Top 10 Best Ways Movies Hid Pregnancies
#10: Helena Bonham Carter “Sweeney Todd” (2007)
Shortly after landing her dream role of Mrs. Lovett, the actress discovered that she was pregnant with her second child. To accommodate her, the director, who also just happened to also be the father of the baby, decided to shoot the movie out of sequence and fast-track her scenes before she started to show. However, the actress has confessed to a couple of other pregnancy-related inconsistencies that only the most eagle-eyed might notice. As her pregnancy progressed, they relied on strategically fitted costumes and dark, moody lighting to cover it up. Which worked perfectly with the ambiance of the movie anyway.
#9: Anne Hathaway “The Witches” (2020)
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On-screen she played the child-hating High Witch, but behind the scenes, Hathaway had recently discovered that she was expecting baby number two. Since it was still early days, she kept her pregnancy a secret which made for an interesting chat with the movie’s costume designer. Joanna Johnston envisioned the character in tight-fitting outfits, which left the actress scrambling for an excuse to justify looser styles instead. After her first trimester, she only shared her news with a couple of people. Once everyone else found out, it was too late to adjust her costumes but hey, that’s what carefully planned camera angles are for.
#8: Kate Winslet “Divergent” (2014)
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You’d find it hard to come by a scene where the movie’s antagonist, Jeanine Matthews isn’t hidden behind some kind of prop. To conceal the fact that Winslet was actually five months pregnant, she’s always holding either a briefcase, some files, or the aforementioned iPad in front of her stomach. Due to her pregnancy, Winslet was a latecomer on set which she says helped establish the animosity needed between herself and the other characters. After she’d given birth, she returned to set, newborn in arms, for reshoots, and even offered to do the stunts that she’d been unable to do whilst pregnant.
#7: Reese Witherspoon “Vanity Fair” (2004)
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After learning that his leading lady was expecting, screenwriter Julian Fellowes tweaked the script to accommodate her pregnancy. Pre-production and shooting were sped up and big period costumes proved to be ideal for hiding a growing baby bump. But as she entered her second trimester, the production team had to get a little more imaginative with their efforts. This included hiding her behind various props and furniture. They even hired young boys to simply stand in front of the actress. There’s also a scene where a horse-drawn-carriage conveniently happens to sweep across the screen just in time to hide her bump.
#6: Blake Lively “The Shallows” (2016)
If you’ve seen this survival thriller, starring Blake Lively, then you’ll remember that it’s hardly short on intense moments. Fortunately for the actress, by the time she discovered she was pregnant, the majority of the more grueling days of filming were behind her. And just as well since they didn’t even bring in a stunt double until the final two weeks. By the time they started reshoots, the actress was beginning to show. Fortunately, the movie's premise is quite convenient for hiding a baby bump. The beach adjacent setting allowed it to be either submerged below the water or hidden behind her surfboard with no one the wiser.
#5: Scarlett Johansson “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
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While fighting crime in a skin-tight outfit seems impractical at the best of times, imagine doing all that whilst pregnant. The creative team took inventive measures to accommodate the Black Widow actress, without compromising her role or the story. As well as the usual concealing costumes and close-up shots, she also had three body-doubles on standby. Chris Evans even joked about how strange it was having so many Scarlett look-alikes on set. Since she couldn’t do all of her own stunts, her doubles were fitted with motion caption dots so that they could simply edit in Johanson’s face during post-production.
#4: Penelope Cruz “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (2011)
After joining the franchise as Angelica, Cruz discovered that she was going to be a mom. To hide this, she was dressed in loose outfits and often filmed from above the stomach. For the wider shots director Rob Marshall hired famous Spanish actress, dancer, and younger sister to Penelope, Monica Cruz, to stand in for her. The pair bear a remarkable likeness and silhouette and, after all, what are sisters for if not to act as your body-double when you’re pregnant? Still, the bump nearly managed to make a cheeky cameo, but fortunately it was caught during editing and simply tweaked out.
#3: Julia Roberts “Ocean’s Twelve” (2004)
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Although the franchise isn’t known for having a meta sense of humor, they certainly made a worthy exception in this case. After noting Tess’s uncanny likeness to Hollywood actress, Julia Roberts, the team has her pose as the pregnant star, in order to help them get close to their target. However, the plan starts to unravel when Tess ends up on the phone with the real Julia Roberts. And when Bruce Willis shows up, their plan is foiled entirely. Movies often have to get creative with hiding pregnancies, but breaking the fourth wall to do so has to be a cut above the rest.
#2: Emily Blunt “Into The Woods” (2014)
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Although she was playing a woman who desperately yearned for but couldn’t conceive a baby due to a curse, in real life, Blunt had just discovered that she was pregnant. At first, they hid her growing bump behind costume pieces, which were adjusted as she got bigger. They also strategically positioned her behind James Corden, who was playing her husband. By the time filming wrapped, the actress was already seven months along which meant that they had to get a little more creative. Luckily the woods have plenty of great hiding spots and lots of trees that they could conveniently place her behind.
#1: Gal Gadot “Wonder Woman” (2017)
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The actress tried to keep her pregnancy secret for as long as possible. She even found discreet ways to deal with pregnancy-related symptoms on-set without anyone noticing. This was also the case while she was filming for “Justice League” and “Batman v Superman.” But by the time reshoots began for the action-packed “Wonder Woman,” she was five months pregnant and showing. So, the costume team replaced the bottom half of her outfit with green-screen material and simply edited out her bump later. According to Gadot, Wonder Woman’s iconic armor now looked more like “Wonder Woman pregnant with Kermit the Frog."
