Don’t Make Me Go’s John Cho on parenthood and ‘embarrassing’ karaoke scenes

John Cho may be the lead singer of a band but that didn’t make shooting a karaoke scene any less “embarrassing”.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JULY 11: John Cho attends the Los Angeles Special Screening of Amazon's "Don't Make Me Go" at NeueHouse Los Angeles on July 11, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

John Cho isn’t going to show his children his latest movie anytime soon.

Even though the film, Don’t Make Me Go, is a tender story about a father and his teenage daughter bonding during a surprise road trip, the opening gambit may prove a little too sensitive for his kids.

“There’s full frontal nudity in the first scene, so maybe not. We may wait a minute,” Cho told news.com.au

When he and his kids – a son born in 2008 and a daughter born in 2013 – can eventually sit down and watch the film, its poignant story may stir an emotional response.

Filmed in New Zealand during the pandemic, Don’t Make Me Go features Cho as single dad Max to Wally (Mia Isaac). When Max finds out he has a terminal illness, he decides to take Wally on a drive across the country to find her mother, who left the family when Wally was still very young.

Under the guise of going to his college reunion, Max and Wally’s trip is full of life lessons, arguments and moving moments as he tries to leave her with lasting memories before he no longer can.

Don't Make Me Go is streaming now on Amazon Prime. Picture: Amazon Prime Video

For Cho, Don’t Make Me Go’s relatability was immediately apparent.

“This is a movie I would watch,” he explained. “Obviously, being a father to a daughter, I was very invested in the story and felt like maybe I could contribute something to it.”

Cho, known for his roles in Star Trek, Searching, Columbus and Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, found his own experiences as a parent allowed him to access a “mindset” that he couldn’t have tapped into before he had kids.

“Every thought that you have and every decision that you make after you have kids in front of you is filtered through ‘How’s it going to affect our children?’. And that was something that I could not have done [before].

“I lived a life that was blissfully selfish before I had children and then it completely flipped afterwards. From then on, you have to think about everything through that lens. So that part [of the character] was very natural for me and it was the part of Max I understood the best.

“And, of course, the [parenting] mistakes that ensue from that, I completely understood.”

John Cho with Mia Isaac and director Hannah Marks at the Don’t Make Me Go premiere. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

That protective dad vibe translated on-set as well. Don’t Make Me Go was Isaac’s first feature and the young actor, who turned 17 just as production started, has described Cho as her on-set dad.

Cho explained that he wanted to look out for Isaac – “You only get one shot for your first and I wanted it to go well for her. I had a feeling her career was going to be long, I see big things for her and I wanted to start her career off with a good experience.”

He said that he was conscious about protecting her space to be creative, especially as she was a minor. On a movie set with a gazillion things going on and mostly adults, sometimes it’s easy to forget when there are young people around.

“I was keen on letting people know that this was a person and she was young and we needed to be sensitive to that.”

There was another scene in the film which drew on Cho’s real-life experience, except it was much more challenging.

Not everyone will know this 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 was featured on the Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay soundtrack.

Don't Make Me Go featured an ‘embarrassing’ karaoke scene. Picture: Amazon Prime Video

But despite his musical talents, Cho was more nervous than excited about the karaoke scene in Don’t Make Me Go, in which his character belts out Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”.

“[It was] a little embarrassing. To shoot that, I knew it would be embarrassing,” he said. “I knew that we would have to sing without music. And karaoke typically involves a few drinks and there were no drinks on set, no soundtrack blaring for sound.

“Nobody could talk or clap! It was as fun doing it as it was watching it.”

That karaoke scene comes in a pivotal moment for his risk-averse character, a lesson about taking more chances.

Just being able to make the movie during a global health crisis was what Cho took away 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 couldn’t hug or kiss them. It was difficult, it was the worst part of covid.

“We were given a respite from that because we made this film in a country that was covid-free. We could touch and hug each other. It was so wonderful and the movie serves as a reminder that’s what’s important in life.

“To me, it’s a valentine to my loved ones and how important they are.”

Don’t Make Me Go is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video