Interview by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor for RadioFree.com
July 22, 2022

A cunning student learns that winning at any cost has its consequences in the young adult comedy Honor Society.

Determined to secure her collegiate future, Machiavellian high school senior Honor Rose (Angourie Rice) sets out to eliminate her academic competition for a coveted recommendation for Harvard from their guidance counselor Mr. Calvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Identifying bullied outcast Michael (Gaten Matarazzo), antisocial creative Kennedy (Amy Keum), and lacrosse captain Travis (Armani Jackson) as her chief rivals, Honor conspires to sabotage their grades with extracurricular distractions. But as she works her way into their lives, she encounters unexpected obstacles forcing her to re-evaluate her own priorities.

Honor Society is the directorial feature debut of filmmaker Oran Zegman, with a script from screenwriter David A. Goodman, whose previous credits include episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, Family Guy, and The Orville. In this exclusive interview, Oran talks about her experience of connecting to the project and collaborating with leads Angourie Rice and Gaten Matarazzo to bring it to life.

Honor Society is streaming now exclusively on Paramount+.

RadioFree.com: How did this project become your feature film debut as a director?

ORAN: Awesomeness reached out to me and my team, and I met them, and they told me about it, then sent it to me. And I was really, really surprised by the script, because it's not very predictable and had a little different tone and style than other movies in this genre. And I was just obsessed with David's writing. I felt like this is something that aligned with my style of filmmaking and style of writing, and I loved the character of Honor and the theme of vulnerability versus weakness. And that was a very, very quick turnaround--we met and I pitched it among other directors, and it was a big, big, big gift for me to get the first feature like that.

To what extent did you relate to Honor, and how did her academic ambitions compare to your own time in high school?

I was different than Honor in high school, because I was more like the character of Kennedy--I was more of like a theatre outsider/punk. [laughs] But later on in life, I became more like Honor. I really, really related to how crucial it is for her to get out of her town and go for her big dreams. I'm from Israel originally. And I'm not from a small town, I'm from Tel Aviv, but generally, Israel is such a tiny, tiny, tiny place. And after my career as an actor (my former life), when I discovered that I want to direct and write, I applied to AFI, which is the best film school in the world! But I'm biased. [laughs] But when I found out about AFI, that was where I wanted to go, like Harvard for Honor. And I applied only to that school. And it just made sense to me to move to LA versus moving to Jerusalem and going to the film school that we have in Israel. So it was kind of like all or nothing--either play with the big people or not at all. And I was as crazy [about] getting in as Honor was.

Has your experience in front of the camera made you more empathetic to your actors, and has it informed the way you run your own set as a director?

Yeah, 100%. I think that I'm very, very overprotective of my actors, because I really know what they're going through at any given time. So when I just sense that someone is uncomfortable...I try to really protect them from the world. [laughs] And to me, as an actor and as a director, feeling comfortable...There's nothing that is more important for me--that my actor will feel comfortable, and that they will trust me. So yeah, this is definitely how I run my set, and this is how I build relationships. I love doing a lot of table work with my actors, and [digging into] their character, their relationships, everything that we need to talk about. And when I first met Gaten, he was like, "You're the first director that ever wanted to talk to me." Because he's working on TV, and on TV, directors don't get time with actors, even. And he was so excited that I want to talk, that I want to dig in. But to me, this is how I build the trust. This is how I hear how they are connected to their character, so I know to pull the strings on set when [necessary]. But yeah, I think that if you want to direct actors, there's no better way to learn than learning acting [yourself], or even trying to be an actor for a bit.

With so much hinging upon the main character of Honor, how did you land on Angourie for the role of your title heroine?

I met with a few actors...I really love meeting actors before I have them read, because this is how I get to know them better. And a role like this, Honor carried this movie--I mean, she has like 97 scenes out of 99. So I knew that she needs to have a certain personality. And it's not just about the way that she's going to read. And when I met Angourie, it was really a love at first sight. She was just so smart and so deep, and asked questions that challenged me, and was really eager to work hard. I love theatre kids, because they have this discipline of working hard. I'm also from theatre, so we just had so many things in common. And she had so much in common with Honor, like being so perfectionist and smart. And she's so young. Angourie's only 21 and she's done so, so much. And she's always judging herself and being her worst critic, [to] which I really relate, exactly like Honor. So she was just the right person from the very, very, very first meeting.

Angourie was doing impressive work even at an early age. She's obviously very professional and cerebral and thoughtful, and hosts a podcast about books. How did all of those qualities make your job easier, and did you develop a shorthand with her?

Yeah, I want to have her in all of my movies just because we have such a shorthand. [laughs] Like, I really barely needed to direct her. We had about four really long Zoom sessions before production of digging in to every little sentence, and we created a list of the emotional arcs in every scene. So everything that I was [saying], she was writing down. And then we were just really ready on set. It was really easy, and she never forgot a line. She's really Honor--like, she will never have a mistake. She's just so focused, so driven, so professional. It was hard to find bloopers of her for the gag reel. She just never gets it wrong. [laughs]

In the outtakes that run during the end credits, there are several scenes of Angourie and co-stars Avery Konrad and Kelcey Mawema blowing bubbles with their drinks. Was this going to be a running joke between their three characters?

My producer is going to laugh...Yeah, it was supposed to be a running joke that ended up, in some artistic disagreement, [getting] taken out. And I'm like, "Okay, but I'm keeping it for the bloopers!" It ended up not being as funny as I thought. You know, sometimes things on set are funny, and then in the editing room, no one laughs except for the director. [laughs]

Growing up, what were the things that most influenced your sense and style of humor?

Wow, where can I begin? Growing up, I was a musical theatre nerd, so I just overwatched things like Dirty Dancing and Grease and Little Shop of Horrors. [laughs] I definitely think that music really shaped my style. To me, everything is kind of like music and dancing. I was a dancer, also, my entire life. So the way that I shot list and the way that I work with [an] actor, and even the way that I work with words and with dialogue, is everything is kind of like music to me, if it makes sense. So I love to choreograph the camera. Especially in this movie, the camera played such a big, big role.

Thanks for your time today, it's appreciated! And congratulations on the feature debut!

Thank you, Michael! I loved your questions, thank you so much!

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