Disney Plus star Andre Robinson talks Cheaper By The Dozen, having those real conversations, and his voiceover work.
Cheaper by the Dozen is a reimagined adaptation of the 2003 movie starring Gabrielle Union as Zoey and Zac Braff as Paul. This reimagined tale as a blended family might surprise you that it holds up against the 2003 version while still being its own entity and making its own mark.
Robinson was able to talk with Chae’ Jones during a Zoom interview about Cheaper by the Dozen that streams on Disney Plus, his character DJ, his voiceover work, and more!
The character of DJ is Zoey and Dom’s son from their marriage. He’s into comic books, superhero movies, surviving a zombie apocalypse, and just starting to notice girls. “My audition process was actually pretty cool. I went in the booth.I did the audition about two weeks later I got the call back and then I think about three weeks later I did the director session. Which I did with Gail Lerner the director. She was super nice. I did a little improv which was perfect because that’s when I started my improv class so it really helped and I think a month later I booked it.”
There are many things we’ve done to impress a person we have a crush on or find ways for them to notice us. On the advice of Paul, Robinson’s character DJ decides that his ice breaker is going to be embracing his goth side which is something that Talia is into and he feels it’s the perfect icebreaker. When asked what it felt like to embrace his goth side, Robinson said, “It was actually a lot of fun. I never thought I could pull it off but everyone was like even Gab was like you need to do this one on a regular basis. I was like I might think about it, but obviously, that’s not me but still it was fun. I had a wonderful time doing it. We shot that five times. Slow motion. Kinda got a little cringey a little bit at times. Especially because they were like stay focused on Lola. I was like..gotta be staring at you the whole time and it’s kind of weird but we made it through.”
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One of the great things about this film is that it doesn’t shy away from having those tough and real discussions about racial profiling, microagressions, how people of color are treated and the difference in privilege in interracial marriages. When asked how he felt about the themes being raised in the film as a whole Robinson replied, “I mean seeing it as a whole, I was legit in the background when they did that scene. So I heard a lot of it. I was inside the house which is really cool but it’s very impactful. And it’s like this type of movie is also a family fun movie but it also shows truth and real life as well. Everything in that movie is basically what’s going on today.”
You might’ve heard Andre Robinson in some of your favorite animation shows and not even realized it was his voice. Such as Donny McStuffins on Doc McStuffins or Clyde from The Loud House or even Hansel in A Tale of Dark & Grimm. When asked how he felt being surrounded by voiceover veterans and what he learned from them, “When I first did Niko and the Sword of Light I was legit next to every single voiceover veteran and they taught me a lot but it’s like I also picked up my own pace. I wasn’t carried by that character. I met Kevin Michael Richarson, I met Kari Whalgren, I met Tom Kenny, Jim Cummings who was the bug on Princess and the Frog and a bunch of other characters. I was with almost everyone. Almost everyone! I think John DiMaggio as well who was also another voiceover guru. And It was cool because a lot of them tied on together with The Loud House which was cool.” Robinson said.
To learn how it felt to voice Hansel, how Robinson started doing voiceover loop groups, his dream acting voiceover and live action role, and just how similar he is to his character DJ don’t forget to watch the full interview!
Cheaper By The Dozen is out streaming on Disney Plus.
