Have you ever wondered what happens when an actress who is in a television show becomes pregnant? You’ve probably seen characters in shows and not even realise the actress is pregnant! That’s because television shows have some interesting ways of covering up an actress’ baby bump. While some shows write the actress’ pregnancy into the story line, sometimes it is just not possible – hence these covering up tactics they employ!
1 ) Using everyday objects to hide the bump
This is probably the oldest trick in the book to hide pregnancy bumps on screen. This has been done on many shows, including “Seinfeld.” In a famous scene, Julia Louis Dreyfus’s Elaine carries a very large wrapped present to conceal her tummy.
2) Wearing oversized clothing
Being an on-screen doctor had its advantages for Ellen Pompeo. When she was pregnant during “Grey’s Anatomy,” she was able to hide it under her very forgiving hospital scrubs. She eventually grew out of them and her character was written off the show temporarily after she donated a part of her liver.
3) Strategic camera angles and CGI
With its action-packed plotlines, the writers were in a bit of a bind when “Homeland” star Claire Danes became pregnant. She is a spy on the show after all and a baby is just out of the question, so the second series of the show was shot with hiding Claire’s bump in mind. Special camera angles, a body double and CGI were employed in order to slim her down.
4) Writing in a plausible reason to explain the bump
Sometimes the writers will create a reasonable excuse for an actress who becomes pregnant on their show. This happened to January Jones on “Mad Men.” They wrote in a story line about how Betty Draper gained a lot of weight after doctors discovered a tumor on her thyroid. January had to wear a fat suit that covered her baby bump and it took her seven hours a day to apply all the prosthetics!
5) Rely on luck and good timing
Jenna Fischer, who played Pam on the US version of “The Office,” was very lucky – the writers were already planning for Pam and Jim to have a second child together, which was perfect timing because Jenna was pregnant in real life as well! Just goes to show that sometimes the stars do align in your favour!
6) Just ignore it
During the second season of “Parks and Recreation,” Amy Poehler became pregnant with her second child. Instead of doing any of the above, the show sped up their shooting schedule, pretty much just pretended Amy’s growing belly wasn’t there and got on with things.
