15 Women You Had No Idea Were Pregnant While Filming

Pregnancy is a huge deal. Not only are you carrying a tiny human around inside of you, but you're dealing with all the fun stuff that comes with it: crazed hormones, overheating, strange cravings, swollen feet, exhaustion, nausea, pregnancy brain - you name it! In all honesty, the fact that women are able to do it and come out on the other side is pretty amazing.

We know how stressful pregnancy is for any woman, but being an actress and forced to do shoots for 14 hours a day (or more, depending on the project), getting involved in stunts, and being forced into costumes that are probably anything but comfy sweatpants has to add a whole other layer of anguish to the ordeal (although we imagine the paycheck probably eases the pain a little bit!). Occasionally, actresses are allowed to portray their pregnancy on-screen, but more often than not, it's concealed as best as it possibly can be from the viewer. Clever camera tricks, baggy clothing, or props in the way of a growing baby bump can distract the viewer, but other times, we have no idea that a bun was in the oven until these actresses told us themselves! We've got 15 from TV and movies here who just might shock you!

15 Lisa Kudrow and Courtney Cox, Friends

In a surprise scenario where producers and directors didn't try to hide the pregnant of a cast member, Lisa Kudrow was large and in charge when she was pregnant during season four of Friends. However, did you know it was real, and not just a plot device?

While Kudrow's character Phoebe Buffay is working as the surrogate for her brother and his wife to carry their triplets, Kudrow herself was carrying only one bundle of joy in her belly! She later gave birth to a boy, Julian. Interestingly enough, Friends later had two other actors who were pregnant, but their character weren't supposed to be. The first was Emily, Ross's British ex-wife. After Ross said the wrong name at the alter and Emily stayed in England, all subsequent scenes when Ross tried to get her back were filmed with actress Helen Baxendale in bed, pregnant. The more obvious one, of course, it Courteney Cox, who became pregnant towards the end of the series, which the costume department tried valiantly to hide behind jackets, scarves, and layers.

14 Kerry Washington, Scandal

When Kerry Washington took to the red carpet to unveil her gorgeous baby bump, draped in couture, we were in awe. Not only was she able to pull off looking like a queen while sporting a pretty heavy belly, but she had also been rocking it for months while filming her hit TV show, Scandal!

Using some of the tried-and-true methods many TV shows incorporate to hide the pregnancies of their actors if the character is not following the same fate, Washington was usually hiding her belly behind folder and large purses, but the stylists of the show also had a helping hand. Thanks to the “armour-like” style of character Olivia Pope and her gladiators, big, swingy, fashionable coats covered up Washington's burgeoning bump and audiences were mostly none the wiser! After Washington gave birth to daughter Isabelle in 2014, the big coats were gone and the form-fitting suits were back.

13 Alyson Hannigan AND Colbie Smulders (At The Same Time), How I Met Your Mother

Covering up a pregnancy on a TV show is difficult, especially if the characters in question aren't pregnant or, worse, are unable to have children (looking at you, Courteney Cox). Well, how about having two pregnant actresses, who happen to be two of the stars of your show, get pregnant at the same time? That was the reality for the crew behind How I Met Your Mother when Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders both became pregnant during the show's fourth season.

While traditional methods like baggy clothing and large purses were used to conceal the pregnancies, the show also drew overt attention to Hannigan's in particular, but in a ridiculously funny way. In one episode, Hannigan's character won an eating contest, and sat up to reveal a bulging tummy - obviously full of baby, not food! Like most shows, though, when things became too much, the characters began appearing less and less on the show, making it the “weirdest” season of HIMYM, according to co-creator and executive producer Craig Thomas.

12 Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City

Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie Bradshaw, on Sex and the City was always so daring when it came to fashion that it didn't really make anyone raise an eyebrow when we saw her sporting more billowing looks that covered her stomach - which was carrying her first child at the time!

Sex and the City was as known for their fashion as they were for the romantic lives of their four stars, which is what really helped the naturally svelte Parker conceal her burgeoning belly. Well, that and her clout on set! As the arguable star of the hit HBO show, Parker succeeded in getting the fifth season cut in half in order to give herself (and the costume department) a break, lasting only eight episodes instead of 13. Considering the fact that Parker's weight gain seemed to be primarily in her stomach rather than anywhere else, we have to say that we had no idea she was with child. She even managed to do a pool scene with audiences becoming none the wiser!

11 Emily Blunt, The Girl on the Train

To play the role of the alcoholic Rachel who's obsessed with a couple she sees on her train ride every morning, actress Emily Blunt was required to gain weight for the role, since alcoholism does lead to weight gain in most cases. Rather than use a diet to pack on the pounds, Blunt had a better way: she got pregnant!

At the very beginning of the shoot, Blunt discovered she was pregnant with her second child by husband John Krasinski, and opted to keep it a secret. Later, she admitted that the mood swings and intense emotions she felt during her pregnant actually helped her in the role of Rachel, who herself is quite unstable. Interestingly enough, the character in The Girl on the Train wanted desperately to have children with her husband, only to fail repeatedly. (This also isn't the first time Blunt has filmed pregnant, having done so earlier with Into the Woods. She now has two daughters, Hazel and Violet.)

10 Blake Lively, The Shallows

If you wanted further proof that life simply isn't fair, check out this image of Blake Lively from The Shallows because, despite that incredibly fit body, Lively was actually pregnant! When reports first came out about Lively's intense work to get into shape for the role, which came eight months after she gave birth to her first child, the actress admitted that part of the stunt-heavy film took place when she became pregnant with her second daughter! (To be fair, the scenes Lively shot while pregnant were less intense than most of the film, and took part during reshoots.)

Boasting a fondness for doing her own stunts, Lively has said that she did everything on her own, except for the final two weeks when a stunt double was called in. Since The Shallows, the world's most beautiful pregnant person has welcomed daughter Ines to join daughter James, both with husband Ryan Reynolds.

9 Ellen Pompeo, Grey's Anatomy

On Grey's Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo's character Meredith Grey has endured a helluva lot over the show's 14 seasons, including drowning, surviving a hospital shooting, discovering new family members - and promptly losing them, surviving a plane crash, and dealing with her husband's death. Phew! One thing Pompeo dealt with that Meredith did not, however? Hiding her pregnancy!

During the show's sixth season, the naturally slender Pompeo became pregnant with her first child, Stella, and the show was tasked with figuring out ways to hide her belly. Relying on tried-and-true methods like baggy clothes - fortunately, the show is set in a hospital, where form-fitting attire is changed for scrubs - and scenes where her doctor character was behind an operating table. Eventually, however, Pompeo's pregnancy became too big for the crew to work around - just look at the off-screen photos! Instead, Pompeo was given a storyline where her character donates part of her liver to her alcoholic father, giving both Meredith and Pompeo herself some much-needed and well-deserved time off.

8 Zooey Deschanel, New Girl

Keeping a baby-to-be under wraps is common among actors (and us regular folk), especially in the early stages of pregnancy. Despite being on her fifth season of her hit show New Girl, lead actress Zooey Deschanel also decided to keep the info from her costars. During the 2015 winter premiere of the show, Deschanel's character, Jessica Day, donned the fabled “swuit”, which is a suit made entirely out of sweatsuit material. The premier also saw her break a bunch of bones, forcing her to endure bed rest, covered up by blankets.

Considering how baggy the “swuit” was, it made it pretty difficult for viewers to determine Deschanel's pregnancy, but their musings were confirmed when the actress later departed the season after only four episodes for “jury duty” - which is clearly code for “an actress is too obviously pregnant and we can't hide it anymore.” Deschanel later gave birth to a daughter, the adorably named Elsie Otter.

7 Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman

Arguably the most famous - and most recent - example of a woman shocking audiences everywhere by revealing that she was in fact pregnant during filming is Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot!

During reshoots for the film that has shattered box office records, Gadot was actually five months pregnant with her second child! Obviously, the film was incredibly physically demanding, and Gadot packed on a great deal of muscle to play the Amazon warrior, but no one was quite expecting the baby to come into play. Rather than use clever camera trick or obvious props, director Patty Jenkins opted to do the cover-up that happens in films these days: CGI. Gadot's Wonder Woman costume had a hole cut out in the middle to allow for Gadot's baby bump, and a green screen was placed over the hole. This allowed the visual effects department to fake a flat stomach in post-production, but it certainly didn't stop Gadot from kicking some major butt, proving just how tough pregnant women can be!

6 Reese Witherspoon, Vanity Fair

Another actress who had the benefit of romantic and voluminous period costuming to help hide her growing baby bump was Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon was pregnant with her son, Deacon, when she was filming the 1820s-set Vanity Fair, and it's a good thing she had all those billowing, empire-waist dresses to wear, because her bump was coming out in front!

Filming of the movie started when Witherspoon was already five months pregnant, but thanks to the excellent costume department, the low lighting of the sumptuous flick, and the requirement of standing behind furniture or not being filmed below the waist, and one could hardly tell that the Oscar-winner was on baby number two! Although we must admit, owing to the cut of the dresses, the lowness of the neckline, and the required having chest for the social-climbing Becky Sharp, we can't imagine that many eyes were on Witherspoon's barely-there belly at all!

5 Scarlett Johansson, The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Only the second woman on our list to kick some major butt in a form-fitting suit while pregnant, Scarlett Johansson has definitely shocked at least a few people when it was revealed that she was carrying daughter Rose while filming part of The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Like Halle Berry, Johansson's scenes were rushed to be filmed first, including scenes that had her riding a motorcycle - something that's not usually doctor-approved for a pregnant woman. However, as Johansson became more visibly pregnant, some movie magic had to be called in. The actress had three stand-ins for various scenes in the film, who would wear dotted maps on their face, guiding visual effects artists to graft Johansson's face onto their bodies in post-production! While she may not have been around for all of the scenes, including reshoots, it's still pretty impressive that the critically-acclaimed actress was able to kill in while in mommy mode!

4 Halle Berry, X-Men: Days of Future Past

Halle Berry looks better on her worst days than most of us do on our best, so it should surprise exactly no one that the Oscar winner was able to look her usual glam and gorgeous self despite being pregnant on the set of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

When Berry found out that she was three months along while on set, her role in the film had to be reduced drastically in order to accommodate her pregnancy. However, that didn't stop her from rocking a skintight suit as superhero Storm and making us all jealous in the process! (If it makes you feel better, though, Berry admitted that it became difficult to slip into the outfit after about two weeks.) Since she was on the verge of busting out of the suit, the director and producers fast-tracked all of Berry's scenes in order to ensure that the actress was in the film as much as they wanted her. Her second child, son Maceo, was born in October 2013.

3 Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Seinfeld

Thank God for the baggy clothes of the '90s! Otherwise, how else would Julia Louis-Dreyfus been able to hide her growing baby bump? The actress was actually pregnant twice during Seinfeld's 10-season run, but you never would've guessed it, thanks to loads of layers, baggy clothing, and the convenient camera tricks that would always keep Louis-Dreyfus holding something or in front of something.

Traditional methods that have been used since 1950s television were trotted out to cover up Louis-Dreyfus' baby bump, the first of which happened in season three, with son Henry and then later in season eight, with son Charlie. While the first time around, no mention was made of her character Elaine's weight gain (not that you would have noticed it anyway), by baby number two, a couple cracks were added about “Elaine's” growing figure. Hey, if it becomes a little obvious the second time around, then you owe it to the audience to at least say something!

2 Helena Bonham-Carter, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

When you get pregnant before starting to film a movie, it helps if the director is the person you're having a baby with. Such was the case for Helena Bonham-Carter in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which was directed by her then-partner Tim Burton.

Thanks to the help of tight corsets, which were able to conceal Bonham-Carter's burgeoning bump, and some moody lighting, audiences barely noticed that the actress was coming along in her pregnancy. However, one thing might have stood out to the trained eye: Bonham-Carter's chest. Throughout the film (owing to it being shot out of order), her chest size goes up and down! Bonham-Carter addressed the issue, saying, “I have my usual tangerines and I walk around the corner and suddenly they're melons.”

Like most women, Bonham-Carter says she suffered some nausea during filming, which she chalks up to all the singing and dancing she did. Ah, celebrities, they're just like us!

1 Claire Danes, Homeland

Rather than use props to hide her growing baby bump, on the season two set of Homeland, directors simply shot around lead actress Claire Danes' belly! Danes herself considered the season to be one of the most physically demanding shoots she's ever done (and girl has been around for a couple decades), especially considering that, at one point, she was seven and a half months pregnant!

“I was kidnapped, I was chained to a pipe, it was 4am, I was seven and a half months pregnant, and I was like, “This sucks”.” In addition to her action-packed scenes, Danes also had a few love scenes she had to do while hosting a big pregnant belly, which she described as “really unpleasant”. Thanks to some clever angles and - when her belly became too big to avoid - some CGI trickery, viewers had no clue that Danes was on the brink of giving birth to son Cyrus.