see form. And lastly, is there a particular takeaway that you are each hoping the audience will take from this movie?

Amy Keum: I call back one of the main themes that comes through is, of course, merely that there'southward more beyond the surface of what we run across in people. I think my promise is that people would accept away the knowledge and encouragement that we never know how much one moment is going to mean to someone else, a moment of actually taking an interest in someone that'southward unlike than us, or encouraging them, or even pointing out something that maybe they feel has never been noticed before. Like, "I see this in you."

Non only tin can that brand such a difference in someone's mean solar day, merely I think it really allows other people to open up as, as well, and feel confident and comfortable in who they are.

Armani Jackson: Yeah, I was gonna kind of have a similar reply. I think more just showing kids that information technology'southward okay to be yourself. And it's non always a scary matter to show your true colors.

Honor Society Synopsis

Armani Jackson as Travis Biggins in Honor Society streaming on Paramount+.

Honor is an ambitious high schoolhouse senior whose sole focus is getting into an Ivy League college, assuming she tin first score the coveted recommendation from her guidance counselor, Mr. Calvin.

Check out our other High Society stars Angourie Rice and Gaten Matarazzo, as well as manager Oran Zegman. You can also catch our previous interview with Matarazzo forStranger Things.

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Honor Societyis currently available to stream on Paramount+.