Hollywood’s third “Cheaper by the Dozen” teams Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff as parents of a blended family alongside two dogs, 10 kids, plus one ex-wife and ex-husband.
How was it with so many very young kids, guardians, watchful parents, animal trainers amid bits of physical comedy, Union, 49, was asked.
“More like between wrangling cats and pure chaos. With some laughs thrown in there in the middle,” she answered in a Zoom interview.
This “Cheaper” couldn’t be farther from the 1950 original where eccentric parents raised, yes, a dozen children. Two of whom wrote a bestselling book about them which became the hit movie.
This is co-scripted by “black-ish” creator Kenya Barris and features a fictional mom, dad and everyone else. It begins with, Union noted, “The parents telling the tale of how this family came to be. The fact that we were both married previously and had children with other folks.
“Then we got together, have children together and then we have to figure out how to co-parent — with four parents! And keep all of these balls in the air and try to manage our restaurant which is launching a sauce.”
The comedy wonders, she continued, “How do you balance ambition with being a present parent who kind of gets left holding the bag when one person is sort of chasing their dreams and sort of leaving the other person to deal with the rest?
“We try to update it as much as possible by making it the most blended family that you can imagine. We’re blended racially, culturally and with different levels of ability.
“You see all of the fun that can happen with co-parenting but also some of those challenges. And then, what happens when you move to a different neighborhood and different schools and try managing those dreams with what is actually best for this particular family? It’s an ongoing challenge with boundaries that we explore in the movie.
“There’s a sweetness for all of that in this version,” she added. “A lot more fun, a lot more jokes. And a lot more color.”
With nearly 30 years in the business, Union exudes a breezy authority. She has an ability to speak out on matters that concern her — and be heard by, literally, millions on social media.
In those areas she’s not even close to her “Cheaper” mom Zoe.“Zoe is way more patient than I am. My kids don’t know about my packing lunch. Certain scenes in the movie where Zoe takes the high road when faced with some adversity? I don’t,” she adds with a shake of her head, “respond in the same way.”
And that is why it’s called acting.
“Cheaper by the Dozen” streams Friday on Disney+.
Source: www.mercurynews.com