Let’s start with your first project, Don’t make me go. Can you tell me your first impression when reading the script of this movie?
I have found [the ending] before I actually read the script because I called the director back with Hannah [Marks]and she thought I read the script based on my original autobiographical tape. When I told her I didn’t have one, she said, “Oh, well, spoiled warning!” So I had a bit of a warning, and I thought that would prepare me a bit for it, but when I actually read it, I was still completely broken down in tears. I couldn’t believe it even though I knew it was going to happen. But I fell in love with it immediately and really wanted to be a part of it.
Can you tell me about working with director Hannah Marks on this project?
Hannah was the first director I ever worked for, so I had nothing to compare with her, and now that I’ve done other things, I don’t think at the time I realized I was lucky. What it’s like to work with her. really attentive, and she really cares about me. This is my first thing, I really don’t know what I’m doing, I’m both nervous and scared. She really made me feel comfortable and safe. At the time, I could take it for granted, and I didn’t realize how much she was juggling and what was special was that she took the time to be with me and talk it through. One day I had to do this makeup scene, and it was basically my first kiss, so I was nervous. It was my first kiss and also my first on-camera kiss, and there were a lot of people in the room, and I was nervous, and she had to juggle a lot of clarity because she was trying. trying to direct a movie, but she took the time to sit with me and say, “Are you okay?” and talk smoothly so that I don’t worry like that. Just little things like that, she really made me feel comfortable and safe.
Don’t make me go bonded by a special father-son relationship, so the on-screen chemistry between you and John Cho is a really important aspect of this movie. Did you and Cho spend time together before filming to build that bond?
Not before filming. I went to New Zealand… Well, I got out of quarantine in New Zealand like a week before we started filming, so I didn’t have much time to go in the first place. I think we did like two rehearsals before we actually started filming, but I don’t think we really needed to mentally prepare because we were just getting started, and it felt natural, and we actually fall into it very easily. We filmed everything at our house first, which is really cool because it creates the “This is our home, and dad is my dad” dynamic. One of the first scenes we shot was that argument in the kitchen, and I think that really resonated with our lives. And we also got to know each other during filming. We play games, listen to music, and hang out on the weekends, and he really feels like my dad during that time.
Have you been together since then?
Yes for sure. I just texted him on Father’s Day. It’s funny because I’m in New Zealand with my mom – because of the quarantine, my whole family can’t come – and I’m really close with my dad, and it’s weird that John almost fills that space. He would give me advice, and that’s what my dad always did. It’s weird in Tribeca [Film Festival]. My dad and John met for the first time and I was so worried they wouldn’t get along, but they’re really nice, I’m happy about that.
This is a very modern story for Wally, and you are about the same age as her when filming this project. In what ways can you relate to or learn from her?
I relate to her a lot. It feels like playing a version of myself almost solely because we’re the same age, and we’ve been through a lot of the same things. She’s going through all of this for this boy, and it’s been fun to play with. And wear her clothes, like fashion, and [be] in her room, she feels really close to me. … [This] was something Hannah was sure of. A lot of her characters are similar to mine, and that’s something we created after I cast. Wally has a lizard, and that wasn’t in the original script, but when I read my chemistry, we were in Zoom mode, and Hannah saw my cage with my lizard in behind, and she said, “Oh, you have a lizard! That would be great if Wally had a lizard.” Wally has a scar on his eyebrow and that’s what shows up in a movie scene and lots of other little things. When I was quarantined in New Zealand, the production went through art supplies, and I would paint pictures and drawings for them to hang in Wally’s room. So it just feels like there’s a lot of myself in Wally.
What is your lizard name?
My lizard’s name is Khaleesi.
