15+ Actresses That Were Pregnant in Movies and on TV, and We Had No Idea

Filming always goes together with normal life. And sometimes, actresses find out about their pregnancies, but the characters they’re playing can’t be. If there’s no way to rewrite the story, costume designers and other members of the crew try to hide the belly from viewers. We’ve collected several examples of actresses who worked on set while pregnant, and it was hard to notice in most of these movies and TV shows.

Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman)

Gal Gadot didn’t tell anyone about her pregnancy for a long time. She didn’t want this news to affect her colleagues’ attitudes toward her. The actress tolerated the quirks her body was experiencing and did a great job in the film. Gadot’s colleagues only found out when she was 5 months pregnant. The crew had to redo several scenes, using a green screen and CGI. Thankfully, the film was a huge box office hit.

Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow)

Emily Blunt was carefully hiding her pregnancy when she was working on Edge of Tomorrow and first talked about it while on a TV show. This is why she asked her stunt double to do complex things. And in some scenes, she had to wear an 85-pound exoskeleton.

Emily Deschanel (Bones)

In the seventh season of the show, many fans were surprised by a twist — the main character was pregnant. Of course, this happened for a reason. Emily Deschanel was expecting a baby. She was pregnant only during the first half of the season and had to wear a fake belly in the following episodes.

Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago)

Catherine Zeta-Jones was actually a few months pregnant in this movie. It’s pretty easy to hide, but not in a film where she needs to wear tight clothes. When she started to show, they would sometimes use a body double from the back and then shoot her from the waist up.

Zooey Deschanel (New Girl)

When Zooey Deschanel got pregnant while filming New Girl, the creators decided to make her a jury member. The case was complex, and such jurors are often isolated, so it was easy to hide her belly. When Deschanel needed to go on maternity leave, she was replaced by a different character.

Mandy Moore (This Is Us)

Mandy Moore got pregnant right before the start of season 5, but it didn’t change the story much. On the show, the actress played the same character but in different time periods. The creators decided to reveal more about the character’s youth when she was pregnant. This way, Moore didn’t have to hide her belly as much. But when she was playing the older versions of her character, she wore loose clothes.

Isla Fisher (Burke and Hare)

At the very start of the filming process of Burke and Hare, Isla Fisher was already 3 months pregnant, but she decided to hide this fact from everyone. She said, “I used to pretend I was wearing a corset and then not wear it.” The actress did such a great job hiding her pregnancy that none of her colleagues found out until it was absolutely obvious.

Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

Helena Bonham Carter found out she was pregnant when she was busy acting in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This is why she wore a lot of loose clothes and hid behind furniture.

Claire Danes (Homeland)

For Claire Danes, Homeland was a family affair. Not only did she star alongside her husband in it, but she also had 2 children while working on it. She was 7 months pregnant with her first child in season 2, and 5 years later, she was pregnant with her second child.

Angela Kinsey (The Office)

Some viewers have no idea why Angela in season 4, episode 13, sat at a table under bags and leaflets. However, this was because she needed to hide her belly, as she was heavily pregnant, and it couldn’t be used in the story.

She once talked about the filming process of that episode, explaining, "I’ll never forget when we were filming the scene where we finally get to try to eat. My daughter was kicking like crazy. I reached under the table and grabbed Ed Helms’ hand and put it on my belly. He turned to me and his eyes got so big because he could feel her kicking, like, “Oh, my gosh.’”

Kerry Washington (Scandal)

Kerry Washington played a politician in Scandal, and her character just couldn’t be pregnant. Like most women in such situations, she hid behind big bags and loose clothes. But she also had to wear very specific clothes, which was very hard to do.

Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl)

Kelly Rutherford was pregnant in season 2 of Gossip Girl. She wore coats, big scarves, and carried bags.

Alanna Masterson (The Walking Dead)

The actress was pregnant for most of season 6. It wasn’t easy to hide because she had to fight zombies and save her friends. Alanna Masterson said that in order to hide her pregnancy, she needed to wear loose clothes and hide behind certain objects, like wooden barriers, chairs, and so on.

Olivia Colman (The Night Manager)

When she was busy working on The Night Manager, Olivia Colman was 5 months pregnant. However, she found out about it only after she was already cast. The actress said she was really worried about telling this to the director, but it all went well, and Colman’s pregnancy was even used in the story.

Cate Blanchett (Charlotte Gray)

Cate Blanchett was pregnant while in Charlotte Gray, but neither her colleagues nor the director knew about it. In one of her interviews, she said the process was difficult for her, both physically and emotionally.

Anne Hathaway (Colossal)

The filming of Colossal started after the first trimester of Anne Hathaway’s pregnancy. When she found out she was pregnant, she called the director and told him. He was delighted, and 5 minutes later, he asked her if she could continue to work. Hathaway said that unless he changed his mind about the film, she would definitely work on it. As one of the actress’s partners said, “The power of sweaters helped Anne hide her pregnancy.”

Naomi Watts (Mother and Child)

Naomi Watts was portraying a pregnant woman in Mother and Child, and she was pregnant in real life too. She had the main role in the film, but she spent just 8 days on set.

Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer)

Meryl Streep was heavily pregnant in the final scene of the film, which is why Joanna was wearing a raincoat.

Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives)

The actress that portrayed Bree Van de Kamp found out about her pregnancy in the middle of season 3. Because all the storylines were already written, it was impossible to use Marcia Cross’s pregnancy in the story. The belly was hidden in all sorts of different ways, like, for example, behind newspapers and even a gingerbread house.

Costume designers did a really good job in all of these cases because these actresses’ pregnancies were almost impossible to notice if they were being hidden. Working when pregnant is not an easy job, and the results turned out to be great. What’s your attitude toward the fact that the actresses worked really hard, even while pregnant?