Cheaper by the Dozen is a fresh take on the 2003 hit family comedy and tells the story of the raucous exploits of a blended family of 12, the Bakers, as they navigate a hectic home life while simultaneously managing their family business. As we noted in our review, this is a fun-filled family comedy that has plenty of heart and a strong message at its core which definitely leaves a lasting impact.
In the movie, Gabrielle Union (10 Things I Hate About You, Being Mary Jane) plays Zoey, the matriarch of the family and a woman who struggles to find her place in a new, wealthy community. While dealing with that and the challenges posed by having ten children to care for, Zoey must also contend with a husband who has grand ambitions that, while good-natured, might not be what's best for them.
In our exclusive video interview with the actress, she recalls the fun antics that took place on Cheaper by the Dozen's set, getting the chance to ad-lib, and the biggest challenges the project presented. Union also addresses the movie's meaningful themes and why those meant so much to her.
Check out our interview with Union about her Cheaper by the Dozen role in the player below:
I watched the movie earlier and it is so much fun. You must have had a blast making it?
We did, we did. It was like organised chaos, but it was a very good time.
I asked Zach this same question - obviously, a big focus of this film is breakfast for dinner or lunch, but what would be your go-to breakfast for dinner item?
For dinner? Oh, well, I believe bacon serves a purpose at all meals. Pretty much any pork product is my favourite breakfast food that should last all day long. Bacon!
I can’t disagree there! Another fun part of this film is the rivalry between Paul and Dom; it becomes so ridiculous at times between the dance-off and juice box, but what was it like being in the middle of that?
It’s hilarious! Absolutely hilarious. You know, Zach isn’t a dad in real life, so his idea of what a dad would do in that moment…but Timon is a dad in real life, so they’re both bringing these very different perspectives to this comedy bit. It was hilarious. I’m just watching trying not to laugh and mess up the take. In fact, those kinds of scenes were so funny.
I know from having seen a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff on Scrubs that Zach is big into improv, so is that something you got to delve into with this movie? There are so many funny jokes that I couldn't help but think there has to be even more out there somewhere!
Oh, yeah. A lot of our jokes were not family-friendly, so if they ever release the “Snyder Cut,” it’s probably just full of expletives and very blue humour, if you will. Yes, some of our ad-libs didn’t exactly make the family-friendly cut, but yeah, we ad-libbed a lot. Gail Lerner, our director, was super game for it.
Were there any scenes you struggled to get through?
Struggled? It was not really a struggle in the sense we didn’t know how to do it, but there were some really complicated days. There’s a scene where we have the obstacle course with all of those kids participating, and that was a very challenging couple of days to film that. I was not on set until the very end, thank goodness, because watching that would just stress me out. You only have so many hours with the little guys, so to have that complicated, so many things moving at once type of scene and animals, yeah, that was pretty challenging.
I can imagine that scene near the beginning of the film with the oranges and bagels must have taken a few takes to get right as well?
Well, you know, I’m an old vet at the lunch-making of it all, so we just had to bring Zach up to speed, but no, that went pretty smoothly. We got that down pretty fast.
I’m impressed! Of course, as funny as this film is, there’s a serious side as well, particularly when it comes to exploring Zoey’s sense of belonging in her new community and how this interracial family unit works. Was it important boarding a family project like this that there be something you can delve into that can educate younger viewers?
Yeah, absolutely. I think explaining in a kid-friendly, age-appropriate way what it’s like to be othered constantly and to be viewed under a veil of suspicion constantly. To constantly be battling microaggressions that are anything but micro; they feel like all-out assaults. To do that in a kid-appropriate way was very important. It’s clear who the villains are and why, and there was no way we would have done this movie and brought all this diversity in without explaining and, hopefully, some folks can see themselves and their not so great behaviour perhaps for some of their neighbours and straighten up and fly right moving forward.
Well, it’s a wonderful message in the film to share with people and a wonderful family movie. Gabrielle, thank you so much for your time - I loved your work here.
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Cheaper by the Dozen premieres on Disney+ on March 18!