 About The Story
Director Shawn Levy, who helmed the box office hits “Just Married” and “Big Fat Liar,” seized the opportunity to bring audiences a film that mixes a modern comic sensibility with old-fashioned sentiment rooted in traditional family values. “The idea of making a love letter to the zaniness of large families was really appealing to me,” says Levy. “CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN is about family, loyalty and priorities.” According
to Levy, having Steve Martin take on the role of patriarch Tom Baker took the film to a new level. “When you have Steve Martin, you get layers of character and comedy that go well beyond the scripted page,” he says. “Steve brings Tom Baker to life through his physical and verbal humor. His work starts where the words end.”
“Getting Steve was dream casting,” adds producer Robert Simonds. “He gets to be both funny and emotional in CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN, as he has in some of his classic film performances.”
Martin, hailed for his work in edgy films like “Roxanne” and “The Spanish Prisoner,” as well as for broad-audience comedy hits like “Parenthood,” “Father of the Bride” and “Bringing Down the House,” appreciated CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN’s fresh perspective. “The script had a new-fangled approach to family that we don’t see much in films today,” he says.
With Martin cast, the filmmakers turned to filling the role of super-mother and wife Kate, whose chemistry with her husband had to be strong enough to produce 12 children. They found their Kate in actor/comedian Bonnie Hunt.
Levy sensed that Martin and Hunt would play well off of one another. “One of the things I’m most proud of with this film is the casting,” says Levy. “Once we got Steve and put him opposite Bonnie, we knew their chemistry would serve as a focal point for the film.”
Beyond their on-screen chemistry, Martin and Hunt provided a lesson in how different styles can combine to make magic. “Steve is always prepared and knows exactly the performance he wants to give,” says Simonds. “Bonnie has a much more fast-and-loose style. It was interesting to watch their dynamic, and obviously we’re thrilled with the results.”
Growing up in a family of seven children, Hunt appreciated CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN’s take on large families. She saw the role of Kate as an opportunity to pay tribute to mothers everywhere.
“I made it a point to play Kate as an intelligent woman,” says Hunt. “It was very important to me that she not be just ‘The Mom,’ because like so many mothers, Kate is complex and three-dimensional. She is very much in love with her husband and she’s convinced that they can take on the world. But Kate also has a lot going on in her heart and in her mind that her husband and children may not
be aware of. But it’s always there underneath.”
“It’s been a joy to play Kate and to delve into what makes her tick: love, patience and a huge sense of humor.”
Hunt’s comedic skills added depth to the character and raised the level of comedy on set. “If you’re an actor in a scene with Bonnie Hunt, you’ve got to be on your toes,” says Levy. “Steve Martin and the rest of the cast learned that with Bonnie, you don’t know what you’re going to get from take to take. But we were always certain that she was going to push the right buttons and
push the envelope, and you either flow with it or you’re done.”
When casting the Baker children, the filmmakers wanted a mix of acting neophytes and popular, established actors. For the role of Charlie, the oldest son who is unhappy about being uprooted from his hometown high school and girlfriend, the filmmakers landed Tom Welling, best known for his starring role as the young Clark Kent on the television series “Smallville.”
Welling appreciated being part of a large ensemble cast, as well as the opportunity to work with Steve Martin, one of his idols. “CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN is a fun story,” says Welling, “with a lot of great elements – and very different from what I do on TV. I liked the idea of being a part of a large cast, and I love kids. I knew I could learn a lot from Steve Martin.”
Another young pop culture icon, “Lizzie McGuire’s” Hilary Duff, takes on the role of Lorraine, a teenager more concerned with clothes, makeup and her hair than dealing with family chaos. Duff enjoyed working in a big comedy, as well as the characters’ depth and color. “The movie really shows the struggles that a family of 14 goes through – the good and the bad times,” says Duff.
“My character Lorraine is really into fashion, clothes, hair and makeup and likes to spend a lot of time in front of the mirror. But in a way, she brings balance to the family. Things get crazy and hectic, and Lorraine, as one of the older kids, helps keep it together.”
Piper Perabo, who garnered much attention with her role in “Coyote Ugly,” is Nora – Lorraine’s older sister and the first of the children to leave the nest. After moving to Chicago to pursue her own dreams of love and career, Nora’s routine is interrupted after the family moves closer to her. Her father begs for her help with the out-of-control family while mom Kate is away.
“Nora is struggling because she wants to be on her own and independent of her family,” says Perabo. “After Kate leaves for New York, the family discovers it really needs Nora and everyone wants her around. That’s a challenge for Nora. I liked the film’s notion that while having a big family makes life chaotic, a large clan can also be fun. No matter what’s going on, there is always someone
around to talk to, cheer you up, and make sure you’re doing okay.”
According to director Shawn Levy, Perabo, like Welling and Duff, embraced being part of a creative ensemble. “We were able to appeal to these young, hugely popular actors by acknowledging that they might want to join our project and be part of a team. We told them that everyone would be treated the same, with respect, but with no special status. To my great pleasure they all agreed.”
When casting the younger members of the Baker clan, the filmmakers opted for fresh faces, some of whom had never been before a camera. Steve Martin appreciated the unsullied perspective these newcomers brought to their performances. “It was interesting because the younger kids’ working dynamics really depended on their age,” says Martin. “If they’re very young, they can grow to dislike working
on a set and they learn that they can get away with murder because we need them. After age six or seven, they’re into it and really enjoy acting. These kids were so natural and nobody seemed to be acting. They really were a lot of fun.”
“The goal in our casting was to make everyone together look like a family,” says Simonds, “but with each kid having a distinct personality.”
“I loved working with these kids,” adds Bonnie Hunt. “When I saw my job through the perspective of these kids – their joy in acting and their curiosity – it reminded me how lucky I am to do this for a living. I get to play pretend and put on a show.”
About The Production
Production began at locations in and around the Los Angeles area, with Northern California’s Napa Valley serving as the exterior setting of the Bakers’ Midland, Illinois farmhouse. “One of the unusual choices made for this film was building a two-story house on a stage for the interior shots,” says production designer Nina Ruscio. “For most productions, the first and second story sets are
built side by side and shot separately, but we opted for two levels, so we could shoot from the first floor up to the second and vice-versa; this enabled us to capture the full fury and fun of the family in action.”
“We had a lot of fun coming up with ways to visually define each of the different Baker kids. Henry has an interest in jazz and we gave Sarah a love of cartooning and put little drawings all over her space. Jessica and Kim are bookish so we posted a little book report on their door with their list of recommended reading. Audiences might not notice these little touches, but it helped us distinguish the individual children
and give them their own little nooks and crannies in the house.”
Another design subtlety was the placement throughout the Baker house of several fertility symbols, such as stalks of wheat in the mouldings and a little woman carved into the area above a doorway. These touches make important contributions to the creation of the Baker family’s world at home.
The CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN set often was a frenzied environment that mirrored the dynamics of the Baker family. “If you’re going to make a movie about the craziness of a big family, you can’t have a set without some level of chaos,” says Levy.
The younger, less-experienced actors contributed to the set’s frenetic energy. “There’s a madness and level of anarchy that happens between kids who are having fun without the fear of failure, and that creates a great environment,” says Tom Welling. “When you have 12 kids who are playing brothers and sisters, there’s a lot of energy that reflects that of a real family.”
“At first I didn’t really know how it was going to work with so many of us on set,” says Hilary Duff. “Sometimes scenes took a little bit longer to shoot, because there were 12 of us and we all had to be focused and work together, but there was never a boring moment.”
Steve Martin developed critical psychological tactics when working with his very young co-stars. “With 12 kids on set, it’s impossible to control everything,” he says.
Controlled chaos was a key component of several large set pieces that incorporate physical comedy and complicated action. One involved a big family breakfast with a frog on the loose – and a melee of flying scrambled eggs. The scene was not one of Hilary Duff’s favorites. “I got splattered with the eggs the most,” says Duff. “It was horrible because I can’t stand eggs!”
Shawn Levy captured the honesty of Duff’s repulsion and enjoyed the authenticity of the scene’s chaos. “The frog wreaking havoc in the kitchen was one of the high points for me,” says Levy. “I give a lot of credit to Hilary for her reactions.”
Steve Martin didn’t escape the on-set craziness. One scene had him being shot into the air by an exploding inflatable device called a moonbounce; another has him swinging from a falling chandelier while trying to rescue a neighbor’s child after a roller-hockey game goes awry.
“Part of what Steve does is incredibly physical and he is really at his best when you set up a context for him to be zany,” says Levy. “A lot of work went into the script to come up with the right context for Steve to be Steve.”
The close relationships formed between the actors made the lines hazy between character and reality, and some cast members found themselves stepping into their characters even when cameras weren’t rolling. “Like a real mom, Bonnie took care of everyone on set, which was really cool,” says Duff. “When the kids were having trouble and couldn’t focus, she talked to them. She treated them like her
own kids, always made it fun for them, and always helped get the job done.”
“There were moments where I laughed within character,” says Hunt, “and I would have laughed just the same if it were my own child, because kids really do say the darnedest things.”
The cast formed a special family bond that is reflected on the screen. “As far as the family as a whole, I think compatibility was part of the casting process,” says Tom Welling. “This is a family that has a good time being around each other, and I hope that comes through to the audiences.”
CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN is directed by Shawn Levy, produced by Robert Simonds, Michael Barnathan and Ben Myron, and co-produced by Ira Shuman. The screenplay is by Sam Harper and Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow, and the screen story is by Craig Titley, based upon the novel by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
The director of photography is Jonathan Brown, the production designer is Nina Ruscio, the film editor is George Folsey, Jr., A.C.E., and the costume designer is Sanja Milkovic Hays. The music supervisor is Dave Jordan, and music is by Christophe Beck. |
