Pregnancy is sometimes a surprise, but Jill Scott has a leg up on other mothers – she thought she wasn’t able to conceive. She was thrilled to find out but knew things would get tough. Scott was working fourteen-hour days filming the movie “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency”. In Africa.
Sweltering heat, endless bugs, and now a growing baby made filming the movie something she won’t ever forget, and you can be assured that she was thrilled when the movie wrapped. Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to hide her pregnancy, thanks to large, flowing clothing that often featured colorful patterns, a style that had already been decided for her character.
Kerry Washington — Scandal
Even while pregnant, Kerry Washington filmed for "Scandal", and while it might have been easy to get away with it in days past, viewers these days are savvy to the tricks filmmakers use. The producers gave Washington big, voluminous coats to wear, hid her behind objects that didn't always make sense, and often shot her from the chest up.
It got so silly that TV Guide published an article titled “The 20 Most Ridiculous Ways "Scandal" Has Hidden Kerry Washington's Pregnancy.” Washington reported that filming was difficult since her “instrument” was changing every day.
Lucille Ball — I Love Lucy
"I Love Lucy" broke ground in more ways than we can count. One of its most famous firsts was that Lucille was the first character pregnant on television. It seems almost incredible to think, but this was still during a time when TV couples slept in separate beds.
The actress Lucille was also pregnant at the same time, but they had to do things carefully just because the actress got pregnant before the character did. They gave her big coats to wear, which became the standard for hiding a growing belly. The show also shied away from using the word “pregnant” and went with terms like “expecting,” instead.
Alyson Hannigan — How I Met Your Mother
During the time Hannigan portrayed Lily Aldrin in "How I Met Your Mother", she got pregnant twice. Hannigan is quite a small woman, so they had to take drastic measures to hide a baby bump that no one could miss.
They did it all – big coats, black clothing, hiding her behind set pieces. But the best part about it is that the producers actually used the bump as a gag that has Lily taking part in a hot dog eating contest. The second time Hannigan got pregnant, the show gave Lily and her husband Marshall a baby at the same time, so they didn't need any tricks.
Cobie Smulders — How I Met Your Mother
Cobie Smulders, who played Robin Scherbatsky on "How I Met Your Mother", was in an interesting dilemma when she found out she was expecting. Her character didn't want to get pregnant or have children at all, and she found out in one dramatic moment in the mostly-comedic show that she was unable to get pregnant whatsoever.
So, when Smulders got in the family way, they had to fall back on big coats, suspicious framing, and having Robin hold things in front of her pregnant belly. In the 2015 film, "Unexpected", Smulders' character gets pregnant, which coincided with her own pregnancy, so it worked out well.
Debra Messing — Will & Grace
"Will & Grace" star Debra Messing loved to wear outfits that showed off her fit body, and her midriff in particular. So when Messing got pregnant and started hiding, fans weren't fooled for a moment.
She switched to more concealing clothing options and took to holding things in front of her abdomen – the basics. This went on for most of the sixth season but took a five-episode-break, most of it at the end of the season. It means that one of the title characters wasn't there for a full twenty percent of the season. It sure put a lot of pressure on Will, but he handled it.
Sarah Jessica Parker — Sex and the City
The lead star of "Sex and the City" found out that she was expecting mere days before production began on the show's fifth season. Producers didn't have the chance to work it into the show. Not only that, but it didn't fit Parker's character, either.
Parker's character, Carrie Bradshaw, loved her stylish clothing so it was suddenly a big hassle for the costuming department. They tried baby doll dresses and larger, floaty clothing, as well as bright, eye-catching accessories that diverted attention from her torso. But, eventually, they decided to cut the season from eighteen episodes down to a mere eight.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus — Seinfeld
Twice during the run of "Seinfeld" Louis-Dreyfus got pregnant. While Jerry Seinfeld suggested having her character Elaine “gain weight” to cover things up, Louis-Dreyfus cried when she heard about the idea. So, the show went with the classics, giving her large coats, carrying things in front of herself, and hiding behind set pieces.
Louis-Dreyfus now admits that it would have been a good idea to do something a little less obvious, since if you watch either season three or season eight of this famous sitcom, it's pretty easy to tell that Elaine was hiding something from Jerry, Kramer, and Costanza.
Gillian Anderson — The X Files
When principal "X-Files" actor Gillian Anderson got pregnant, the show had just finished its first season, and details were up in the air. It was uncertain if the show would be renewed for a second season, and it was also possible that the executives would replace Anderson. But in the end, they wrote her pregnancy into the show.
They used a few old-fashioned tricks to keep things on the down-low, but when she had to give birth and go on maternity leave, her character was abducted by aliens. After weeks of Mulder searching for her, she finally reappeared – comatose, and no longer pregnant. Talk about creativity!
Claire Danes — Homeland
Thanks to improving tech, it's become a little easier for actresses to keep working the way they want even after getting pregnant. When Claire Danes got pregnant while filming "Homeland", CGI artists were able to keep her growing belly hidden for most scenes. Still, the show also used a few of the classic tricks by dressing her in dark clothing and having her seated at desks, for example.
It eventually became pretty difficult for Danes, who had to perform a number of scenes while seven-and-a-half months pregnant, such as being chained to a pipe. The CGI gave them more freedom as far as filming, but Danes couldn't magic-away her big belly.
Kristen Bell — House of Lies
Two different seasons of "House of Lies" saw Kristen Bell get pregnant. The first time, the producers took all the normal tactics: her character held boxes, big handbags, and other bulky objects, as well as filming trickery.
During season four, though, they'd decided they had enough tricks and had her character get pregnant as well. Believe it or not, it was decided that the character would get pregnant first, and then Bell took the chance to get pregnant again in real life. It was her wild way at trying out some extreme method acting so that her character would be nothing but authentic.
January Jones — Mad Men
When January Jones, Betty Draper on "Mad Men", found out she was pregnant, the producers decided they would work it in, but instead of Betty getting pregnant, they said she would gain weight to emphasize the stress she was under.
While the baby did a lot of the work making her look bigger, Jones still had to sit for seven hours to get prosthetics applied to her face. They gave her a fat suit and a well-rounded chin, but the period of her in the fat suit went beyond her pregnancy. In fact, she was only pregnant with the fat suit for a single episode.
Jane Leeves — Frasier
In season eight of "Frasier", Daphne Moon started gaining weight, feeling stressed due to her new relationship with Niles Crane. She gained so much weight that she had to get sent to a spa to try and work some of it off for about four episodes.
She ate lots of treats, which meant Jane Leeves's pregnancy didn't have to be concealed as much. The first we hear of her wight-loss-spa progress at the spa is when Niles tells Frasier that she has already lost nine pounds, twelve ounces – the exact weight of Leeves's baby in real life.
Katey Sagal — Married... With Children
Katey Sagal played Peggy Bundy over the course of 11 seasons of "Married with Children." During that time she was pregnant three times! The first pregnancy in 1991 was written into the show but had unfortunate results that required adjustments.
Sagal's later pregnancies weren't written into the show. Instead, her midsection was hidden by objects such as a taxi, a craps table, and more. When she had to take time off for maternity leave, her absence was excused as Peggy going on a trip around the world with her parents.
Amy Poehler — Parks and Recreation
While Poehler became pregnant during "Parks and Recreation," it was relatively easy to keep her new addition hidden, thanks to the dark business suits that her character wears. They threw in a bunch of scenes of her sitting at a desk or table, meaning they didn't have to resort to Poehler carrying massive props or wearing distracting accessories.
The show did, however, adjust their filming. Right after finishing the filming for season two, they began filming season three and then took a long break when Poehler's pregnancy became too noticeable. It gave the actress a chance to take some time off and give birth, and it helped the show continue unabated.
Phylicia Rashad — The Cosby Show
As the leading lady on "The Cosby Show", Phylicia Rashad was no stranger to parenthood. But during season three of the show, she found herself pregnant, which meant some changes to her character. Thankfully, the fashion of the eighties favored bigger, baggier clothing, so it wasn't too hard to keep her belly hidden.
Of course, they still took the normal track of special camera angles and props. On top of those, the show adjusted the filming set to make it less obvious based on the normal items in the house. This included scooping part of the mattress out so that she could sink further in and not stick out.
Courteney Cox — Friends
During filming the final season of "Friends", it was already known to the characters that Cox's character Monica and her in-show husband Chandler weren't able to have children together.
So, when Courtney Cox became pregnant, the filmmakers were up to their old tricks, giving her loose, baggy clothing. However, they neither mentioned it in the show nor did as much as several other shows did to conceal it. Of course, on such a long-running show, it was expected that some female cast members might get pregnant at some point, and the show had to deal with it in different ways.
Ellen Pompeo — Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy has been going for a hundred years, so it comes as no surprise that Ellen Pompeo got pregnant at some point. It happened back in the sixth season, but the show simply hid the pregnancy by filming close-ups of the actress.
Since the show is set mainly in a hospital, and scrubs and white doctor coats are regularly pretty baggy, it didn't require much change in Pompeo's filming attire. When Pompeo had to go on maternity leave, they had her character donate a liver to her estranged father, which put the character into recovery during Pompeo's maternity leave.
Zooey Deschanel — New Girl
"New Girl" took a unique path to keep Zooey Deschanel's pregnancy hidden from the audience. She was the lead character of the show – the title character, even – and so they couldn't remove her for long. They did, however, give her an in-show injury, which confined her to her bed while she was pregnant.
Once the recovering time for the injury passed, they gave the new girl jury duty, which saw her sitting behind a short wall. Deschanel filmed all of her scenes before going on leave, and when she finally did depart to give birth, special guest Megan Fox joined the cast for a few episodes.
Julie Bowen — Modern Family
Bowen knew she couldn't miss out on being part of "Modern Family" – she said it had been years since she had read a better script. However, while filming the pilot, she was only a few weeks away from giving birth.
Starting on a brand new show is a great deal of stress, and doing so in the final moments of pregnancy created even more stress. The show took all the normal tactics: filming her upper body only, giving her baggy clothing, and having her hold large things in front of herself. Of course, when the show went into real production, the pregnancy was a thing of the past.
Alyssa Milano — Mistresses
The producers for the show "Mistress" had to use every trick in the book to hide Alyssa Milano's pregnancy during the second season of the show. They hid her with set pieces, had her hold props, dressed her in black, baggy clothing – all the classics.
Milano has said that the show went to such great effort to hide her pregnancy that it felt like a sketch from "Saturday Night Live". After that season, the show relocated production from Los Angeles to Vancouver, and Milano left the show, stating her desire to be around her family.
Ginnifer Goodwin — Once Upon a Time
Goodwin played a pair of characters on "Once Upon a Time" (Mary Margaret in the real world, and Snow White in the magical realm). This way, she only had to hide her baby bump in half of her scenes.
Producers decided that Mary Margaret would not be pregnant while Snow White would. Goodwin could let her baby bulge be center stage as Snow White. On the other hand, she still had to keep to the regular strategies for keeping a pregnancy hidden while she was acting as her character in the real world, such as big, bulky, heavy coats.
Keri Russell — The Americans
The showrunners of "The Americans" covered Keri Russell up in the normal ways, but they thankfully also had access to CGI technology. The show's budget didn't allow them to entirely hide Russell's pregnancy. It did, however, help to break up the monotony of shots of her carrying laundry baskets, hauling bags of groceries, or wearing heavy coats.
Matthew Rhys, who plays Russell's husband on the show, is her real-life partner and the father of her child. This gave him a chance to spend lots of time with her and the baby, even before she gave birth.
Reese Witherspoon — Vanity Fair
Even though Witherspoon was pregnant with her son Deacon while filming "Vanity Fair", it turned out to be much less troublesome than a lot of other pregnant actresses. Since the movie was a period piece, the costuming department had a lot of access to large, flowing gowns that covered up almost everything.
The style of the film also helped keep her growing stomach from being too obvious, since it used lots of moody lighting and opulent period furniture. Even those who watched the movie closely might not have noticed that this romance film had a leading lady who was already a few months pregnant.
Isla Fisher — Burke and Hare
As Isla Fisher filmed the period piece "Burke and Hare", she was a few months pregnant. It was easy to hide the fact, thanks to heavy, concealing period clothing. Plus, the fact that she was in the first trimester made it seem like there was nothing going on whatsoever.
All of these details came together to hide Fisher's pregnancy really well. So well, that at the end of production, she announced she was pregnant to the rest of the cast and the crew and was met with shocked stares. None of them had any idea.
Kate Winslet — Divergent
Here's how hardcore Kate Winslet is. While filming the adaptation of the young adult novel "Divergent", Winslet was five months pregnant, and she still wanted to do her own stunts. She, of course, was not allowed to do so, but she did put up a fight.
Director Neil Burger said: “We had to be very strategic in the way that we shot her. She always had some sort of file or a case on hand that was sort of protecting, you know, her bump.” The costuming department also had to adjust her clothing, which was originally going to be much tighter, but the baby didn't like such constrictions.
Halle Berry — X-Men: Days of Future Past
Just before filming "X-Men: Days of Future Past", Halle Berry discovered she was three months pregnant. Three months isn't too bad to keep a baby bump hidden, but Halle Berry's character, Storm, is most often seen in skintight leather.
The producers very quickly scheduled her scenes as early as possible to get her in before her bump grew too large. Even then, Berry noted that it didn't take too much for the outfit to constrict her midsection. They were done in the nick of time. Unfortunately, the movie somewhat suffered from this – every shot with Storm in it seemed a little disconnected from the others.
Angela Kinsey — The Office
Kinsey played another Angela – Martin – on the American version of "The Office". She had a little life growing inside her while filming season four. The producers thought about having her character get pregnant as well, but decided against it.
Thankfully, it didn't prove too difficult to conceal Kinsey's pregnancy during filming. She's so short compared to most of the other cast members, that filming her from the shoulders-up happened naturally. Plus, the office setting made it easy to stick her behind a desk and call it good. Even the mockumentary testimonials are filmed with the face in the center frame and zoomed in, so really there was little she couldn't do.
Naomi Watts — Eastern Promises
Only a few weeks into filming the David Cronenberg project "Eastern Promises", Naomi Watts discovered that she was pregnant. By the time she found out, she'd already performed a few stunts, such as riding through busy traffic on a motorcycle. Had she known about her brand new baby boy, she probably would have left it to a stunt double.
This turned out to be a funny coincidence for Watts – her character in the film is a midwife, and the actress did extensive research on birthing, pregnancies, and fetal development, only to find out she'd be getting a first-hand experience at the same time.
Angelina Jolie — The Changeling
Jolie has been showing off her acting skills for decades, so it's no surprise she's had at least one project during a pregnancy. She starred in Clint Eastwood's film "The Changeling", where she played a mother whose son disappears. Her own pregnancy may have increased the emotion of her intense performance, though she only found out she was pregnant at the tail end of the shooting.
She didn't even make it public until filming was over, and being so early in development meant she didn't require any extra cover for her character. Jolie ended up with twins and was fine with it – filming a movie about a character losing a son made her want more children.
Marcia Cross — Desperate Housewives
For the show "Desperate Housewives", Marcia Cross played Bree Van de Kamp. During the third season, this actress found herself pregnant, and with twins. Even early in pre-birth development, twins make a bump appear much larger and earlier than a single child. And so, the show piled on the big clothes, dark colors, and big props.
Eventually, her doctor told her she needed bed rest, so the show took a long day filming everything they needed from her in one day. After that, she took a long leave, disappearing from the show for the rest of the season and letting the other characters do their thing.
Helena Bonham Carter — Sweeney Todd
Helena Bonham Carter was married to moody director Tim Burton for over a decade. They not only collaborated on a number of films together, but they also collaborated on a pair of children. Carter discovered she was pregnant with one of those children while the movie "Sweeney Todd" was in pre-production – and Carter was one of the leads.
Burton pushed production forward and put her scenes at the top of the order. With a small first-trimester baby bump, and the Burton-standard moody lighting and dark clothing, the movie didn't have any trouble hiding the pregnancy from viewers. Nobody, not even the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, was any wiser.
Jill Scott — The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
Pregnancy is sometimes a surprise, but Jill Scott has a leg up on other mothers – she thought she wasn't able to conceive. She was thrilled to find out but knew things would get tough. Scott was working fourteen-hour days filming the movie "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency". In Africa.
Sweltering heat, endless bugs, and now a growing baby made filming the movie something she won't ever forget, and you can be assured that she was thrilled when the movie wrapped. Thankfully, it wasn't too hard to hide her pregnancy, thanks to large, flowing clothing that often featured colorful patterns, a style that had already been decided for her character.
Parminder Nagra — ER
"ER" is one of those long-running shows that went through everything a show can deal with, and pregnancies are no exception. Parminder Nagra played Dr. Neela Rasgotra, and the actress was pregnant during the show's final season. Her character's wardrobe, scrubs, and big coats made it easier to hide the pregnancy.
Her character was also often seen carrying an X-ray film, a bundle of files, or other medical literature. From sitting next to patients to leaning against nurse's stations, there were plenty of ways to conceal a growing baby bump. A real hectic hospital environment might not be the best place for an expectant mother, but a hospital show's set isn't too bad after all.
Morena Baccarin — Homeland
When Morena Baccarin got pregnant during the second season of "Homeland", she thought it would be a good time because she didn't anticipate having a big part in the season. To her surprise, however, her character, Jessica Brody, went on to become one of the more important characters in the season.
Thankfully, Homeland was pioneering using CGI to hide pregnancies, such as with Baccarin's co-star Claire Danes. Plus, Baccarin got pregnant while the season was filming, so as long as they did a little bit of covering and concealing, the season was able to go ahead without issue.
Ana Ortiz — Ugly Betty
Ortiz, while playing the character Hilda Suarez on "Ugly Betty", discovered that she was pregnant with her first child. However, filming around the pregnancy was a lot easier than for a lot of other actresses.
While Ortiz was incredibly thin and fit while filming the show, the pregnancy was one that didn't build much of a bump. This detail is one of those genetic things that ended up being super helpful for Ortiz – her small size would have normally made the pregnancy much more obvious than other women. Ironically, Ortiz's first television appearance was in a TV movie where she played a character credited only as “Pregnant woman.”
Chyler Leigh — Grey’s Anatomy
Chyler Leigh had the good luck of acting as Lexie Grey on "Grey's Anatomy" — a show set primarily in a hospital — when she got pregnant. Her scrubs and big white coat did most of the work keeping the baby bump hidden, and there were also files, carts, beds, counters, patients, and other doctors to help her maintain continuity.
Leigh is a three-time mother with her husband Nathan West, though she was only pregnant with one of them during her time on the show. This is kind of crazy, seeing as how the show ran for seventeen seasons.
Lena Headey — Game of Thrones
While wrapping up the fifth season of "Game of Thrones", Lena Headey was five months pregnant. Her character, Cersei Lannister, often wore opulent robes and beautiful dresses, which would easily hide a pregnancy. Unfortunately, the end of this season had Cersei taking a naked walk of shame through King's Landing, which would no doubt reveal Headey's pregnancy.
The show resorted to a body double. It took three days to film the scene, but the transitions were seamless, without us seeing that Cersei is suddenly pregnant.
Blake Lively — The Shallows / The Age of Adaline
Twice now Blake Lively had been pregnant while filming a movie. The first was "The Shallows", a thriller where she played a surfer having to fight off a shark. The movie involved plenty of stunts and had Lively in a bikini almost the entire time. Only during the final weeks of the shoot did the movie start to use a stunt-double, getting by on specific camera angles, and hiding the growth that Lively was presenting.
The second film was "The Age of Adaline", which had Lively in fancy clothing that helped to hide her baby bump. She filmed almost all the way up until her due date, and didn't even ask for any special treatment while doing so.
Drew Barrymore — Blended
It was only days after Drew Barrymore signed her contract for the film "Blended" when she found out she was pregnant with her second child. While filming was expected to start soon, production delays meant that Barrymore's pregnancy had already developed. It would have been clear that Barrymore was expecting when her character was nothing of the sort.
The costume department got to work, putting in extra time that both looked great, and helped to hide Barrymore's growing abdomen. While it isn't too difficult to tell Barrymore is carrying a little extra weight, it's easy enough to ignore.
Scarlett Johansson — Avengers: Age of Ultron
Johansson's pregnancy while filming "Avengers: Age of Ultron", came with a few interesting coincidences. Johansson did all of her scenes first for the movie. And since playing Black Widow comes with plenty of stunts, she ended every day exhausted, eventually giving way to a stunt double.
Johansson would later appear in the Coen Brothers' film "Hail, Caesar!" where she played an actress who got pregnant during a film. "Age of Ultron" also contains details about Black Widow, showing us snatches of her intense training, and revealing that she is unable to get pregnant, due to the experiments that she went through long before she joined the Avengers.
Emily Blunt — The Girl on the Train / Into the Woods
Emily Blunt has been pregnant twice while playing characters that are unable to have children. The first time was "The Girl on the Train", and filming took place early enough to not be a big problem.
The second time was "Into the Woods", and this was a little harder to hide. However, with a few costumes and a little choreography, it worked out. Blunt's character is a baker's wife, and she said that the extra weight she carried made sense since she'd probably be eating a lot of carbs around her husband.
Penelope Cruz — Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Never has a sister been handier than when Penelope Cruz was filming "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides". The Spanish star was pregnant with her and Javier Bardem's first child during filming, but you'd be forgiven for not knowing that. During the swashbuckling action scenes, Penelope tagged in an actress friend of hers: her younger sister Monica.
Penelope did as much as she could while staying safe and then ceded the action scenes to Monica, who's also a dancer. The two sisters have more than the usual amount of family resemblance, and it was a perfect way to make filming this adventurous movie easier.
Gal Gadot — "Wonder Woman"
Being the most famous female superhero in the world is a big task, and Gal Gadot checks all the boxes. This movie took the box office by storm, and all of the action and excitement becomes even wilder when you find out Gadot was pregnant while filming it.
It was her second child, and while she was filming reshoots she was five months pregnant. The noticeable baby bump kept the special effects department busy. Director Patty Jenkins lauded Gadot for her professionalism: “She's pregnant during part of the movie, in a suit out in a field, in the freezing cold.” Clearly, Gadot was the perfect fit for this character.
Bryce Dallas Howard — Spider-Man 3
In "Spider-Man 3", Gwen Stacy fell from a building. And though everyone's favorite web-slinger saved her, the fall was more dangerous than anyone expected. Bryce Dallas Howard, Stacy's actress, was unknowingly in the first stages of pregnancy.
Howard performed a lot of her own stunts in the film and she talks with relief about how her son, Theo, was born healthy. Howard spoke about the filming and the stunts that she did: “Ultimately, at the end of the day, you're totally safe, but I wouldn't recommend doing it during any kind of pregnancy.” At least Theo will grow up with the knowledge that he was part of a Spider-Man movie.
Rosamund Pike — Jack Reacher
Pike has done a lot during her time as an actress, including starring in an action movie while five months pregnant. The movie was "Jack Reacher", and she appeared alongside Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise. “It's amazing the baby's come out so chilled,” Pike said about her son. “He probably thought the world was going to be truly terrifying.”
Pike had nothing but kind words to say about Cruise, who supported her throughout the filming. “He could not have been more supportive. Certain stars would have – or might have – said, 'Get someone else, she's pregnant!'” Cruise might not be perfect, but he at least supports those he's working next to.
Jennifer Garner — Catch and Release
"Catch and Release", a 2007 rom-com, was quickly forgotten by audiences, but Jennifer Garner remembers it fondly. Being pregnant with Violet, the first of three children she had with Ben Affleck, the hormonal changes she went through actually aided her while filming this sappy film.
Though pregnancy can come with morning sickness and other unpleasantness, Garner was able to channel her mood swings and cry on command. Garner's emotional range was one of the high points of the film according to reviewers and audiences, and she owes it to little Violet. A good actress uses everything to her benefit.
Teri Hatcher — Tomorrow Never Dies
Hatcher, who still has supermodel good looks even in her fifties, fits right in with all the other Bond girls when it comes to the looks category. Appearing along Brosnan-Bond in 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies", she plays Paris Carver, the famous spy's old flame.
She played her character with aplomb, but she was three months pregnant during filming, which of course included stunts. Her morning sickness caused a rift between her and Pierce Brosnan. Her sickness delayed filming, and the upset Brosnan let slip a few unkind words over the course of the production. Quite unlike the ever-charming James Bond, Brosnan. Of course, he regrets his harsh words now.
Julia Roberts — Ocean's Twelve
Julia Roberts as Tessa Ocean as Julia Roberts was an...interesting idea for "Ocean's Twelve". Roberts was pregnant with twins Hazel and Phinnaeus while filming the movie, and the writers – with Roberts's approval – threw the detail in.
In order to aid the movie's big heist, Roberts's character, Tess, uses her similarity to Julia Roberts (obviously, since she is her) to distract people. As Roberts was pregnant at the time, and character Tess wasn't, they had to come up with a way in-universe to make Tess look pregnant – all this, and the only thing Roberts had to do was show up in all her pregnant glory. Did you follow all that?
Mindy Kaling — The Mindy Project
Mindy Kaling's show, "The Mindy Project", ran for five seasons, so it's no surprise Kaling found herself in a family way. It happened during the final season, and by the time filming ended, Kaling was at seven out of nine months.
Thanks to the costume designer and the cinematographer, the baby bump stayed out of the way for the most part. The show has Kaling's character working as a gynecologist/obstetrician in a small medical practice in New York City. We wonder if Kaling used the information she'd picked up working as a doctor to make sure her own real-life pregnancy went off without a hitch.