# The actress is pregnant, but her character is not. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247 "2014-10-23T13:22:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/1 "2014-10-23T13:22:21Z")
I recently re-watched some episodes of _Life_, the NBC drama starring Damian Lewis that ran from 2007 to 2009, and realized something I completely missed the first time around. Sarah Shahi, who played detective Dani Reese, pretty much vanished for the last four or five episodes in the series. Apparently, she was noticeably pregnant in real life, but there was no story line that would explain it away. Or, she just didn’t want to work full time when she neared full term. A replacement character was created, played by Gabrielle Union, while Shahi’s character was supposedly on loan from the LAPD to the FBI. It reminded me of clips I saw somewhere of a very pregnant Leah Remini wearing baggy clothes and hiding behind tables in episodes of _The King of Queens_. It’s funny once you realize what’s going on. With Shahi, I was tipped off by her facial features looking much fuller all of a sudden. Then came the realization that there were only showing head shots of her, or her torso being hidden by a desk or jacket etc… I’m sure this must happen fairly often, and hence this thread looking for other examples. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/2 "2014-10-23T13:24:36Z")
**Tamsin Greig** was pregnant whilst filming [Black Books](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Books), a UK TV series. I never picked it up at the time, but when I got the DVDs, I think someone refers to it in one of the commentaries. They used a lot of scarves and standing behind stacks of books. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/3 "2014-10-23T13:28:23Z")
Just off the top of my head: Julia Louis Dreyfus during Seinfeld. Alyson Hannigan during How I Met Your Mother (and possibly Cobie Smulders too, but I’m not sure). (unsure) Phylicia Rashad during the Cosby Show? Katey Sagal during Married with Children (yeah, I know there was a storyline where her character was pregnant that had to be "just-a-dream"ed when she miscarried, but I think she had two later successful pregnancies that she hid) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/4 "2014-10-23T13:35:45Z")
Mariska Hagitay in L&O: Special Victims Unit. Anna Belknap in CSI: NY. Her second pregnancy was showcased, but her first one happened shortly after she arrived, so it was hidden. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/5 "2014-10-23T13:40:42Z")
Daphne on Frasier was pregnant for a while. They ‘hid’ it by turning her into a compulsive eater and then disappearing her to a fat camp for the first half of a season. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/6 "2014-10-23T13:41:07Z")
Jane Leeves on Frasier. They explained the weight gain by having the character develop a food addiction. When the actress went on maternity leave, the character went to a camp to receive counseling and exercise advice. ETA: simulpost. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/7 "2014-10-23T13:41:50Z")
Roxann Dawson, who played B’Elanna Torres in _Voyager,_ got to wear what I call “preganancy camouflage” costumes when she had a kid; they gave her a jacket that unzipped down the front and she spent most of the season with it unzipped, standing behind consoles. They never showed her in profile. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/8 "2014-10-23T13:44:04Z")
Gillian Anderson during The X-Files. Tina Fey during 30 Rock ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/9 "2014-10-23T13:52:52Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Roxann Dawson, who played B’Elanna Torres in _Voyager,_ got to wear what I call “preganancy camouflage” costumes when she had a kid; they gave her a jacket that unzipped down the front and she spent most of the season with it unzipped, standing behind consoles. They never showed her in profile. They did something similar with Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher on ST:TNG). When Nana Visitor (Major Kira on ST: DS9) got pregnant, they “explained” it by having Keiko O’Brien’s baby beamed into her body due to an emergency. It’s a long (and not entirely convincing) story… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/10 "2014-10-23T13:56:44Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > Jane Leeves on Frasier. They explained the weight gain by having the character develop a food addiction. When the actress went on maternity leave, the character went to a camp to receive counseling and exercise advice. January Jones (Betty Francis, Mad Men) went the same way. They had her gain weight due to boredom and depression. Then the next season she came back with an atrocious body “fat” suit for continuity’s sake and thankfully quickly “lost” the weight. Way back in the day, I was watching some Kate & Allie retrospective that talked about a season where one of the two was pregnant and showed clips of all the contrived bag/laundry carrying, standing behind counters and wearing novelty costumes they did to keep her in the show. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/11 "2014-10-23T14:06:05Z")
Pregnant Scarlett Johansson playing non-pregnant Black Widow in _The Avengers: Age of Ultron_. The movie doesn’t come out til next year, so we don’t know yet how it affects the presentation of the character. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/12 "2014-10-23T14:08:11Z")
Traylor Howard was pregnant during one season of Monk but her character, Natalie, wasn’t. In one episode, Natalie needed to pretend to be pregnant, though, which I thought was a clever way of dealing with the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/13 "2014-10-23T14:09:08Z")
I think Pnylicia Rashad was pregnant during the Cosby Show at one point. ---
**Author:** ![RiCu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@RiCu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiCu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/14 "2014-10-23T14:10:53Z")
Courtney Cox filming the final season of Friends. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/15 "2014-10-23T14:14:25Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > (unsure) Phylicia Rashad during the Cosby Show? Yes. I remember watching a reunion show where they had a blooper montage of Bill moving grocery bags, pillows, etc to expose her stomach during that period. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/16 "2014-10-23T14:23:02Z")
Shelly Long on **Cheers**. They kept her behind the bar and, in one episode, had her trapped in an ventilation shaft under the floor. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/17 "2014-10-23T14:26:37Z")
My favorite is Lena Heady in the first season of _Game of Thrones_. Watch the scene where she and Robert have their heart-to-heart in “The Wolf and the Lion” and watch her get up from the chair. That’s a pregnant-lady-wobble if I’ve ever seen one. Other than that scene, they hid it well. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/18 "2014-10-23T14:55:41Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > My favorite is Lena Heady in the first season of _Game of Thrones_. Watch the scene where she and Robert have their heart-to-heart in “The Wolf and the Lion” and watch her get up from the chair. That’s a pregnant-lady-wobble if I’ve ever seen one. Other than that scene, they hid it well. Huh! I never noticed that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/19 "2014-10-23T15:07:09Z")
Debra Messing was pregnant during Will and Grace and got the “depressed and wearing sweat clothes” treatment. It was rather unconvincing at the time. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247/20 "2014-10-23T15:13:35Z")
Kerry Washington on the last season of “Scandal”. They used the usual tricks, loose clothing, limiting full-body or non-seated views of Olivia, giving supporting actors more screen time instead. One I didn’t know until recently: Shirley Jones in “The Music Man”. Patrick Cassidy did not get a screen credit, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-actress-is-pregnant-but-her-character-is-not/702247.md?page=2)