When actresses get pregnant, their baby bumps are often integrated into the script. Authors usually try their best to incorporate a pregnancy somehow harmoniously into the story, but that doesn’t always work out: in such cases, the set crew has to come up with something.
Laundry baskets are used to hide the baby bumps, and boxes of cornflakes or cinnamon plants are used to keep the pregnancy a secret. And more often than not, the hiding game works really well. Otherwise, would you have ever noticed in “Sex and the City” that Sarah Jessica Parker was pregnant during filming? We tracked down a few covered-up pregnancies in series.
Marcia Cross in Desperate Housewives
The dedicated actress Marcia Cross worked throughout the series “Desperate Housewives” during her surprising twin pregnancy, even when her doctor ordered bed rest. Reportedly, the crew built a makeshift set in her home so she could continue filming.
Kate Winslet in “The Destiny: Divergent”
Kate Winslet was just pregnant with her son Bear Blaze when she shot Divergent. Still, she did not miss the opportunity to do her own stunts. This made director Neil Burger quite nervous.
Gal Gardot in Wonder Woman
“Wonder Woman” had already been in the can for quite some time when director Patty Jenkins decided to reshoot a scene. However, by the time of the reshoot, Gal Gardot was meanwhile five months pregnant. End of story: Green fabric was simply sewn into the superheroine outfit and could be technically adjusted in post-production.
Reese Witherspoon in Vanity Fair
While filming “Vanity Fair,” reverse actress Reese Witherspoon was only allowed to wear flowing empire-waist dresses in dark colors to hide her growing belly. However, having the advantage of lush, low-lit sets also gave her plenty of opportunities to hide her midriff when the camera was on her.
Ellen Pompeo on Grey’s Anatomy
Ellen Pompeo became pregnant during the sixth season of “Grey’s Anatomy.” This prompted the showrunners to find a way to hide her growing belly in the series. They placed Meredith on bed rest after she donated part of her liver to her father.
Mandy Moore in This is Us
In “This Is Us”, Mandy Moore plays both the younger and the older version of her character Rebecca Pearson. Her 2020 pregnancy had to be taken into account in the series since her older character definitely could not carry a child. Show creator Dan Fogelman said that viewers could expect to see less of the old Rebecca and focus more on the timeline where Rebecca was pregnant with triplets until Mandy gave birth.
Claire Danes in Homeland
Claire Danes also starred in the series “Homeland” during her pregnancy. They had the producers technically cut out her pregnant belly when it became apparent.
Alyson Hannigan & Colbie Smulders in How I Met Your Mother
When equal both female stars of the series informed the producers of “How I Met Your Mother” they were pregnant during the fourth season, the makers decided to hide both pregnancies. However, while the show hinted at Alyson Hannigan’s belly with a wink (at one point, she wins an eating contest and shows off her “full belly”), Colbie Smulders’ remained hidden behind large grocery bags.
Halle Berry in X-Men: Days of Future Past
While filming X-Men: The Future is the Past, Halle Berry was three months pregnant. By her own admission, she almost burst out of her costume at one point.
Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd
In order to minimize the effect of Helena Bonham Carter’s growing belly, her partner and producer of the film at the time, Tim Burton, expedited the production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to shoot her scenes before it was evident that she was pregnant. The atmospheric lighting did the rest.
Blake Lively in “The Shallows”
Blake Lively’s shark attack movie “The Shallows” stars her almost exclusively in a wetsuit, performing all sorts of dangerous stunts – even though she was pregnant!
Parminder Nagra in Emergency Room
Medicine shows are really the best backdrops to hide a celebrity pregnancy. There are X-ray films, carts, bulky gowns, nurses’ stations, bedridden patients, and a range of objects to hide under or behind. “Emergency Room” made full use of these options to hide Parminder Nagra’s growing baby bump.
Chyler Leigh in Grey’s Anatomy
A few strategically placed emergency carts, charts, cabinets and loose gowns made life a lot easier for a pregnant Chyler Leigh in “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Jessica Capshaw in Grey’s Anatomy
In season seven of “Grey’s Anatomy,” Jessica Capshaw’s character Arizona was against having children. So, once the actress got pregnant, the baby couldn’t just be added to the series. Instead, writers sent Arizona on a trip to Africa and, before leaving, wore a lot of loose sweaters to cover up her growing belly.
Lisa Kudrow in Friends
Unlike her co-star, Lisa Kudrow was able to have her pregnancy included in Friends when she became pregnant in the fourth season. The screenwriters made Phoebe her brother’s surrogate mother. However, Phoebe spent the rest of the fourth season preparing for the birth of the triplets, whereas Lisa prepared for the actual delivery of her daughter.
Penelope Cruz in Pirates of the Caribbean: Foreign Tides
Penelope Cruz’s sister helped vigorously when the actress got pregnant during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides. Mónica Cruz is a Spanish actress who looks so much like her sister Penelope Cruz that the director simply cast Monica as Penelope’s stunt double for the trickier scenes that the pregnant Penelope couldn’t do. Genius!
Courteney Cox in Friends
In the final season of Friends, courtesy of Courteney Cox, she became pregnant. But since her character Monica couldn’t have children, the baby bump of the actress had to be strategically hidden under baggy clothes. Courteney later gave birth to her daughter Coco.
Zoe Deschanel in New Girl
Do you remember when Jess had to go to court in the fifth “New Girl” season? It was a clever plotline to cover up actress Zooey Deschanel’s pregnancy. Megan Fox also filled in for a time as a guest star to distract from Zooey’s absence on maternity leave. Zooey eventually returned for the remainder of the series.
Kelly Rutherford in Gossip Girl
Back in 2008, Kelly Rutherford got pregnant with her second child, complicating things for “Gossip Girl”. Their character Lily van der Woodsen, was not pregnant, so costume designers had to give the actress bulky coats and big bags to try to hide her belly. Her belly, however, was pretty noticeable to the viewers throughout the second season.
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Angelina Jolie learned she was pregnant while filming the emotionally grueling drama Changeling and kept it a secret. Angelina’s role as a grieving mother who loses her son reportedly made her want to become a mother once again, even though she already has four children. She got her wish twice. She gave birth to twins Vivienne and Knox months after the filming ended.
Kerry Washington in “Scandal”
In season six of Scandal, Kerry Washington’s belly was hidden behind flowers, Prada bags, oversized coats, and capes by the props and costume department.
Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City
Of course, while Sarah Jessica Parker was pregnant during the fifth season of “Sex and the City,” Carrie wasn’t allowed to show it. While the costume designers did everything they could to conceal her growing baby bump, HBO simply cut the season in half to give Sarah (and the costume department) a break.
