Lisa Kudrow, Candice King and Cynthia Nixon were pregnant not only on camera, but also behind the scenes. And the movie makers managed to hide it from everyone!
The work of an actress is very tiring: it requires a lot of emotions, time, and often not bad physical preparation. But as we know, for girls in this world is not impossible. For example, to star in a series, or even a blockbuster right during pregnancy. And movie makers make concessions to actresses and even change the script, unable to resist their charisma.
What to do if an actress gets pregnant during filming?
Perhaps you are wondering: how actresses have time to become moms and what happens when, for example, you have been playing in the series for years, and suddenly comes a long-awaited pregnancy? Will you be replaced? Will they stop filming? Will they give you maternity leave?
Replace the actress, so that she calmly bring up the baby, and with filming unnecessary problems were not – the decision is obvious. But if you are a great professional, who is adored by the audience, and incredibly fit for his role, this is definitely not the way out. Therefore, if the actress herself does not mind to continue working in late pregnancy, use several options.
Hide pregnancy with the help of clothes, props and choice of angles
Oversize clothes, shooting scenes close-up or at the table, using large bags – a traditional solution. For example, when Sarah Jessica Parker was pregnant in an episode of Sex and the City, she wore baggy sundresses.
Bring in an understudy
In some scenes to get out of such methods will not work, and you still have to call for help actress-doublera.
Change the shooting schedule
Scenes are rarely filmed in the sequence in which they go in the movie. Therefore, you can plan the shooting schedule so that to shoot scenes with a pregnant actress in the period when the belly is still little noticeable or the actress has already given birth.
Correct the figure with the help of computer graphics
This option has appeared relatively recently and is suitable for correcting individual scenes. Nevertheless, it is also useful.
Change the plot
This move is now very popular, especially in TV series. The heroine gets pregnant and gives birth together with the actress. Everyone is comfortable and good, and the actress on the set can even better get into the role of the future mom.
Now let’s remember the movie projects where actresses were really pregnant.
Movies and TV series where the pregnancy of actresses was real
Lisa Kudrow
Remember when Phoebe from Friends unexpectedly agreed to become a surrogate for triplets? Actually, Lisa Kudrow, who plays Phoebe, was actually pregnant while filming seasons 4-5. The only difference: she gave birth to one son. Therefore, her belly was “not big enough for the movie and in the frame it was specially increased.
The situation was more difficult for Courtney Cox: because her character Monica could not get pregnant according to the script. Had to hide the belly with the help of loose clothes and special angles.
Kerry Washington
Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington in the plot of “Scandal” was not pregnant. The team used elaborate angles and props. Also, Kerry still wore high heels, although she admitted that it was not at all easy for her. Interestingly, according to her, pregnancy even simplified her work: under the influence of hormones was easier to portray emotions and get into the role.
Emily Deschanel
Actress Emily Deschanel, who plays the main role in the series “Bones”, also went through pregnancy on the screen. While filming the seventh season, Emily was pregnant with her first child with actor David Hornsby. And although at first according to the script her heroine with her future husband did not even meet, the creators had to accelerate the development of their relationship. And later Emily carried and the second child together with her character in the series.
Candice King
What if your heroine is an immortal vampire, who by definition can not have children, and the actress is already on the way to motherhood? Turn the fantasy to the max! Candice King, who played the role of Caroline in “The Vampire Diaries”, found herself in such a situation. In the end, her heroine got pregnant in an unusual way: thanks to a witch’s spell, she became a surrogate mother and carried twins. So much for vampire magic!
Gillian Anderson
Think getting a great job while pregnant is unrealistic? The Secret is only part of the show’s title, but so is the pregnancy of Gillian Anderson, who played the role of Agent Scully on The X-Files. The actress became pregnant before filming began, but director Chris Carter really wanted to see her in the movie.
To hide the growing belly, the plot first added Scully’s abduction by aliens, and then the pregnancy after their experiments. The actress even received maternity leave. True, only for 10 days.
Alison Hannigan
Alison Hannigan, who played Lily Aldrin in the series “How I Met Your Mother”, during filming managed to give birth to two children! The first pregnancy, the team decided to hide from the audience, masterfully bypassing angles and props. Huge belly is shown only in the scene of eating hot dogs, where he allegedly grew for another reason.
But when the actress got pregnant for the second time, her pregnancy was included in the plot, and Lily gave birth almost simultaneously with Alison (only the heroine had a son, and the actress – a daughter).
Cynthia Nixon
About Sarah Jessica Parker from “Sex and the City” we have already written above. But with her colleague Cynthia Nixon, the creators of the series did something different. How does a woman finally get married? You need a reason. Here is her heroine Miranda and got pregnant from an old acquaintance, with whom then came together, then parted, but the final step could not dare to decide.
Jennifer Garner
When Jennifer Garner became pregnant with a daughter from Ben Affleck, the writers of “Spy” decided to insert the pregnancy into the plot. So Sydney Bristow, Garner’s character, had to become a spy mom.
In the story, her character first copes with motherhood alone, because the father of the child faked his death. But eventually he is “resurrected” and returns to his family. Life turned out to be less fabulous: Jennifer and Ben later divorced. And the series according to the reviews of critics and viewers, the pregnancy did not benefit.
Naomi Watts
“Mother and Child” tells the story of three women who had very different attitudes towards motherhood. Naomi Watts played in it an ambitious lawyer Elizabeth, who had an affair with her boss, and later left her job without telling him the true reason for his decision.
In one scene, her character visits the doctor, and the camera captures the actual pushing of the baby in Naomi’s belly, which makes the moment particularly natural. Fortunately, unlike the main character who dies, Naomi’s labor went safely.
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones played the role of the wife of a drug lord in “Traffik”, who, while her husband is in prison, had to manage his business. Initially, her character was not supposed to be pregnant, but after learning about the real pregnancy, Catherine convinced director Steven Soderbergh to include this nuance in the plot. This added depth to the character, because now her main motivation to engage in illegal business became the protection of the family. And the feelings of the mother everyone will understand.
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