John Cho, Mia Isaac, and Hannah Marks Talk Don't Make Me Go and Road Trip Adventures

Family is a trip.

Don’t Make Me Go stars John Cho and Mia Isaac as a terminally ill man and his teenage daughter who embark on a road trip from California to New Orleans for his 20th college reunion. While there, he secretly hopes she can reunite with the mother who left them long ago. I spoke with Cho and Isaac, and director Hannah Marks about what they hope viewers take away from the Amazon Studios film.

Marks is a jack of all trades — acting, writing, directing, and producing — and she loved that Don’t Make Me Go focused on a story we don’t always seen on screen. “I wanted to direct it because I thought it was a very special script by Vera Herbert. I loved that it focused on a father-daughter relationship, which really isn’t seen too often. I thought it was a really beautiful opportunity to cast actors that I admire. It’s such a two-hander and it’s such a character piece. I got so lucky with John Cho and Mia Isaac.”

When it comes to building the father-daughter chemistry between Cho and Isaac, the actors shared that it came “pretty natural.” “I have a daughter so that was all really easily accessible to me and [Mia] was just really open,” said Cho, with Isaac continuing: “I’m close with my dad in real life. I think our relationship [in the film] was half of a father-daughter relationship and half a true friendship.”

Isaac shared one of her favorite moments on set with Cho. “During the last three weeks of shooting, we were […] i the south island of New Zealand and we went to this little […] coastal town. It was the middle of winter and there was a hail storm while we were in breakfast. When we got out of the cafe, it was just hailing very hard and was freezing and we were like trying to get around,” she said. “That was one of my favorite days. It was our little road trip off the road trip.”

The original script for Don’t Make Me Go focused on a Caucasian family, but with the casting of Cho and Isaac it lead to a story focused on a biracial Black and Asian family. “It’s all about asking questions and seeing what aspects of their own personal life and personal history that they’re willing to bring to the project or want to bring. [It’s] giving them the space to talk and share,” said Marks about how to celebrate and highlight the actor’s authentic backgrounds in the film. “I would have cast John Cho regardless of anything. He’s a fantastic actor. It just so happens that he’s Asian American and brought that to this movie, which allowed us to cast Mia Isaac, who’s such a blessing. They both really brought their personal experiences to the story to make it feel specific.”

Isaac discussed bringing her own personal experiences to the film. “A lot of Wally's character has aspects of myself in there that weren't originally in there. There's a line about how Max took Wally to African dance classes to get her to know both sides of herself. That was something that Hannah wrote in after I told her that my mom took me to African dance classes to get me to know both sides of myself,” shared Isaac. “I relate to Wally in a lot of ways and there are a lot of little Easter eggs of my own life in there.”

Don’t Make Me Go also features some interesting twists and turns that can get complicated to set up. “It’s definitely a balance. We set it up and thread it through the movie that something might be going on with Wally. Obviously you don’t want to push it too far because then people can guess what’s going to happen, but you don’t want to not set it up at all because then it’s out of left field,” said Marks. “So it’s a real balancing act and ultimately we just had to go with our gut on what felt like the right level of awareness.”

When it comes to the final messages of the film, Marks hopes that people “have the courage to follow their dreams and take risks and live with their heart on their sleeves.” “I hope people take a look around and value who they got and who they love and tell them,” agreed Cho. “I don't want to be morbid. It's just life is short and we're here to love each other and I think do it as soon as possible and as much as possible.”

Don’t Make Me Go hits Prime Video on July 15.