Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Runt’s Aramis Knight, Nicole Elizabeth Berger, and Cyrus Arnold

Aramis Knight, Nicole Elizabeth Berger, and Cyrus Arnold are three of the stars of the must-see film: Runt.

Now in theaters, the drama follows high school senior Cal (Cameron Boyce) who gets caught up in a spiral of violence when he and his girlfriend (Nicole Elizabeth Berger) are relentlessly bullied.

Pop Culturalist recently caught up with Aramis Knight, Nicole Elizabeth Berger, and Cyrus Arnold about Runt, collaborating with Cameron Boyce, and the importance of mentorship.

PC: To start, could you each introduce us to your characters in the film and what audiences should know about them? Nicole, do you want to kick us off?
Nicole: I play Cecily in the film Runt. She’s both a calming influence on Cal (Cameron Boyce) and a catalyst who drives him to make hasty decisions that more often than not result in negative consequences for everybody involved. She starts off as this artistic loner and progressively becomes Cal’s alter ego, providing him the context he needs to guide him in his decision-making.

Aramis: I play Victor. He’s the head honcho of the school. He’s the star quarterback. He’s very privileged, more so than most of the kids. He upholds the school’s sports reputation, so his coach protects him when he’s doing things that he shouldn’t be doing. He doesn’t have any regard for his consequences.

Cyrus: I play Borgie. Borgie is Cal’s homie. They’re pretty close. Both Cal and Borgie make some pretty bad decisions and find themselves in this infinite cycle of violence.

PC: Nicole, your character becomes the voice of reason for Cal. What was that collaboration like, working with Cameron to build the dynamic that we see between your two characters?
Nicole: We worked well in advance to build an authentic relationship between the two characters. I learned a lot from Cameron by working closely with him. He’s someone who is so visibly passionate and driven about his craft and willing to learn. It was mutual. It was definitely a collaborative process developing and fleshing out these three-dimensional characters. You read about them in the script and then get to make your own, and that’s always an amazing thing to do.

PC: Aramis, were there any nerves heading into this project, given everything that your character does in the film? How were you able to decompress after filming?
Aramis: Yeah, certainly. I was asked to do things that I would never be comfortable doing and would never bring myself to do. That was definitely daunting, but everyone was so professional on set. We were very open about what we wanted from the scenes and about our boundaries. Whenever “cut” was called, we were always there for each other to lend a helping hand. That helped a lot with the subject matter because Vic is extremely abusive throughout the film. Being friends outside of our characters allowed us to go there. We were trying to make the most realistic movie we could possibly make.

PC: The film showcases how bullying can manifest itself in different forms. Cyrus, your character finds himself on both ends of that. How were you able to prepare to tackle Borgie’s journey throughout the film?
Cyrus: I was bullied in high school, so I dug up some of those emotions. I would like to think that I handled it a lot more amicably than Borgie. I dug up that pain and tried to find the root cause of why my tormentors did what they did. It was probably for the same reasons. They probably felt a lot of the same rage that Borgie was feeling. The cool thing about acting is everybody has that emotional spectrum. Unfortunately, negative emotions are the easiest to grab at.

PC: There are so many intense moments within the film, which I imagine involves a lot of trust between the cast and the crew. How were you all able to build that bond?
Aramis: I think it was filming at the high school that we filmed at. We were there most of the days. All of my scenes, besides Vic and Cal’s house, were filmed at the school. It was fun to report there every morning, coming from someone who didn’t really go to high school. I didn’t get that high school experience. It was like we were all there together. We had our intermingling circles within the cast outside of the movie. It was a lot of fun for that reason. We all got really close. We played football, basketball, and card games. It felt like a school environment. Nicole actually had to do school on set.

Nicole: According to SAG rules, we had to have a set tutor on location. It was over the summer luckily, so there was really nothing that needed to be done. That being said, I was just entering my freshman year of high school and I’m now graduating in May. This has been in post-production for a while and things were postponed. It’s been a long time coming. For me, the most difficult scene to film was the sexual assault scene. I worked well in advance with my acting mentor to really get into the mindset of a defilement victim, which is of course difficult to deal with at any age. But the implications were even more grave considering Cecily is a teenager. But everyone was so reassuring. I felt safe and comfortable doing what could have been a very uncomfortable thing for me. But we blocked the scene, we talked it out, we worked through it ahead of time. I had a really great supportive team behind me. I’m very grateful for that.

PC: One of the major themes of the film is the importance of mentorship. For each of you, who were the mentors you turned to in your own lives and how do they shape the person that you are today?
Aramis: My main mentor is Daniel Wu. We played opposite each other on a show for a long time. We became really close. He’s like a father figure to me. We’re both huge basketball fans, big car guys, as well as actors. He’s really taken me under his wing. I go to him a lot.

Nicole: It has to be my parents.

Aramis: My mom too. My mom’s giving me a dirty look right now. [laughs]

Nicole: They’re such a great support team for me. I also look up to Jennifer Beals, who I worked with on a sci-fi short a couple of years ago. She’s such an inspirational role model and brilliant in so many ways. She’s incredibly wise and thoughtful and always gives the best advice. I’m immensely grateful to have gotten the chance to work with her and learn from her breathtaking talent.

Aramis: Mentors are so important.

Cyrus: My dad, my mom, and also Ben Stiller. I played his son a very long time ago. We had a great dynamic. He was writing, directing, and producing, and just doing so much. It was really cool to see him be able to flex all of it at the same time, which was also really weird and surreal.

Make sure to follow Aramis (Instagram), Cyrus (Twitter/Instagram), and Nicole (Twitter/Instagram). Runt is in theaters now and On Demand on October 19th.