Cheaper By The Dozen Director Gail Lerner Reveals Zach Braff's 'Incredibly Rare Gift' - Exclusive
In the new "Cheaper By the Dozen" reboot, which is currently streaming on Disney+, Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union bring chemistry and charm to a modernized version of the classic tale. As Paul and Zoey Baker, respectively, Braff and Union raise a multi-racial, blended household of 10 children while running their own restaurant and bottling their own "Hot, Sweet, and Savory" sauce.
Onscreen, the actors share several memorable moments, including a dance battle that involves Paul going head-to-head with Zoey's ex-husband, and an evening that's supposed to be romantic but inadvertently turns into a family movie night when all the kids climb into bed. Helping capture these unforgettable scenes was director Gail Lerner ("Black-ish," "Happy Endings"), who told Looper during an exclusive interview that Braff and Union made "a great combination."
Lerner also shared a behind-the-scenes story about Braff that showed just how much he cared about his "Cheaper By the Dozen" role — and his co-star.
Zach Braff wrote several of the jokes himself
When asked to share a funny or memorable moment involving Zach Braff on the "Cheaper By the Dozen" set, Lerner didn't hesitate to share a story. "There was one day where someone came up to me with a script and they said, 'Oh, this must be yours, you must have dropped it,' because there were jokes written all on the back. I looked at the writing and said, 'This is Zach's writing.' I brought it over to him and he was like, 'Oh, I was trying out some jokes.'"
The jokes scribbled on the back of the script were for a scene in which Paul and Zoey are sitting by the pool at the gated community where they just bought a home, and Zoey tells Paul that she doesn't fit in because of the color of her skin, but that he will always fit in because he's white. He in turn rattles off tales of feeling like an outcast when her family has taken him to places, like a church where Paul flailed around because he "caught the Spirit" — and it was during a bake sale, Zoey pointed out.
"What was so beautiful, though, was that he wrote jokes," said Lerner. "He was always writing the setup and Gab always had the punchline. For someone to write a joke where their partner shines brighter than they do is an incredibly rare gift, and it impressed me so much about Zach."
"Cheaper by the Dozen" is now streaming exclusively on Disney+.