Gabrielle Union takes on the role of a matriarch of a family with a dozen children in the Disney remake of the 2003 comedy — which starred Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt — and its 1950 predecessor but feels that this time around there were more “issues” to explore because the clan is “blended” and “racially-diverse.”
She said: ” I think in the previous iterations, it’s a completely homogeneous family. There’s no diversity, so what are the issues? Yeah, you know what I mean? It’s like it’s more about just the sheer size and different personalities, but when you really lean into the blended family, blended racially, culturally, different levels of ability, and then you move that family to what you think is better and the best.”
In the movie, Gabrielle and former “Scrubs” actor Zach Braff star as Zoey and Paul Baker, who raise a racially diverse brood made up of their own children as well as ones from previous marriages and one adopted child.
The Bring It On star — who is mother to Kaavia James with ex-basketball player and husband Dwyane Wade as well as stepmother to his three other children — explained that as a “mom of color,” it was important for her to explore what is best for diverse families in “predominantly White spaces” in the movie.
She told ScreenRant: “You very quickly realize that trying to navigate predominantly white spaces as a person of color and as a mom of color, that perhaps someone else’s idea of best and better isn’t really what’s best for your family’s safety, and sanity and peace. That’s something that was really important for us to explore.”
Cheaper By the Dozen is streaming now on Disney+.
