US star keen to trek back
When movie star John Cho’s family misses New Zealand, they put on his latest film, Don’t Make Me Go, to take in the Kiwi landscapes.
The Star Trek actor spent 18 months in New Zealand filming science fiction show Cowboy Bebop for Netflix and the Amazon Studios film Don’t Make Me Go, which is available for streaming on Prime Video from July 15.
The American actor was working in New Zealand between July 2019 until late last year, meaning he weathered the Covid19 pandemic in this country with his wife and two children.
‘‘It was a really special time for me and my family.
‘‘We felt so welcomed and taken care of, and we are counting the days until we can come back,’’ he said. ‘‘I am really thankful that was the country we were in during that tumultuous time, and I will always treasure our time in New Zealand and the friendships I formed there.’’
Cho starred as Sulu in the recent Star Trek movies, Harold in the Harold and Kumar comedy film franchise, and voiced a character on the cartoon American Dad.
Don’t Make Me Go is a road trip movie directed by Hannah Marks about Max, played by Cho, taking his teenaged daughter, Wally, played by Mia Isacc, on a road trip from California to New Orleans.
The film also stars Kiwi performers Jemaine Clement and Josh Thomson. New Zealand landscapes and locations stand in for America, with Canterbury’s new motorways becoming freeways, a Christchurch suburb being transformed into Los Angeles, and a burger shaped restaurant on Main South Rd starring as a roadside diner.
‘‘It does feel like Mia and I and Hannah went on a road trip across New Zealand and this is our home video of our time there,’’ Cho said.
‘‘When we miss New Zealand we can put that on.
‘‘We have watched Lord of the Rings in our house to revisit New Zealand.’’
He said transforming the Christchurch motorways into American freeways presented some challenges.
‘‘That was the part of the movie I was nervous about shooting in New Zealand. Obviously, we drive on the other side of the road in the United States.
‘‘It was a logistical feat to shut down the freeway.
‘‘We had trouble getting cars with the steering wheel on the lefthand side and we had to fill the freeway, so what they did was cover the steering wheels on the other vehicles with a black tarp so you can’t see them.
‘‘Then the passenger was holding a fake steering wheel and pretending to drive.’’