Celeb Mamas Who Worked While Pregnant: See Their Baby Bumps!
In 1997, as Lisa Kudrow navigated the fourth season of the hit sitcom Friends, she was also experiencing a significant personal event: pregnancy. Rather than conceal the reality, producers opted to incorporate Kudrow’s pregnancy into the show’s storyline, crafting a narrative where her character, Phoebe Buffay, became a surrogate for her brother, Frank Jr., and his wife, Alice.
Kudrow’s experience is not unique. Across decades of television production, numerous actresses have found themselves pregnant while filming popular series. Gillian Anderson, known for her role as Dana Scully in The X-Files, was pregnant during the show’s second season. The writers addressed this by creating a storyline involving Scully’s abduction, a plot point that allowed Anderson to temporarily step away from filming. According to BuzzFeed, David Duchovny was the first member of the X-Files team to learn of Anderson’s pregnancy, with Anderson confiding in him due to her initial apprehension about informing producers.
The approach to handling on-screen pregnancies has varied. While some productions, like Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, have integrated the pregnancy into the narrative, others have opted for concealment. Melissa Fumero of Brooklyn Nine-Nine experienced this firsthand, with her first pregnancy hidden from view. However, her second pregnancy was written into the show, with her character, Amy Santiago, becoming pregnant in Season 7. Initially, writers considered a longer arc focusing on fertility struggles, but ultimately shortened the storyline upon learning of Fumero’s real-life pregnancy.
Phylicia Rashad, celebrated for her portrayal of Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, also continued working through pregnancy. Rashad, whose career spans stage and screen, served as dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University until her contract concluded in May 2024, according to Wikipedia.
The decision to write a pregnancy into a show, conceal it, or create a temporary storyline to accommodate an actress’s absence often depends on the creative direction of the series and the willingness of producers to adapt. In some cases, as with Kaitlin Olson on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the pregnancy became the catalyst for a latest plotline, with the show exploring the question of the child’s paternity. Rob McElhenney, Olson’s husband and a co-creator of the series, explained to TV Guide that embracing the pregnancy was the most realistic approach, given the difficulty of concealing it.
Lisa Kudrow’s son, Julian Murray Stern, accompanied her to the 2021 Friends reunion special. Following the event, Julian expressed his pride in his mother, a moment Kudrow described as deeply emotional during an appearance on Conan. Kudrow and her son have also made several red carpet appearances together over the years, including at the season 3 premiere of her show, The Comeback, on March 19.