We often get more romantic sub-plots in films and TV series than it would ever be possible in real life. But that’s just what viewers want to see at the end of their workday. There is a wild card among all those relationship tropes – real pregnancy and, of course, the inevitable baby. As a rule, such plot twists are not initially planned by the directors. They have to be either cleverly avoided by sending the main character on a “vacation” or literally “written” into the script.
Here are nine actresses whose pregnancies were hidden on-screen.
1. Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation
Amy Poehler made her co-stars a bit nervous when she announced her second pregnancy right when they started filming a new season. The writers decided to hide her baby bump in plain sight and plow through as many scenes as they could while there was still time.
2. Jenna Fischer – The Office
Sometimes a main character’s pregnancy is a blessing in disguise. In the iconic series the Office, Jenna’s character Pam was expecting her second child. And what do you know? Jenna gets pregnant for real during the eighth season. At that point, the show wrote itself.
3. Lena Headey – Game of Thrones
Lena has two children, and both pregnancies occurred while she was playing Cersei on Game of Thrones. During the first season, in 2010, Lena was carrying her son, and her daughter graced this world in 2015, during season five. Have you noticed her baby bump on-screen at all?
4. Gillian Anderson – X-Files
Nobody seemed to have expected that The X-Files would drag on for 25 long years. You can’t expect people to put their lives on pause for that long, so of course, at some point, the viewers were bound to see Gillian Anderson with a belly. And so, in season two, she had to wear baggy outfits for a while, but the filming process did not stop.
5. Courteney Cox – Friends
While filming the last season of Friends, Courteney Cox was already five months pregnant, and the only things that covered her tummy were loose clothes and skillful camera action. On June 13, 2004, Courtney gave birth to a daughter Coco whose godmother is none other than Jennifer Aniston.
6. Lisa Kudrow – Friends
Unlike Courteney Cox, her co-star Lisa Kudrow has successfully blended her pregnancy into the show. Remember when Phoebs decided to become a surrogate mother for her brother? It turns out that was a real pregnancy!
7. Sarah Jessica Parker – Sex and the City
The fifth season of Sex and the City has already started when Sarah found out she was pregnant. This was her first pregnancy, but she did not even consider leaving the set. However, due to Carrie’s growing tummy, the season had to be reduced to 8 episodes. On October 28, 2002, Sarah Jessica Parker gave birth to her son, James Wilkie.
8. Alison Hannigan – How I Met Your Mother
Alison Hannigan, the star of How I Met Your Mother, has become a mother twice while working on the project. Her first pregnancy (2009) was a surprise for the team, and the crew did their best to hide this fact from the audience, dressing the actress in special dresses. However, at a certain point, fans were able to notice Alison’s belly. Her second pregnancy was already included in the plot, so there was no need to conceal anything.
9. Cobie Smulders – How I Met Your Mother
Cobie’s pregnancy also came in as a surprise to everyone, but the screenwriters had enough time to come up with some creative excuses why Robin was not around. In the fourth season, the actress appeared on the screen less often due to gaining all that extra weight.
