Science can name several reasons why pregnancy can strongly affect working women. However, these challenges were a piece of cake for the supermoms in Hollywood. Most of the iconic roles played by our favorite actresses were filmed while they were carrying their own bundle of joy, and we may not have even noticed.
1. Emily Blunt in Into the Woods
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Playing the baker’s wife who longs for a child might have been the perfect role for Emily Blunt in Into the Woods, given that she was carrying her daughter, Hazel, in her belly while filming the musical. Blunt shared that the costume department had to make adjustments every 4 days or so to accommodate her growing tummy.
They also had to be resourceful with their positions and camera angles. “I was hiding behind every tree in that wood,” she shared.
2. Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City
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There was a reason why the fifth season of Sex and the City only had 8 episodes, and it’s mainly because of the lead actress, Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays fashionista writer Carrie Bradshaw. She became pregnant with her son, James Wilkie, while shooting the series.
However, the costume department came to the rescue and dressed her in baggy, loose clothes and covered her belly with Birkin bags. In fact, there were 2 moms-to-be on set, as her co-star, Cynthia Nixon, was also pregnant with her son, Charles Ezekiel.
3. Penélope Cruz in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
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Penélope Cruz could have easily given up on the swashbuckling adventure in the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. Still, she persisted and went on to play Angelica, a female pirate, despite being pregnant with her son, Leo.
Luckily, her family had her back, as her sister Monica became her body double to hide her baby bump in wide shots and sword fights. “Monica came at the end to do some scenes. She’s a dancer and very good with a sword because she’s done a film herself,” she said.
4. Kate Winslet in Divergent
There almost wasn’t a scene in Divergent where Kate Winslet’s character, Jeanine, can be seen without a folder or tablet held in front of her. This was because she was already 5 months pregnant with her son, Bear Blaze, while shooting her close-up scenes.
The production team got a little creative and went with giving her an iPad to cover her bump. Despite being in her second trimester, Winslet still insisted and did some of her stunts, and director Neil Burger was blown away by her professionalism.
5. Reese Witherspoon in Vanity Fair
Regency-period London fashion was truly meant for Reese Witherspoon while she filmed the period drama Vanity Fair. She was 5 months into her pregnancy with her son, Deacon, and the production team strategically hid her growing belly by donning her in voluminous layers of dresses and hiding her behind cleverly positioned furniture, which was all uncannily appropriate for the time.
6. Gillian Anderson in The X-Files
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When Gillian Anderson found out she was pregnant with her daughter, Piper Maru, she was in the middle of shooting the second season of The X-Files. However, the show’s writers just went with it and wrote a whole new storyline to give her more screen time with a covered bump. In its final episodes, her character, Dana Scully, can be seen with sheets over her as she was being “abducted” by aliens.
7. Lisa Kudrow in Friends
As you’d expect from a decade-long hit TV show, many things happened behind the scenes of Friends. One significant moment was Lisa Kudrow becoming pregnant with her son, Julian. Instead of concealing her bump for the rest of seasons 4 and 5, a storyline was created to accommodate her pregnancy.
On-screen, she acted as a surrogate of triplets for her character’s brother and his wife. Behind the scenes, her co-stars fully supported her journey. “When I was pregnant, they would say, ’Have a great show, love you, love you — love you, little Julian!’ Cause we knew it was a boy and that was his name. So sweet, they included my little fetus in the huddle[s],” Kudrow said.
8. Mindy Kaling in The Mindy Project
It was a miss that the leading lady of The Mindy Project and her alter-ego, Mindy Lahiri, didn’t get pregnant at the same time. Kaling’s on-screen character went through her pregnancy journey in the third season of the show, while in real life, she carried her daughter, Katherine, in her belly during the final season.
To remedy the situation, the wardrobe team invested in a lot of bags and purses and placed various objects intentionally in front of Kaling’s tummy.
9. Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman
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While playing the Amazonian warrior in Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot found out she was pregnant with her second daughter, Maya. But instead of backing down, she channeled her inner superhero and convinced the production team to conjure several ways to conceal her 5-month bump, including placing some green fabric on her belly.
10. Blake Lively in The Shallows
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Blake Lively’s bikini body had us assuming she wasn’t pregnant while filming The Shallows, but the joke was clearly on us. While filming the action-heavy shark chases, she was already on her way to welcoming her second daughter, Ines. The production team got creative by using movie props and camera angles to hide her baby bump.
11. Scarlett Johansson in Avengers: Age of Ultron
Scarlett Johansson surely rocked the black bodysuit Black Widow wore in Avengers: Age of Ultron, but she was already expecting her daughter, Rose. That didn’t stop her from doing action sequences, and the crew went as far as to procure multiple costumes, hire stunt doubles, use close-ups, and experiment with visual effects.
12. Isla Fisher in Burke and Hare
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Isla’s nineteenth-century costumes really worked in her favor while filming the black comedy, Burke and Hare. She was pregnant with her daughter, Elula, at the time, but the crew and even her co-stars didn’t notice it. Instead, she used the film’s setting to her advantage and donned puffy dresses and oversized coats to hide her bump without squeezing into a corset.
13. Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd
It was during the final scenes of Sweeney Todd that Helena Bonham Carter discovered she was pregnant with her and director Tim Burton’s daughter, Nell. As a result, Burton decided to play along with the pregnancy by letting the actress wear darker dresses and adjusting the lights in some sequences to disguise Mrs. Lovett’s seemingly growing tummy.
14. Melissa Fumero in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Melissa’s baby Enzo couldn’t seem to wait to come into the world while the actress was in the middle of shooting the third season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. But instead of writing her pregnancy into the story, the show’s creators thought it was too soon for Detective Amy to have a child and came up with creative ways as the actress had started to show.
Detective Amy’s plotline involved a lot of baggy clothes in the process. The writers even went with an undercover pregnant lady storyline to give Melissa the comfort she needed without hiding her belly.
15. Julie Bowen in Modern Family
Julie Bowen was just a half-month shy of giving birth to twins Gus and John when she started taping the pilot episode of Modern Family. Her character, Claire, wore many sweaters, and the production team decided to use random things like laundry baskets, pillows, and even cereal boxes to cover her bump.
What do you think was the cleverest way to hide a baby bump? How often do you encounter strong women like the actresses mentioned above? Do you know someone similar in your life?
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