John Cho will not be showing his children his latest film soon.
Although the film, Don’t make me gois a tender story about a father and his teenage daughter coming together during a surprise road trip, the initial game may turn out to be a little too sensitive for their children.
“There’s complete frontal nudity in the first scene, so maybe not. Maybe we’ll wait a minute,” Cho told news.com.au
When he and his children, a son born in 2008 and a daughter born in 2013, can sit down and watch the film, his touching story can elicit an emotional response.
Filmed in New Zealand during the pandemic, Don’t make me go introduces Cho as Max’s single father to Wally (Mia Isaac). When Max discovers that he has a terminal illness, he decides to take Wally on a trip around the country to find his mother, who left the family when Wally was still very young.
Under the guise of going to his college reunion, Max and Wally’s journey is full of life lessons, discussions, and moving moments as he tries to leave lasting memories before he can no longer.
For Cho, Don’t make me go‘S relationship was immediately apparent.
“This is a movie I would watch,” he explained. “Obviously, being the father of a daughter, I was very invested in the story and I felt like maybe I could contribute something to it.”
Cho, known for his roles in Star Trek, Looking for, Colom i Harold and Kumar go to the white castlehe found that his own experiences as a father allowed him access to a “mentality” that he would not have been able to take advantage of before having children.
“Every thought you have and every decision you make after having children in front of you seeps through‘ How will it affect our children? ’. And that was something I couldn’t have done. [before].
“I lived a happily selfish life before having children and then it changed completely. From then on, you have to think it all through this lens. So this part [of the character] it was very natural to me and it was the part of Max that I understood best.
“And, of course, the [parenting] The mistakes that come with it, I completely understood. “
This protective vibration of the father was also translated into the set. Don’t make me go it was Isaac’s first feature film and the young actor, who turned 17 just when production began, has described Cho as his father on set.
Cho explained that she wanted to take care of Isaac: “You only get a chance for the first time and I wanted it to go well for her. She had the feeling that her career would be long, I see great things for her and I wanted to start her career. with a good experience “.
He said he was aware of protecting his space to be creative, especially because he was a minor. In a movie set with a million things going on and especially adults, sometimes it’s easy to forget when there are young people around.
“I wanted to let people know that this was a person and she was young and we had to be sensitive to that.”
There was another scene in the film that was based on Cho’s real-life experience, except that it was much harder.
Not everyone will know, but Cho was the lead singer of a rock band called Viva La Union. They released an album in 2009 and one of their songs appeared on Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay soundtrack.
But despite his musical talent, Cho was more nervous than excited about the karaoke scene Don’t make me goin which his character sings “The Passenger” by Iggy Pop.
“[It was] a little embarrassing. Shooting this, I knew it would be embarrassing, “he said.” I knew we should sing without music. And karaoke usually includes a few drinks and there were no drinks on set, no soundtrack sounding everywhere.
“No one could speak or applaud! It was as much fun to do it as it was to see it. “
This karaoke scene comes at a crucial time for your risk-averse character, a lesson on how to take more risks.
Being able to make the film during a global health crisis was what Cho drew from the experience.
“We shot in New Zealand during the early days of the pandemic when we were separated from our friends and family, and we couldn’t hug or kiss them. It was hard, it was the worst part of the covid.
“We were given a truce because we made this film in a country free of covid. We could touch and hug each other. It was so wonderful and the film serves as a reminder that this is what is important in the life.
“For me, it’s a Valentine’s Day for my loved ones and how important they are.”
Don’t Make Me Go is now playing on Amazon Prime Video