By Brooks Welch

Actress Gabrielle Union is the mom of blended family with 12 children in new reimagined, updated version of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen,’ originally a 1950s film starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy.

The Nebraska-born actress grew up watching the original ‘Cheaper By the Dozen’, and classic musicals ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and ‘Meet Me in St. Louis.’ She recently told CinemaBlend about her observations concerning those films.

“The thing about all of those movies is they were all devoid of color,” Union stated. “No people of color, no different, you know, cultures, languages, there is zero diversity at all.”

The casting for this remake does not go unnoticed, as Union, a Black American actress is casted as the wife of Zach Braff, a white male actor.

“I wanted to make sure that we understood that she is a beautiful, amazing, accomplished black woman that wasn’t running away from blackness, she ran towards love, which is a big distinction in my eyes,” Union told Screen Rant. “I wanted her to be her full black self, which is why there are probably 87 hair changes, but I wanted to really showcase the textures, and how we as black women love our hair, and that it’s a daily part of our life and our identity.”

From director Gail Lerner and co-written by Kenya Barris & Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry, the family comedy ‘Cheaper by the Dozen‘ follows the Bakers, a blended family made up of one mom, one dad, nine kids, two dogs (cleverly named Bark Obama and Joe Biten), one cousin, and two exes, who are just trying to get it all done and hold it all together, albeit in a louder and more hectic way. (via Collider)

‘Cheaper by the Dozen‘ is available to stream at Disney+.

Watch full ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ interview below: