In the movie, it is revealed that Max used to be a bit of a party animal and was the lead singer in a band. This gives way to a humming some rock ’n roll tunes during the road trip and a fun karaoke scene where the single father crones “The Passenger” by Iggy Pop. During the Q&A, John Cho was asked if he was actually singing during the scene, to which the actor enthusiastically responded, “Yes!”
At the top of the Q&A, 18-year-old actor Mia Isaac shared that her favorite scenes to shoot were the car scenes. Game Rant asked if the scenes were reflective of her real life driving express. The actor said, “Yeah, my dad taught me how to drive. It was definitely less dramatic than Max and Wally, but he taught me how to drive in the back of a parking lot.” She continued, “I liked the driving scenes because of how much fun we had together. A lot of it was improv, just because we were driving back and forth on the same stretch of land. We were eating Cheetos, listening to music, talking, and playing 20 Questions, so that was my favorite.”
In the father-daughter movie, the pair accidentally wander onto a nude beach. Totally awkward! When asked about the inspiration behind the scene, director Hannah Marks said, “We would have to ask our screenwriter, Vera Herbert, but I believe Vera accidentally ended up at a nude beach with her father. That’s where that came from.” But apparently, that is a common mistake as Cho chimed in, “That also happened to my wife when she was a kid.”
No coming-of-age movie is complete without childhood footage. Don’t Make Me Go features a few videos and pictures of Wally during her younger years. Marks revealed that the footage was provided by Isaac and her family. Poking fun at the young actor, she mentioned that because she’s Gen Z “all of her childhood videos were recorded on an iPhone.” The director explained, “She [Isaac] sent me hours of footage and a lot of it was with her real father, and then I erased his voice, so sorry, and recorded John’s to put it in.” Isaac added, “Yeah, and I think what is great is that everything Max says is exactly what my dad said in the actual video,” evoking a collective “aww” from the audience.
When asked about the moving editing process, Marks said that the flick was edited virtually. “It was all on Zoom. We didn’t even meet for most of it.” She gave a shout-out to movie editor Paul Frank. “We formed a bond really quickly. Paul did such a terrific job. He’s a father himself, and he really connected with [the] material and was very supportive of me. We were able to collaborate because he showed me so much love and trust, and we really had a great partnership.”
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