Always looking to shake things up, Hilary decided that she wanted to be part of an ensemble cast, and that's exactly what she was in Cheaper By The Dozen, easily her biggest box office hit to date. The film focuses on the Baker family, and the efforts of parents Tom(Steve Martin) and Mary(Bonnie Hunt) to balance family life with their respective careers.

Release Date: December 25, 2003
Co-Starring: Steve Martin(Tom Baker)
Bonnie Hunt(Kate Baker)
Piper Perabo(Nora Baker)
Tom Welling(Charlie Baker)
Written By: Sam Harper
Directed By: Shawn Levy
Hilary Plays: Lorraine Baker, one of the 12 children of Tom and Kate Baker, who must cope with the fact that her family has moved to a new state and, in turn, a new school.

What's your overall feeling about this film?
HD: Cheaper By The Dozen shows the good and the bad times, the struggles and how the family pulls together. So it's a really good family project. There were 12 kids on the set, so there was never a dull moment. One kid, named Jake, had this jackpot machine and he handed it to Steve Martin and told him to try and get all 6s. Steve pulls it down and it's one of those things that shock you, so he threw it up in the air, it fell and he screamed really loud. That's the kind of set it was.

Was it a tough shoot?
HD: We'd get to set around 7 a.m., so I'd get up at 5:30 a.m., get breakfast and eat it while I was getting my hair and make-up done. It takes 30 minutes for hair and 30 minutes for makeup. Then I'd get my clothes on, go back to the set, rehearse, come back, do 20 minutes of school, shoot a couple of scenes and do more school. Then I go to lunch for 30 minutes, do a phone interview or something, and then back to the set and school until the day is over at about 5:30 p.m. I have three hours of school a day and it has to be done in 20-minute increments.

What was it like working with Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt?
HD: Steve Martin was serious when we first met, but he eventually got silly. I asked him to walk like Ozzy Osbourne and he said, "Okay," but he didn't know how, so I taught him. Bonnie Hunt acts like a Valley girl and says, "Oh my gawd" And with them, it was never like, "Hey, it might be funnier if you try it this way." They were always very complimentary of everything we did with both of them. And there was a lot of improv, because they're so quick on their feet and it's hard to keep up.

Did you have a good time with Tom Welling?
HD: Tom Welling is great. He is so down-to-eart and he's so nice. It's funny, because we'd sit in the hair and makeup trailer together and he'd be shaving. I'd be like, "Tom, doesn't that hurt your face?" He said, "No, want to try it?" So every single day, he's like, "Hey, Hil, here's the razor." I'm like, "No, Tom, it's not funny anymore." You know what? He's so good with kids. On the movie he'd pick them up and swing them around. Everyone always sees the dramatic side of him. He's amazing. We also had a scene where we pull up to the school in a beat-up Impala while all the other kids are driving BMWs and Mercedes. He would push down on the brake and the gas at the same time. It made the car wobble, and when you take your foot off the brake, it shoots off.