Cheaper by the Dozen stars Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff as the parents; Credits: Flicks

Cheaper by the Dozen is a great classic watch, but Black-ish director Gail Lerner managed to make an even better adaptation of the film. Lerner worked on the series with the dream partner from her directorial debut with Black-ish, Kenya Barris, and brought forward a family comedy that can make people laugh without skipping a beat. 

The series stars Gabrielle Union as Zoey Baker, the mother, while Zach Braff, who is not even a parent, played the part of the father. 

Sharing why she chose to be back with Kenya Barris as a collaborator on the series, director Gail Lerner shared that they have worked together for many years and have learned to do their work well together. They worked together as writers on Black-ish, but Lerner managed to squeeze in some directorial credits while managing her other roles. 

Soon Hollywood gave her the opportunity to expand on her talents, and she was approached by Kenya who told her that he would like her to direct Cheaper by the Dozen. She shared that he trusted her enough to provide her the chance and gave her a bigger role than her credits could have warranted. 

She explained that he knew that she could do justice to the concept as a director and wanted her to prove it. Hence, as she got this amazing opportunity, even as a woman in her 50s, she knew that she had to grab it. She knew that people do not get such offers each day and was happy to be included. 

Gail Lerner changed the narrative of Hollywood direction with the adaptation of Cheaper by Dozen. She broke the industry stereotype to steer clear of working with children and animals and decided to add both into her film. 

Explaining how she managed to work with her extensively large cast in the film, she revealed that she believes in the cliche of every actor needing a different director. The film required her to transform into a different perception of the director with each actor she commanded for her movie. 

With experienced adult actors like Zac and Gab, she did not need to do a lot of work as the actors themselves understood what was required of them in the narration. These actors were phenomenal when it came to portraying their roles. 

They brought natural ease to their portrayal, simply imbibing the personality of their characters as they approached the portrayal from the body language and the dialogue front. But things are a little different when managing child actors. 

With children, Gail Lerner had another approach. She saw what comic qualities that children had as individuals and utilized their natural raw talent for a family comedy. They even went as far as to delete the script wherever the child could not deliver the appropriate reaction. 

Even if they were required to delete the best jokes by Kenya to accommodate the child's talent, they chose to go with what the kid could do best. Hence, they would replace the joke with something that was more natural for the kid to deliver. 

Lerner made sure that the kids did not act like orchestrated puppets but had a "natural delightfulness" to them. 

Regardless, Lerner could not help but exclaim how wonderful Zach and Gabrielle were in their roles of Paul and Zoey Baker. While Gabrielle carried the film beautifully, her character Zoey is the true core of the Barker family. 

Gabriele decided to make Zoey a more enriching character who was fun to watch and love in the film. She worked entirely on creating a story where she was true to the family and was an omnipresent character for the Bakers. All in all, she was presented as a common mother figure in the family like in a real family, without whom there is no home. 

She diverted the script from a strict, rigid mother to a more fun-loving and mirthful character who knew how to let loose and enjoy. This essentially made her an extremely sought-after partner anyone would love to have. She comes off as attentive and highly compassionate.

Additionally, Zoey and Paul stayed in love after they had kids. Many people tend to fall out of love once they have children, but these characters defied those odds. 

On the other hand, Zach also played his role as the family patriarch with exceptional brilliance, given the fact that he is not even a father. But, he is an uncle who adores children and also is close with the children of his friends. 

Hence, he brought in the element of a focused father to the series, and yet showed a figure who is most likely to be playful. Both Zack and Gabrielle managed to help the child actors do their part just as parents in a real family would.