Whatever Happened To The Cast Of Cheaper By The Dozen?

When Cheaper by the Dozen was released in 2003, it was an instant hit for young viewers. (There was even a sequel made in 2005!) While the original flick wasn't necessarily a huge success amongst the critics — scoring just 24 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — it was a commercial success. Audiences were charmed by the chaotic, dysfunctional, but loving Baker family, and it doesn't take much digging to understand why: the family movie boasted an all-star cast that was made up of some of the biggest young stars of the time. With Hollywood heavyweights Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt at the helm as the parents of twelve kids, it's easy to see why the movie was a riot. Meanwhile, the kids were played by some familiar faces, too, such as Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, and Alyson Stoner. Of course, some of the younger child actors were less recognizable.

The movie was released over 15 years ago — so, needless to say, all of the Baker kids are now all grown up and have gone on to have a wide variety of careers. Curious to learn more? Here's what happened to the cast of Cheaper by the Dozen.

As the mother of the Baker tribe in Cheaper by the Dozen, Bonnie Hunt is as competent, stoic, and admirable as she is off-camera. Prior to her appearances in the franchise's two movies, you probably saw Hunt in the Beethoven films, Jumanji, and Jerry Maguire. Since playing Kate Baker, she's continued to work steadily in Hollywood — particularly in voice acting for Pixar: Sally in Cars, Dolly in Toy Story, Mrs. Graves in Monsters University, and Bonnie in Zootropolis.

Hunt has also kept busy with various jobs behind the camera. In addition to creating and hosting her own talk show, The Bonnie Hunt Show, she was the first person to have written, produced, directed, and starred in her own primetime sitcom, Life with Bonnie. "I went to Hollywood and I've failed many times," Hunt told the Christopher Closeup podcast in 2019. "... You get up and brush yourself off, but you do your best work." Noting the "incredible friendships" she's made along the way, Hunt added, "It's not only about the success."

In Cheaper by the Dozen, Tom Welling plays Charlie, the eldest Baker son who's often forced to help out with the younger kids — much to his annoyance. But Welling was already well-known for starring in the popular Superman series, Smallville, which premiered in 2001. After it came to an end ten years later, the actor took on another TV role as Marcus on Lucifer. On portraying a character with a villainous side after so many years playing the hero, Welling told Entertainment Weekly, "I'd be lying if I was saying that I'm not enjoying playing something very different."

Nevertheless, Welling couldn't resist reprising his role of hero Clark Kent one more time on Batwoman in 2019. As of 2020, Welling is set to appear in yet another series called The Professionals, in which he'll play "a hardened former counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo," per Deadline.

While it's clear that Welling's career is still going well, his family life has been equally successful: In January 2019, he and wife Jessica Rose Lee welcomed son Thomson Wylde into the world.

Kevin G. Schmidt plays Henry Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen. You may remember him as the kid who (disgustingly) slips in vomit. Going on to play a series of small roles on shows like Bones and Numb3rs, he landed larger gigs on Unnatural History and Poor Paul. From 2008 to 2012, Schmidt hit the soap opera circuit, playing Noah Newman on The Young and the Restless. 

Schmidt hasn't had many memorable onscreen parts since, but he's certainly kept busy, dabbling in writing, producing, directing, and acting as the CEO of sustainable food company Creative Organic Ventures. "I'm an artist to the core but I've had a lot of great mentors in my life who encouraged me to really look at the big picture," Schmidt, who also founded natural skincare line the Hapbee Company, told Soap Opera Digest. "I want to do more for this planet than just acting."

Coming full circle, Schmidt also wrote a third Cheaper by the Dozen movie back in 2010! "If @disneyplus doesn't make it post #coronavirus," he shared on Instagram in 2020, "I'll release it as fanfiction."

Jacob Smith plays the Jake Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen, but this child star already had an impressive resume prior to taking on the part — in fact, he'd been acting for six years and had a long-running role on Party of Five. Despite his early success as an actor, Smith quit the craft in 2006, when things took a tragic turn.

During a 2019 interview with Charis Bible College's Charis Talk Series, Smith opened up about how he almost succumbed to drug addiction. "It started when I was 16, I had a birthday party at a friend's house, and some guy brought over cocaine, and then I just lost my whole life to just that." His drug use "spiraled" out of control into abusing other substances, and by the time he was 20, it had become his whole life. Luckily, attending this college helped Smith kick his dangerous habits, get back on track, and rediscover his passion for acting. "I really want to get back into it," he revealed. 

We commend Smith for speaking openly about his battle with addiction and journey toward sobriety.

You may remember Morgan York as the actress who plays Kim Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen — also known as the one with a band aid on her forehead! After a short stint as a child actor ended with York playing the nerdy Sarah on Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2010, she turned her focus toward pursuing her other interests.

According to her website, York moved to New York City in 2016 in hopes of getting into publishing, and eventually got a marketing assistant job at Glasstown Entertainment. Soon enough, York started doing some of her own writing. As she put it, she "works in publishing by day and is a novelist by night." With her main focus in the young adult fantasy genre, could York be the author of the next Harry Potter? Only time will tell. Until then, York also pens her own blog, where she discusses politics, activism, writing, and her old life as an actor. We have to say, we never expected Kim Baker to one day become a novelist in New York City!

One of the youngest and adorable Baker children, Mike, is played by Blake Woodruff in both Cheaper by the Dozen films. After taking on this role, he went on to play a young Noah Newman in The Young and the Restless — incidentally, the teenage version of the character is played by his Cheaper by the Dozen brother, Kevin G. Schmidt.

For many years, it looked like Woodruff had stopped acting altogether. However, after a 10-year hiatus, he made his Hollywood comeback, playing Zach in the 2017 slasher film, Victor Crowley, the fourth follow-up flick to the famous Hatchet film series. Based on a review of the film in Flickering Myth, the movie was filled with "obscene levels of gore" with plenty of lost limbs. Apparently, Woodruff's character dies when he is sucked out of an airplane window and burns to death. Yikes! Talk about a change of pace from the family-friendly Cheaper by the Dozen.