‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ Interview: John Cho

John Cho stars in 'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother'. — John Cho stars in ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’.

Opening in theaters on September 25th is the new thriller ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’, which was written and directed by Bassam Tariq (‘Mogul Mowgli’).

The film stars two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (‘Moonlight’ and ‘Green Book’), John Cho (‘Star Trek’), Giancarlo Esposito (‘Breaking Bad’), Tramell Tillman (‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’), Abubakr Ali (‘Anything’s Possible’), and Adia (‘The Midnight Club’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with John Cho about ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’, his approach to his character, working with director Bassam Tariq and actor Mahershala Ali, and shooting the movie’s incredible action sequences.

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(L to R) John Cho as Pastor Hwan and Mahershala Ali stars as Latif in 'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother', from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Jaclyn Martinez. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved. — (L to R) John Cho as Pastor Hwan and Mahershala Ali stars as Latif in ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Jaclyn Martinez. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your approach to playing this specific character?

John Cho: Well, the simplest answer is it came from the brain of Bassam Tariq, but probably the flip side of that answer is it was a communal effort. Bassam and I spoke first. We talked about where the character could go, and there were still a lot of questions that needed to be answered by all of us. Then the second step was then getting in a room with Mahershala and Bassam and talking about our characters, and what the movie was going to say. Then we really plotted out what this character’s history might be. That involved a lot of discussions about our backgrounds, our faiths, people we had met, who we could bring in and putting this mosaic together. Bassam in particular was really intentional about making this a specifically Asian American character. To that end, we were talking about guys we knew, guys in the public sphere and bringing influences in to build that character history.

'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother' director Bassam Tariq. — ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ director Bassam Tariq.

MF: What was your experience like collaborating with director Bassam Tariq on set?

JC: I’m not a very good improviser. So, for me, it’s more like we do a take, and then we talk about a change that might bring a different color in. I’m more script reliant, but he’s very open, very welcoming from our first discussion about how this strikes an actor and he wants your input. It’s startling.

(L to R) Mahershala Ali as Latif and Jahleel Kamara as Qadir in 'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother', from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Jaclyn Martinez. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved. — (L to R) Mahershala Ali as Latif and Jahleel Kamara as Qadir in ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Jaclyn Martinez. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

MF: Finally, you’ve done action movies in the past, but never on this level. What was it like preparing for and executing the action sequences in this movie?

JC: I’ll tell you a secret, I didn’t realize how much action I was walking into because when I read the script, I was so into the character’s head space. When you read a fight scene on the page, it just goes, “Then they fight.” I really wasn’t aware of how much choreography there was going to be. We just took it step by step as per usual, learning the choreography. Mahershala had the heavy lifting. Handling a blade is another level from punching and kicking and also using a gun. So that’s really difficult. He’s a former athlete and you can really tell because he can use both arms so well. I think he might be ambidextrous. So it was cool. I saw myself as in a supporting role, but we did some long takes. If you look at the choreography, we were doing long beats so that it wasn’t just “One, two punch, duck.” It was “Kick, punch, turn, stab, disarm, and flip.” So, there were some long takes, especially for Mahershala. The camera style of the movie is to go around and around. So there’s no place to hide anybody and there’s no place to hide your performance. It was really excellent work by everyone.

'Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother' opens in theaters on September 25th. — ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ opens in theaters on September 25th.

What is the plot of ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’?

Following the death of his wife, a devoutly religious hitman (Mahershala Ali) embarks on a desperate journey across Houston to protect his children, confronting the forces closing in around him – and the beliefs threatening to unravel within.