Netflix’s The Sleepover is a family-action adventure comedy spy film that has messages that will surely resonate with a parent and child. Malin Akerman stars as Margot Finch, a suburban housewife who is actually a master thief in the witness protection program. When a pair of rivals appear at her door and threaten her family, husband (Ken Marino), and two kids Clancy (Sadie Stanley) and Kevin (Maxwell Simpkins), Margot recruits an ex-flame of Margot’s (Joe Manganiello) to assist on a job. Meanwhile, the kids team up with two of their friends to rescue their parents over the course of one action-packed night that they’ll never forget
ThatsItLA had the chance to join a virtual roundtable to talk to the kids from The Sleepover about their experiences on set and what they hope audiences will learn from the film.
Cicchino, who plays Mim, Clancy’s best friend, says that if anyone wants to get into the industry or perform in front of other people, they should cheer for themselves. While she admits, that does sound a bit cliché, but she says it’s true. “You are going to hear some noes, and not everyone is going to appreciate how special you are, but at the end of the day, you can take constructive criticism and have a lot of love and grace for yourself and genuinely believe in your talent,” she said. “Then you are going to be just fine. That’s what I would say.”
Stanley agreed. “What’s helped me the most and what has been the most important to me is staying true to myself,” she said. “Even though you can create these great situations and you are being told no and yes, and you feel like you are all over the place, just remember to stay true to yourself and make sure what you are doing is what you are passionate about, and if you really love it and you really want it, there is nothing that can stop you.”
With the cast being so young, they can gain a lot of experience from all the sets. They also got to see what professionalism looks like from veteran actors and comedians who play supporting roles in the film. “I think I learn something new from every set and every job that I do,” Stanley said. “Especially this one. Being able to work with such talented actors, it really was the cast and the crew that inspired me and who I really learned from. Especially Malin Akerman, I really look up to her a lot. And Ken Marino. They are such amazing people, but also so incredibly talented. So I was just trying to soak in as much as I could and learn as much as I could while on set.
From Cicchino’s point of view, just watching Akerman and Marino on set, she learned what professionalism looks like. “We would have nights where we would get back in the bus to our hotel at 10 o’clock at night, and be exhausted and ready to go to bed, and Malin is hoping in to go back and do stunt training,” she said. “No complaints. So, Malin and Ken were just a class act.”
When Maxwell Simkins, who plays as Kevin, Clancy’s younger brother, was asked to share something someone may not know about, the young actor revealed has a song called “They will know my name” coming out at the end of the month. And when it comes to how he relates to Kevin, Simkins said he and Kevin have the same funny and outgoing personality. The only difference is that Simkins’s energy is more “on a sugar high.”
Lucas Jaye, who was born 11 weeks early, says he can relate to his character’s timidness if he was ever in the same extraordinary and dangerous spy adventure.
As to how the cast got along, Simkins said: “I think we hit it off right away. Ken is so charismatic and so funny. Lucas, right there, my best bud, always funny. We all got out and had pizza one time. We all hung out on weekends. It was so much fun.”
Jaye agreed. “Yeah our moms are even really good friends,” he said. “They became really close too.”
The Sleepover is set to debut exclusively on Netflix on August 21, 2020.
Click on this link for a fun crossword puzzle from The Sleepover!
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Thanks to the cast of The Sleepover for speaking with us and thanks to Netflix for this opportunity.
