The cast of 'The Honor List' shares their own heartbreaking experiences with mean girls in the industry.
It's 2018, yet the Hollywood 'Mean Girl' epidemic is, unfortunately, still something that's plaguing the industry.
Yep. Sasha Pieterse, Meghan Rienks and Arden Cho, who star in the new female-centric flick The Honor List reveal they still deal with peers who haven't been the nicest.
"Yeah, I mean, I won’t name names, but...," Pieterse said before Cho chimed in, "We were just talking about it!" hinting this really is something they are all still currently experiencing.
"Of course," Pieterse continued during a FB Live chat on Friday in our Los Angeles studio. "And I think that’s actually, it's all about insecurity, right? It’s a projection, and you know that they’re feeling so insecure about their own body and what they think that they should look like, so when they see what they think is a big imperfection on somebody else, they’re quick to judge you and I think it takes a lot for someone to say it to you in person – it's easy to do it over social media," she said. "I've just learned to really brush it off..."
Rienks agrees.
“Yeah, I mean, I think it happens always and I definitely, I’ve fallen to, like, the cycle of when you don’t have a really solid group of friends...' she said. "'Cause I think, especially in women, that nastiness can always be disguised as something else and there's those subtle digs and subtle cut-downs... I've found myself in friendships with people like that where you're like, ‘Wow, I'm in this, like, massive toxic friendship that’s so manipulative,' and it wasn’t until I was able to really get out of that cycle and make really good friends that now when people treat me badly, I'm like, 'No, no. I know what this is, I don’t need you. I have nice people, like, I don’t need to accept this,'" she explained.
"Especially here [in Hollywood]... a lot of us move here young and you don’t really know anybody and you can kind of just, you want to find that, like, family and that kind of thing," she added. "You can sacrifice a lot."
"I feel like everyone goes through that especially in, I mean, I moved from the Midwest 10 years ago, so I met a LOT of mean people in this town," Cho said. "But then you get through it and you get older and it's so easy to spot. I feel like I see it right away now and when you see a mean girl, you're like, ‘Oh, she's a mean girl.’ … but now, it doesn’t bother me as much. I always feel bad when I meet mean girls because I'm like, you must be so unhappy with who you are to be exuding so much, like, bitterness."
Pieterse and Rienks take on a group of 'mean girls' in their movie, by stripping naked to get revenge after being put through "The Jiggle Test."
The ladies confirm they didn't use body doubles for the vulnerable scene -- it was all them.
"That was the scariest thing I’ve ever done," Pieterse said. "I’ve gone skydiving, I’ve done some really scary stuff and nope, that, it doesn’t compare. That was the scariest thing I have ever done."
“I was home-schooled, so it wasn’t like I had that gymnasium experience or dealing with cheerleaders... but we deal with a lot of social pressure, always, and it was just a different way of experiencing that and it felt very real," she explained. "I was going through – and still am – like a lot of weight issues and finding out, you know, about PCOS and all that stuff. It was very real and all in that moment, so I didn’t have to try very hard, just kind of happened… it didn’t feel like acting, it was all very raw and emotional, and I think that’s part of the reason why it came across so well onscreen, because it was a real moment."
The coming-of-age movie, about three old friends who reconnect in high school after their former fourth BFF dies, explores the complexities of life as a high school female.
The Honor List is available on VOD and iTunes now.
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