Producing afilm demands asignificant amount oftime. Similarly, engaging inatelevision series spanning numerous seasons and episodes can extend over adecade ormore. Meanwhile, life continues, leading actors toform marital bonds orbecome parents during this duration. Nonetheless, revealing pregnancy topeers and superiors onthe set remains aconsiderable source ofanxiety for female performers. This apprehension arises from the potential mismatch with the storyline, placing the artist injeopardy ofrelinquishing her role.
The Big Bang Theory
While filming the 11th season ofthe well-liked TVshow, the actress who portrayed Bernadette found out she was pregnant. This posed abig challenge for the people incharge ofthe show because, inthe previous season, Bernadette character and her husband already had achild. But the show’s creators thought itcould beanexciting story. Bernadette’s husband, Howard, was amazed tohear that she was expecting their second baby sosoon after their first one, who hadn’t even turned one year old yet.
“They’re shell-shocked atthe beginning,” explained the show’s creator. “They’re still coming toterms with having afirst child inthe house, sohaving asecond child has really knocked them for aloop. Some ofthe same things from the first time around, too, like Bernadette, who isvery driven atwork and took some time off tohave the first baby and has just gotten back, will now have totake time off again. You start tosee her feeling threatened and vulnerable inher career.”
Black Widow
In2014, Scarlett Johansson, who portrayed Black Widow inmany ofMarvel’s Avengers films, was expecting adaughter. The team ofAvengers: Age ofUltron faced the challenge ofhiding the actress’s pregnancy inthe movie. Ultimately, they managed todoitwithout cutting out any scenes.
This happened thanks tothree Natasha Romanoff stunt doubles, various close-up scenes, concealing costumes, shooting from special angles, and even additional visual effects.
Alias
Upon discovering Jennifer Garner’s pregnancy while she was inthe lead role, the scriptwriters faced the task ofentirely reworking season 5. This time, Sydney Bristow was preparing for motherhood, which meant they didn’t need toconceal her growing baby bump.
Nonetheless, asthe actress reached the later stages ofpregnancy, she could nolonger partake indemanding action sequences. Toaddress this, they introduced Rachael into the storyline—a fresh-faced special agent—where Sydney assumed asupervisory role. This clever adjustment allowed Rachael toengage inthrilling escapades while Sydney could savor her pregnancy within amore peaceful setting.
Once Upon aTime
During the making ofthe 3rd season ofthe show, Ginnifer Goodwin, who portrayed Snow White, shared her pregnancy news. However, the creators ofthe series swiftly devised asolution. This led toSnow White and Prince Charming expecting ababy within the storyline.
Interestingly, the actress’s real-life romantic connection with her future spouse and the father ofthe baby, who coincidentally portrayed Prince Charming, adds anextra layer offairy-tale charm tothe scenario.
Desperate Housewives
Actress Marcia Cross experienced asurprise when she became pregnant with twins at44. This posed achallenge since apregnancy storyline for her character, Bree, didn’t align with the series’ existing plots, all ofwhich were already planned. Asaresult, the show’s creators needed todevise clever ways tohide her growing baby bump. This led toBree wearing more sweaters and focusing onclose-up shots. Inone particular episode, they even employed agingerbread house asaprop todisguise her tummy.
Interestingly, Marcia Cross had todepict apregnant character inthe series after giving birth. Her character used apillow under her clothing topretend that the baby her daughter was expecting belonged toher.
Wonder Woman
Gal Gadot decided that she wanted toconceal the fact that she was pregnant while shooting Wonder Woman. This was done because she did not want tobetreated differently than other actors onset.
Itwas challenging todo, asshe was affected bymigraines and vomiting. But the film became ahuge sensation thanks toher efforts, talent, and support from the shooting team.
The Witches
During the production ofthis film, Anne Hathaway found herself expecting achild. Upon discovering that the wardrobe was being prepared for the character Grand High Witch, Hathaway expressed concerns about feeling uncomfortable ifthe outfits were too snug around the waist. This led toavoiding using costumes with narrow waistlines, despite causing some disappointment for the costume designer. Ultimately, the decision was made towear clothing that provided more room tomove.
The primary challenge for the wardrobe team revolved around apurple dress adorned with agolden snake. The actress’s pregnancy had become noticeable bythen, necessitating asubstantial dress redesign.
Bones
Emily Deschanel, known for her role inthe series Bones, along with her on-screen persona Temperance Brennan, experienced pregnancies during the initial part ofSeason7. Yet, the actress gave birth toher real-life baby abit earlier than her character’s timeline. Asaresult, Deschanel had towear aprosthetic belly for ascene after her own delivery. She shared that itwas pretty uncomfortable and warm tomove around with iton.
She tried onseveral artificial tummies designed for various celebrities tofind the most fitting belly. Emily even tested the belly bump originally crafted for Nicole Kidman among these. Nonetheless, she mentioned not recalling which belly bump she ultimately settledon.
Grey’s Anatomy
During her tenure onthe set, Caterina Scorsone, renowned for portraying Dr. Amelia Shepherd inGrey’s Anatomy and its derivative, Private Practice, experienced pregnancy onthree occasions. Interestingly, her initial and third instances ofbeing pregnant were seamlessly woven into the narrative. Paradoxically, the character Dr. Amelia Shepherd suffered atragic loss during her first on-screen pregnancy. Consequently, upon discovering the actress’s subsequent pregnancy, the show’s creators opted toprovide her character anopportunity for maternal bliss inalignment with the storyline.
Jack Reacher
Inthe thriller Jack Reacher, adecision was made tokeep the actress’s pregnancy hidden from the audience. This became more complex due tothe storyline’s brief duration of3days, contrasted with the filming process spanning 4months. This necessitated the collaboration ofcostume designers and cameramen toensure Rosamund Pike’s consistent appearance onscreen and attempt toobscure her growing baby bump. Toachieve this, the actress frequently wore dark-colored attire during filming.
Interestingly, Rosamund Pike herself believes that the presence ofafew extra pounds during filming made the character more believable and relatable. She said, “Iactually really like howI look because Iam carrying abit ofweight.”
The Office
While the actress portraying the lead character Pam, Jenna Fischer, was expecting her first child, her on-screen husband, and she already had achild inthe storyline. This made the actress worried about addressing her sensitive condition, and she requested the costume designers topurchase new outfits that could conceal her growing baby bump from curious gazes. Nevertheless, when keeping itunder wraps any longer became difficult, Jenna came clean about her pregnancy. Subsequently, adecision was made toorganically incorporate her pregnancy into the show byhaving the on-screen couple welcome asecond child.
The Vampire Diaries
Inthe seventh season, the vampire character Caroline, portrayed byCandice King, found herself expecting... thanks toabit ofmagical assistance. She embraced the role ofasurrogate mother carrying twins through amystical transformation. According tothe show’s producer, they crafted atale involving awoman who arrived atthe doorstep ofa*grieving widower and revealed, “Ibelieve I’m carrying your children.” However, itwas evident that this narrative turn was rather abrupt, which wasn’t part ofthe plan until Candice King called toshare her pregnancy news.
Despite her genuine pregnancy, the actress had towear aprosthetic belly ontop ofher own. This adjustment was necessary because her character was anticipating twins, while Candice was expecting only one baby and didn’t appear “pregnant enough” for the role. Beyond this, the unexpected plot twist paved the way for spin-off series like The Originals and Legacies.
Crazy and unexpected plot twists inmovies always bringus excitement and joy. Doyou enjoy reading about sudden bloopers during the shooting, too? Then make sure tocheck out our previous article!
Preview photo credit
Wonder Woman / Warner Bros. Pictures, Iron Man 2 / Paramount Pictures
