Zach Braff Says He Was the 'Fun Uncle' to His Young 'Cheaper By the Dozen' Co-Stars (Exclusive)

etonline.com:

Zach Braff plays a father of 12 kids. In real life, the actor says he was more like a «fun uncle» than dad to his young co-stars.Braff walked the red carpet at the premiere of his Disney+ movie, and spoke with ET's Lauren Zima about befriending and mentoring the large cast of child actors.«They're so excited, they're so talented,» Braff marveled at getting to share the experience of the premiere.

Braff said he had a particular connection to the young Leo Perry. «I took him to Disneyland, because he'd never been to Disneyland, and he's my favorite,» Braff joked. «Don't tell anyone, but he's my favorite.»«I want to be at least a mentor [to Leo], because we especially bonded,» he added.However, when it came to the actual filming, Braff said his co-star and on-screen wife Gabrielle Union was the one who actually kept everything in order with the cast.«Gab had to be bad cop, because she has real kids,» Braff said with a laugh. «I don't know anything about that, so I'm just Fun Uncle Zach!»For his role, Braff not only had to learn how to play an authoritative father figure — he also needed to learn a few dance moves.«I trained for about two weeks.

I had a hip hop coach,» Braff admitted. «Only in Hollywood can you get a hip hop coach.»The coaching was for a dance-off scene, where Braff's character actually pulls off a move involving the splits — a move that Braff said he didn't actually do, despite the training.«The split move in the dance off, a double did.

I would have hurt my back, I'm too old,» he admitted with a laugh. «But I did do everything else!» begins streaming on March 18 on Disney+.