In director Francis Lawrence’s (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) upcoming Netflix original feature Slumberland, a young girl by the name of Nemo (played by Marlow Barkley) discovers a magical world of dreams. Having recently lost her father (Kyle Chandler), whose bedtime tales first introduced Nemo to Slumberland, she becomes increasingly preoccupied with this new dreamland when an old friend of her father’s, Flip (Jason Momoa), reveals a secret treasure. The mischievous Flip tells Nemo that this treasure will grant its finder any wish, and with the hopes of reuniting with her late father one last time, Nemo will stop at nothing.

During their interview with Collider’s Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub, Momoa and Barkley share the unique appeal of Slumberland for wider audiences and speak on their experience working alongside director Lawrence to bring his vision to the screen. Momoa also discusses the opportunity of being in a family-friendly film, Barkley shares the most surprising aspect of filmmaking, and they tease Slumberland 2 and 3. You can read the full interview below, or watch the video above.

COLLIDER: I really want to start with a sincere congrats on the movie. I thought you guys did a great job. Especially Francis [Lawrence], he really did a great job with this. Individual questions for you guys. Jason, I have to start with you. You're generally not offered roles like this. So when Francis called you and mentioned the character Flip, did you think you were on an episode of Punk'd?

JASON MOMOA: It's actually funny. I think I was slicing someone's neck, and we were on set, and I was covered in blood. We were goofing around and he's like, "I have this great role for you. It's a comedy." He tells me about it, and I'm like, "I'd love to do it. No one's ever picked me for that." So I got to spend a lot of time with Francis, and we became dear friends. So it's all his, and he killed it. This movie's amazing, but it's his idea.

Jason Momoa as Flip, wearing a fancy top hat and looking out from behind a door in 'Slumberland.'
Image via Netflix

Marlow, I really enjoyed your work in this and I also enjoyed your work in Spirited.

MARLOW BARKLEY: Oh, thank you.

This is your first time making movies like this. What surprised you about the actual movie-making process that perhaps you didn't know going into these things?

BARKLEY: I guess I always knew that movies had big casts and crew, but I didn't know how many people would be on the set. I thought that it was a lot of people either online or in offices doing a lot of work. But no, those sets are filled with people all the time. That was even just during COVID, so I'm sure there are so many more, normally. I was also surprised at how fun it was on set. Even during the super emotional scenes, we were still laughing, making jokes on set. So I guess I was just surprised at how comfortable I would feel in this environment. Yeah, working with Francis was just amazing. Everything came very natural and easy in this movie.

One of the many things that I really enjoyed about this film is that it doesn't talk down to kids. It's a really smart script. It treats everyone with respect. Can you talk about that aspect of the film?

BARKLEY: I think dreams take up a big part of everyone's lives. I think that's why it appeals for kids and adults because there are some mature jokes in there, some references that the adults will get, but then there's also physical comedy that the kids will laugh at. And of course, Pig is very much appealing to younger audiences. So I feel like it's a great age range because of the diversity of all the jokes, and everything that happens in the movie. Jason, do you have anything to say about that?

MOMOA: Yeah. When I read the script, I'd never been a part of one of those four-quadrant movies. I guess you could include Aquaman, but I don't think it has the level of what this does. It's just such an emotional rollercoaster. No one's crying in Aquaman. There’s grief and loss. This is my first time being a part of something that’s for the whole family: grandmas and babies, dads and moms, and everyone. It's something you can watch over and over, and I think it's got a lot of themes. We were just talking about it with someone else just going like, "Wow. How much you can take away from it." It's one of those things that's just going to sit with you and hopefully return. Turns out, Netflix just approved 2 and 3.

BARKLEY: My gosh, guys.

MOMOA: Can you believe that?

BARKLEY: It's crazy.

MOMOA: We're going to do more.

BARKLEY: We're joking.

Jason Momoa in Slumberland.
Image via Netflix

Yeah. I was going to be like, "Wait, what?"

BARKLEY: Oh, yeah. We're filming them right now.

MOMOA: Listen, I'm a big manifester. I manifested this. I'm going to keep manifesting 2 and 3.

Slumberland is streaming on Netflix on November 18.