Born Jo Raquel Tejada, Raquel Welch was welcomed to the world on September 5th, 1940. Welch’s father was a Bolivian engineer, and her mother’s parents had English ancestry. The family moved from Illinois to San Diego when Welch was just two years old. Interestingly enough, Welch’s cousin — Lidia Gueiler Tejada — became the first female president of Bolivia. It’s clear that talent runs in the Tejada family! Welch attended church with her mother as a child and took an interest in performing from an early age.

Welch studied ballet for ten years until she gave it up when she turned 17. Sadly, her dance teacher told her she didn’t have the correct body shape for ballet. Regardless, Welch was a beautiful child and had already scooped up a handful of beauty titles. When she was just 14, Welch won Miss Photogenic, and Miss Contour. While attending high school she won both Miss La Jolla and Miss San Diego. After winning multiple titles, Welch went on to become Maid of California.

Welch went on to graduate high-school in 1958, during which time her parents separated. However, Welch went looking for an acting career and enrolled in San Diego State College to study theater arts. Just one year later, in 1959, she married her high school sweetheart, James Welch. Welch acted in several local theater productions but eventually gave up her drama classes. She got a job as a weather forecaster on a local San Diego TV station and separated from her husband.

At this point — with two children — Raquel Welch moved to Dallas, where she worked as a cocktail waitress and a model. She then picked herself up again and moved back to Los Angeles in 1963. Welch started auditioning for film roles when she met Hollywood agent Patrick Curtis. Curtis became Welch’s manager, and the pair planned to turn her into a Hollywood symbol. They decided to keep Welch’s married name in order to avoid her getting cast solely in Latina roles.

Welch started picking up work, with small roles in films including A House Is Not a Home and Roustabout, both in 1964. Welch also featured on a variety of television shows including The Virginian, Bewitched, and McHale’s Navy. Her first featured role came around in 1965 in the beach film A Swingin’ Summer. People in Hollywood were starting to notice Welch, including the wife of a producer who recommended her to 20th Century Fox. With the help of her manager, she landed a contract.

Welch agreed to a seven-year non-exclusive contract with 20th Century Fox, including five movies over five years. Initially, the studio executives wanted to change the actress’s name, fearing audiences wouldn’t be able to pronounce Raquel. Welch stuck to her guns, though, and refused to change her given name. Executives discussed changing her name to ‘Debbie,’ but thankfully the actress put her foot down. In 1966, Welch secured the leading role in sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage. It was a hit, and she became an instant star.

The most famous image of Welch is still used to promote the Don Chaffey-directed film One Million Years B.C. Welch was loaned to Hammer Studios by Fox Studios in order to lead the film. Famously, Welch’s only costume in the movie is a two-piece deerskin bikini, described as the “definitive look of the sixties.” Welch’s costume in this iconic image has been described as “mankind’s first bikini,” and catapulted the actress into super-stardom. The New York Times called Welch “a marvelous breathing monument to womankind.”

Raquel Welch in a deerskin bikini is a truly iconic image, but Welch only had three lines in the film itself. Curtis and Welsh’s plan of turning the actress into an iconic symbol had really paid off. Welch was now a genuine Hollywood pin-up. In fact, she became a leading woman for the entire era. Welch’s image was turned into posters, and soon she was known all over the world. To broaden her appeal, Welch continued to star in different films…

Due to her stunning good looks, Raquel Welch was highly underestimated by some in Hollywood. When she starred in British spy movie Fathom in 1967, cast and crew members would often question her intelligence. Welch herself stated that her role in Fathom was “a blown-up Barbie Doll,” as she was cast solely for her jaw-dropping beauty. Many films of the time didn’t have well-developed roles for women. A film critic writing for the Los Angeles Times commented that Welch was “born to be photographed.”

Also in 1967, Welch starred alongside Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the Stanley Donen-directed comedy Bedazzled, which saw her play and embody the deadly sin Lillian Lust. She appeared in Bandolero in 1968 and much preferred her character as it wasn’t like the stereotypical bimbo roles she had landed in the past. Welch acted opposite some serious legends of the silver screen including James Stewart, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. In fact, she was so smitten by Sinatra that she occasionally forgot to act!

Welch has appeared in some movies that were controversial at the time. Her film, 100 Rifles, faced serious public attention because it showed a love scene between people of different races. Shockingly, during the late 1960s, this was still taboo in Hollywood. Raquel Welch’s most controversial role was in the 1970 movie Myra Breckinridge. Welch hoped the role would encourage people to take her more seriously as an actress, but the film was a flop.

Despite what some directors advised, Welch stood her ground and never fully exposed herself on camera. She was named Playboy’s “Most Desired Woman” in 1970 and even hosted the Academy Awards several times. By the early seventies, the actress had become a household name. Raquel Welch’s most controversial role was in the 1970 movie Myra Breckinridge. Welch hoped the role would encourage people to take her more seriously as an actress, but the film was a flop.

Did you know that Raquel Welch almost played Alexis Carrington on Dynasty? The actress auditioned along with Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren for the coveted role. Of course, the role went to the inimitable Joan Collins. However, Welch did star in Women of the Year on Broadway and was praised for her work in the title role. She acted in The Legend of Walks Far Woman in 1982, and was also due to star in an adaptation of Cannery Row the same year.

Welch went on to star in a host of movies throughout the 1970s. Between 1970 and 1975 she starred in The Beloved, Hannie Caulder, Kansas City Bomber, The Last of Sheila, The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, and The Wild Party. Welch saw her life reflected in some of her movies. For example, she played a single mother roller-derby star in Kansas City Bomber. The actress remarked that the female characters in the film are controlled by unseen men, as in Hollywood.

The adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row brought about serious issues for Raquel Welch. The actress was suddenly fired just a few weeks into production for the film. The studio claimed that Welch was breaching her contract and refusing to arrive for early morning rehearsals. However, Welch fought back and sued the studio for ageism. As an actress who was over forty years old, the producers were trying to push her out. Welch proved her case at trial and ultimately won over $10 million dollars in 1986.

Not surprisingly, the movie industry didn’t respond well to being taken to task over their actions. The trial proved that there was a conspiracy to falsely blame Raquel Welch for the film’s delays and budgetary issues. As a result, Welch was blacklisted, and her career was instantly impacted. Speaking about the case, Welch stated, “I just wanted to clear my reputation and get back to my work, my work in movies.” Despite her newfound reputation, Welch did star in Right to Die in 1987.

Over the next few years, Welch starred in several films and TV shows. The actress even released a single in 1987 called “This Girl’s Back in Town.” Amazingly, Welch’s single got to number 29 on Billboard’s dance club chart. Between the late ’80s and early ’90s, Welch appeared in Scandal in a Small Town, Trouble in Paradise, Torch Song, and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. You can even spot Welch in a ’90s episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Since she wasn’t getting top movie roles anymore, Welch decided to capitalize on the 1980s fitness boom. This was the decade of the celebrity fitness video with offerings from Jane Fonda, Heather Locklear, Alyssa Milano, and Debbie Reynolds. Of course, with her pin-up looks and incredible body, it made sense that Welch would branch out into other areas. The actress had been admired and ogled for her entire career, and in her early 40’s, she was still in amazing shape.

In 1984 the actress launched The Raquel Welch Total Beauty and Fitness Program. The program, written by Welch herself, included videos and books. It included hatha yoga, information on Welch’s views on healthy living and nutrition, and even behind-the-scenes tips on style and beauty. Yoga was relatively new in the 1980s, so many people were introduced to the ancient practice through Raquel Welch’s books and videos. The program was a huge hit, and the book became a bestseller.

Despite being a Hollywood icon and pin-up throughout her career, Raquel Welch never did fully expose herself. Welch posed for Playboy in 1979, and made her name in a deerskin bikini, but she considers herself understated in her personal life. In an interview, the actress revealed that she was not brought up to be that kind of symbol “nor is it in my nature to be one. The fact that I became one is probably the loveliest, most glamorous, and fortunate misunderstanding.”

Welch didn’t stop after her hugely successful series of fitness books and videos. The actress branched out into other areas and became a successful businesswoman. In 2007, cosmetics company MAC picked Welch to be the newest face of their Beauty Icon series. The Raquel Welch line features limited-edition cosmetics in sleek black and tiger-print packaging. The collection was described as “strong and wild, yet sultry and exotic.” Welch was thrilled with the collection, especially because she prides herself on doing her own makeup.

Raquel Welch’s most successful business venture by far is her signature line of wigs. In fact, Welch could even be described as a wig mogul. Raquel Welch Wigs is one of the best-known brands in the wig world and has made the actress a huge amount of money. It’s estimated that the actress’s net worth is around $30 million dollars. Arguably, the name Raquel Welch is much more recognizable today in the wig world than it was in the film world.

Just like the previous era’s bombshell Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch traveled overseas to entertain U.S. troops. Welch traveled to Vietnam along with British-American comedian and actor, Bob Hope. You can watch one of Welch and Hope’s shows for U.S. soldiers in Bob Hope’s 1967 Christmas Special. Welch appeared on stage to rapturous applause with her signature bouffant hairstyle. Performing in front of a brass band, the actress sang “Different Drum” and danced along in knee-high white boots and a blue mini skirt.

Raquel Welch has received several awards throughout her career. In 1975, the actress won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in The Three Musketeers. In 1983, she won the Western Heritage Awards and in 1987, she was nominated for another Golden Globe for the TV-film Right to Die. In 1996, the actress received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You can find Welch’s star at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.

Throughout her life, Raquel Welch has been married four times. She first married her high-school sweetheart, James Welch, in 1959, and fell pregnant just a year after graduating from high-school. However, their marriage fell apart by 1964. In interviews, Welch has expressed her regret for ending her marriage with Welch. The actress has said that she wished she had tried harder to make the marriage work. She has even said that her childhood sweetheart was the best of her four husbands.

Welch went on to marry her manager, Patrick Curtis, in 1967 but that marriage ended five years later. Welch has since described her relationship with Curtis as an unhappy one, accusing him of being manipulative and controlling. The actress got married for the third time in 1980 — this time to French-American television producer and journalist André Weinfeld. A longer relationship than her previous two marriages, Welch and Weinfeld stayed together for 10 years, before separating in 1990.

In 1997, Raquel met her fourth husband, the L.A.-based restaurateur Richard Palmer. At the time, Palmer was engaged but he left his fiancé to be with Welch. The actress was 15 years older than Palmer but that didn’t stop them from tying the knot in 1999. Their union lasted nine years, before ending in 2008. Since then, Welch has commented that she doesn’t intend to get married again. The actress insists that she’s just fine without a man.

There have always been rumors and speculation that Raquel Welch has had cosmetic surgery to achieve her famous figure. Welch measured 37-24-36, and a Hollywood urban legend even suggested that the actress had some of her lower ribs removed to make her waist smaller. Welch has always denied these allegations and insisted that her body is all-natural. However, thanks to comparisons with some old photos, it is now widely believed that Welch had a nose job before moving to Hollywood.

Welch got pregnant just a year after graduating from high school. After leaving her first husband, the actress was a single mother to two young children. Welch worked as a model and a cocktail waitress during this time and eventually moved to L.A. to pursue her acting career. Welch, along with second husband and manager Patrick Curtis, didn’t promote the fact that she was a young mother. After all, it didn’t fit in with the actress’s bombshell image.

Welch was catapulted to global fame thanks to the iconic image of her in a deerskin bikini in adventure fantasy film One Million Years B.C. Welch was reluctant about being involved in the film, seeing it as “a bad monster movie.” Welch thought nobody would see the movie, but a publicity image of Welch in her famous bikini had created a huge stir. When she returned from shooting in the Canary Islands, Raquel Welch found out that she had become extremely famous.

In 2010, the iconic actress and businesswoman finally decided to tell her story, in her own words, with an autobiography. In her memoir, the actress speaks about her Hollywood career, her relationships, and being a mother. The book covers style, health, love, body image, aging, and family. In the book, Welch gives tips for staying positive in your 50’s, and even opens up about menopause. Best of all, she divulges her best hair and beauty tips.

In 1966, Raquel Welch and second husband Patrick Curtis appeared at the Royal Command Film Performance in London. The pair went out of their way to make sure that the stunning actress was the center of attention and by the next day, she was on the front page of every newspaper. With her olive-brown skin glowing in a beautiful white dress, Welch lined up to shake hands with the Queen. Welch purposely angled herself in front of the photographers, and it worked!

Most of us have seen Raquel Welch’s famous bikini picture somewhere or other, but did you know that it appears in an Oscar-nominated movie? Well, if you’re a fan of the critically-acclaimed film The Shawshank Redemption, then you’ll have seen Welch on Andy Dufresne’s wall. Spoiler alert! For those that have seen the classic film, protagonist Andy Dufrense escapes through a hole in the wall that he covers with a poster. That poster? It’s pin-up Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.

Raquel Welch has two children from her first marriage with high-school sweetheart James Welch. The actress’s son, Damon Welch, was born in 1959 and her daughter, Latanne Rene Welch, arrived in 1961. Welch’s daughter, now known as Tahnee Welch, went on to be an actress like her mother. Tahnee also posed for Playboy in their 1995 issue. Damon married the daughter of English cricketer Fred Trueman, but the couple parted ways after two years.

Women are still fighting for leading roles in movies of all genres. However, Raquel Welch was one of the earliest and only actresses to have a lead role in a Western. British movie Hannie Caulder was released in 1971 and featured Welch as a frontier wife turned gunfighter. Acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino has said that Hannie Caulder was one of his inspirations for the 2003 martial arts film Kill Bill. Without Raquel Welch, we may never have had Uma Thurman dressed in a yellow latex jumpsuit wielding a sword.

Incredibly, much of what we think of as beautiful has been influenced by Raquel Welch. As a prominent pin-up and Hollywood symbol, Welch has contributed hugely to the contemporary feminine ideal. When we think of beauty, we think of something like her. In earlier eras, the blonde bombshell was the most celebrated type of female beauty. Stars like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield dazzled in the late 1950s. In the ’60s and ’70s, though, Welch brought in the era of the smoldering brunette.

Amazingly, Welch doesn’t just profit from her wig company but gives back to society too. Each year, Raquel Welch Wigs donates up to $1 million worth of wigs to the American Cancer Society. The actress has had time to reflect on what she can do for others. She said that she’s “made a concerted effort to think about what I have to do for other people, what I owe, what my part is in whatever relationship or situation I find myself in.”

In the late ’60s, Raquel Welsh was one of the most photographed women on the planet. She was on the front cover of magazines all over the world, and constantly hounded by paparazzi. At one point, there was an offer of one million Italian lire for a photograph of the actress’s children. When Welch was staying in Rome, paparazzi staked out her home, tried to scale the walls, and attempted to bribe her staff. Hilariously, the actress soaked the photographers with a water gun.

Raquel Welsh pops up in all sorts of media from the late ’90s onwards. After playing Sabrina Spellman’s flashy aunt in Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Welch made an appearance in the hit comedy series Seinfield. You can catch Raquel Welch in the iconic 2001 film Legally Blonde, where she plays Mrs. Windham-Vandermark opposite Reese Witherspoon. More recently, Welch starred in the 2017 sitcom Date My Dad and the in 2017 comedy movie How to Be a Latin Lover.

On the morning of February 15th, 2023, Raquel Welch passed away at the age of 82. She passed peacefully in her home in LA, after being ill for a short time. Welch’s career spanned over 50 years and included more than 70 movies and TV shows.

She’s survived by her millions of fans and her two children, 61-year-old Latanne Rene “Tahnee” Welch and 63-year-old Damon Welch. The world will most certainly miss the icon that was Raquel Welch.

There’s no denying that actress Scarlett Johansson is a bombshell — women envy her curves and guys obsess over them. With that being said, you’d think she would have no problem wearing a skin-tight lycra bodysuit for her portrayal as Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron. It turns out that Johansson had gotten pregnant right before filming started. Not only did the filmmakers fast-track certain scenes but they also hired three different stunt doubles for action scenes that Johansson had to shoot. For the most part, the director was successful in hiding Johansson’s pregnancy although you can actually peep her baby bump in the picture below.

There’s no denying that Sex and the City‘s Carrie Bradshaw has flawless style and there’s no one better for the part than actress Sarah Jessica Parker. During season five, Parker was pregnant with son James Wilkie Broderick. To hide her bump, the wardrobe department went all out, which resulted in what can be considered the world’s most fabulous maternity-esque wardrobe. Although Carrie looked absolutely flawless, HBO ultimately cut the season in half to give Parker — and the costume department — a break.

Let’s be real here — there isn’t anyone better fit for the part of Olivia Pope than actress Kerry Washington. With that being said, it makes sense that Scandal still had to continue despite the fact that Washington became pregnant during the third season. The writers opted out of making Olivia pregnant and instead found different tricks to conceal Washington’s growing bump. During an interview with ABC, the actress revealed that her crew was able to tactfully hide her belly “behind flowers, behind Prada purses, behind big coats and capes.”

Will & Grace is an NBC hit show that originally aired from 1998 to 2006, ending after a total of eight seasons before making a comeback in 2017. In the first few seasons of the show, Debra Messing’s character — Grace Adler — wore tighter clothing. It wasn’t until season 6 that Grace’s style changed significantly to baggier clothing in order to hide Messing’s actual growing belly. During this season, Messing is also usually holding something in front of her to hide her baby bump even more. Some shots of her seem to be a little more obvious than others…

Let’s be real here — Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman was already pretty epic. Now, add the fact that the Israeli actress was actually five months pregnant while filming the superhero blockbuster and you’re absolutely mind-blown, right? Although she wasn’t carrying during the initial photography shoots, she did have to return to the London soundstage to reshoot some scenes and at this point. Because Gadot was very much showing at that point, the wardrobe department had to adjust her costume to hide her belly.

Marcia Cross is best known for playing roles on various daytime soap operas. She gained higher recognition as the conservative housewife, Bree Van de Kamp, on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. While filming the third season of the show, Cross was actually expecting twins. The showrunners not only shot the actress mostly from the waist up but they also had her use different props to conceal her steadily growing stomach until it became far too obvious that she was pregnant. That’s when they decided that Cross’ character would fake a pregnancy towards the end of the season.

Into the Woods is a musical-fantasy film based on Stephen Sondheim’s 1986 Broadway musical. When it came time to shoot the movie, actress Emily Blunt — who played the baker’s wife — was already seven months pregnant. Since Blunt’s character wasn’t supposed to be pregnant, production had to find a way in order to conceal the actress’s baby bump. According to Blunt’s co-star Meryl Streep, “they were constantly putting James Corden [the Baker] in front of her belly, raising her apron higher and higher.” When that didn’t work, though, they used a few other tricks. “I was hiding behind every tree in that wood!” Blunt revealed in an interview.

Angelina Jolie’s 5’7 stature and thin frame made it easier to hide her pregnancy while she was filming Clint Eastwood’s emotionally grueling 2008 drama, The Changeling. The award-winning actress kept her pregnancy a secret until close to the end of the shoot. Despite the fact that Jolie already had four kids at the time, her role as a grieving mother who loses her son made the actress want to become a mom again. She got her wish just months after the film wrapped when she and her then-husband Brad Pitt welcomed twins, Vivienne and Knox.

It turns out that the Jemima Kirke, Jessa on HBO’s hit show Girls, spent much of her time shooting while pregnant. Although Kirke was ready to pass on the role of Jessa because she wasn’t back to her pre-pregnancy figure, Lena Dunham convinced her to shoot the show’s pilot just 20 months after having her daughter. Then, Kirke announced that she was carrying again during the second season. Luckily, the creators had some experience in hiding Kirke’s postpartum belly during the pilot so they used the same tricks while filming season two — hiding her belly under flowy gowns that suited her character.

Reese Witherspoon is an award-winning actress, producer, and entrepreneur. While filming Mira Nair’s 2004 historical drama Vanity Fair, Witherspoon was actually pregnant with her second child with actor and then-husband Ryan Phillippe. In order to hide her growing baby bump, Witherspoon’s character — Becky Sharp — wore lots of dark, flowy, empire-waist gowns that were actually perfect for concealing her pregnancy. The film’s aesthetics, with a combination of rich sets and low lighting, gave Witherspoon plenty of ways to hide her belly while filming her scenes.

Based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War, Homeland is an American spy thriller series starring Claire Danes as CIA operative Carrie Mathison. Like Carrie, it’s clear that Danes doesn’t play around. How do we know? Well, when Danes became pregnant with her and husband Hugh Dancy’s child while shooting the second season of the show, she continued to work and had producers photoshop her pregnant belly when it started becoming a bit too obvious. We think it’s safe to say that both Carrie and Danes are empowered women who mean business.

Ellen Pompeo is an award-winning actress who gained worldwide recognition for — you guessed it — Dr. Meredith Grey on ABC’s popular medical drama Grey’s Anatomy. While filming the sixth season of the long-running series, Pompeo was actually pregnant with her and husband Chris Ivery’s first child. It was thanks to shapeless scrubs and creative angles that Pompeo was able to get away with her pregnancy. When her belly got too big to hide, though, producers had her character donate part of her liver to her father, which allowed the actress to take time off the show as Meredith went home to recuperate.

There’s really no denying that Mad Men‘s Betty Draper is known for being well-dressed and well-coiffed. A vain woman, Betty cares very much about her looks and weight. When the actress who played her (January Jones) became pregnant before filming the fifth season, the show writers had to figure out a way to make it work. Rather than minimizing her growing belly under layers of clothes, the writers decided to put Betty through her own worst nightmare by making her overweight. That’s right — they slapped a fat suit on Jones who was already carrying a baby. We guess show business ain’t always so glamorous after all.

Known for her eccentric and unconventional sense of fashion, Helen Bonham Carter is an award-winning English actress. After signing on to make Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Carter found out that she was pregnant. Of course, it didn’t hurt that director Tim Burton was her long term life partner at this point. To conceal Carter’s growing belly, Burton fast-tracked the production before it became too obvious that the actress was carrying. Wardrobe and dim lighting did the rest.

You may recognize Anna Chlumsky as the lovable Vada Sultenfuss from 1991’s My Girl. After taking a hiatus to attend college, Chlumsky returned to the entertainment industry. From 2012 to 2019, Chlumsky portrayed Amy Brookheimer on the HBO television series Veep. While filming the second season of the political satire, Chlumsky found out she was pregnant. By the time they shot the last episode of the season, showrunners had to get a little creative in order to hide the actress’s growing belly. Luckily, “it took place in the winter so everyone’s wearing jackets anyway,” according to Chlumsky herself.

When you’re a real-life goddess, like Halle Berry, skin-tight suits aren’t usually a problem. Well, that is until she found out she was pregnant while filming X-Men: The Days of Future Past. At this point, she was already a few months into her first trimester so it makes sense a good portion of her scenes were fast-tracked. During an interview on the Queen Latifah Show, the award-winning actress revealed that because she was that far along in her pregnancy, “it was different. I had to shoot really fast. Two weeks was about as much as I could do before I was busting out of the suit.”

Jane Krakowski is an award-winning actress and singer best known for her portrayal as Jenna Maroney on NBC’s comedy series 30 Rock. When the 51-year-old actress became pregnant while filming the sixth season of the show, Tina Fey and the rest of the 30 Rock crew decided against writing that into the storyline because as they put it, “no child should have Jenna Maroney for a mother.” Instead, they concealed Krakowski’s stomach with big coats and even a giant dog costume.

When actress Kelly Rutherford — Lily van der Woodsen on The CW’s Gossip Girl — became pregnant while filming the second season, show creators decided against making her character pregnant as well. After all, Serena and Eric wouldn’t be too pleased to find out that their three-time divorcée mother is having another child. Instead, the wardrobe department dressed Rutherford in oversized sweaters, gowns, and scarves. Plus, they had her carry massive handbags and newspapers to conceal her growing bump.

And Homeland had yet another pregnancy that they found a way to hide. When Brazilian-born actress Morena Baccarin became pregnant while shooting the third season of the series, producers used “state-of-the-art technology and cunning filming techniques” to conceal the baby bump aside from using a body double. According to the actress, she was a little apprehensive when it came to telling the showrunners that she was pregnant because she “had a sense of responsibility to my job.” Luckily, though, they found a way…

When New Girl‘s Zooey Deschanel became pregnant while filming season 5, writers needed to find a way to hide her growing baby bump. That’s when they sent her off on jury duty for a few episodes and we have to say that the juror’s bench concealed her belly rather well, actually. Since the show didn’t stop there, though, Deschanel’s character was sequestered when it was actually time for the actress to give birth. Rather than just relying on the already established cast to fill in, producers brought Megan Fox to live in Jess’ apartment while she was away.

There’s no denying that the medical drama series ER depicted many pregnant characters especially when you consider the fact that the show ran for 15 years. Still, pregnancy for Parminder Nagra’s character wasn’t necessarily a vision that the showrunners had, which is why they found a number of ways to hide the actress’s real-life baby bump. Aside from wearing loose scrubs — ya know — because her character is a doctor, Negra concealed her belly behind different props including X-ray film and medical carts.

When actress Melissa Fumero became pregnant while shooting season 7 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the show’s writers and producers didn’t even try to hide her belly from viewers. Instead, they used her baby bump to their advantage by writing a storyline in which Fumero’s character — Amy Santiago — pretends to be pregnant as a part of her disguise when she’s sent to a women’s prison as part of an undercover operation. During an interview with People magazine, Fumero revealed that her baby “was born, like, five days after we wrapped. I don’t recommend it.” Kudos to you, Melissa!

When How I Met Your Mother‘s Cobie Smulders — who plays Robin Scherbatsky — told producers that she was pregnant with her and husband Taran Killam’s baby while filming season 4, they opted to hide her pregnancy rather than writing it into the show. This meant that the Smulders, as well as the showrunners, had to heavily rely on the wardrobe and props department in order to conceal her steadily growing baby bump! Aside from wearing looser clothing, Smulders hid her belly behind big purses, newspapers, and shopping bags.

This may come as a surprise but actress Blake Lively was actually pregnant with her and husband Ryan Reynolds’ child while she was filming the 2016 shark horror film The Shallows. Not only was she in a bathing suit for most of the film but she also filmed most of the stunt-heavy scenes herself. How can anyone be that perfect?! Anyway, the Gossip Girl star was newly pregnant so she was barely showing. As filming went on and her belly continued to grow, the film’s post-production team used CGI to make her character’s body look consistently trim.

Actress Kristen Bell played Jeannie van der Hooven on House of Lies. While shooting the second season of the series, Bell revealed that she was pregnant with her and husband Dax Shepard’s first child. Being that Bell’s character, Jeannie, was very romantically active at that point, she was in no position to have a child so the filmmakers completely took out her baby bump using CGI. By the time Bell had gotten pregnant for the second time, her character had evolved and was ready for children of her own so the filmmakers worked Bell’s belly into the plot.

Kate Winslet is an English actress who’s especially known for her work in period dramas including films like Titanic. The award-winning actress also happened to play the main antagonist in the first two films of The Divergent trilogy. While filming 2014’s Divergent, Winslet was actually five months pregnant. In order to conceal her baby bump, the wardrobe team dressed Winslet’s character in lots of black clothing. They also strategically placed iPads and folders in front of her belly.

There’s no doubt that the hit ’90s sitcom Seinfeld just wouldn’t be the same without the lovable Elaine. With that being said, the show had to continue even when the actress that played Elaine — Julia Louis-Dreyfus — was pregnant…twice. During an interview with Vogue, Julia actually revealed that all of the “oversized clothing was helpful to me as a pregnant person, both getting more and more pregnant, and then becoming less and less pregnant after giving birth, you know ’cause it takes a little time to get your body shape back.”

Spoiler alert(s) ahead! Actress Angela Kinsey played the uptight and judgemental Angela Martin on the American mockumentary sitcom The Office. During season 4, Kinsey became pregnant. Although her character becomes pregnant with Dwight Schrute’s baby a few years later, the writers chose to conceal Kinsey’s actual pregnancy behind swan-shaped ice sculptures and shooting her from the waist up. At this point, Dunder Mifflin’s head of accounting was cheating on Andy with Dwight so we think it’s safe to say that writing a baby into the show would have been pretty dramatic. Then again, that could have also made for yet another unforgettable episode…

Isla Fisher is an Australian actress known for her roles in films like Wedding Crashers, The Great Gatsby, and Now You See Me. While filming the 2010 John Landis-directed comedy Burke and Hare, Fisher became pregnant with her and husband Sacha Baron Cohen’s second child. Considering that the film is set in 1828, Fisher’s costumes actually worked in her favor, although she was only a few months along. Still, the wardrobe department dressed the Aussie in Regency-era layers of gowns, capes, and fur hand warmers.

Amy Poehler was in the middle of filming NBC’s sitcom Parks and Recreation. By the end of shooting season 2, the production team found out that the funny gal was pregnant with her and then-husband Will Arnett’s second son. They decided to shoot the first six episodes of the following season right then in order to avoid having to conceal her growing baby bump. As time went on, though, Poehler’s belly became more visible so they had to find ways to hide it. In an episode called “Time Capsule,” the creators used different props to hide Poehler’s showing stomach.

Call us crazy but isn’t it a little ironic that Courtney Cox got pregnant while filming the final season of Friends even though her character Monica isn’t able to have kids of her own? This meant it was vital for the show creators to find a way to conceal Cox’s growing baby bump whilst Monica and Chandler waited for their surrogate to give birth. If you take a closer look at the last season, you’ll notice that Cox is dressed in long, baggy tops and scarves. She’s also constantly shot behind objects like tables and even other characters on the show.

In case you didn’t know, Modern Family‘s Julie Bowen was actually pregnant during the pilot episode! Looking back at this episode, it’s almost hard not to notice that she was eight and a half months pregnant. She constantly hid herself behind baggier clothing, oversized couch pillows, and laundry hampers. Even though the actress was ready to pop at any point, she begged her representation and the show creators to let her have the role. She loved the script so much that she wasn’t about to let it go.

The Cosby Show‘s Phylicia Rashad was pregnant at the perfect time — during the ’80s when oversized shirts with shoulder pads were the total norm. The show’s creators didn’t have to do very much to conceal Rashad’s growing baby bump. Her character, Claire, didn’t have to change much about her wardrobe. Not only did the showrunners use different camera tricks to hide the actress’s belly but they also went the extra mile by scooping out the mattress of the set’s bed so her stomach wouldn’t show.

British actress Naomi Watts didn’t learn she was pregnant with her and then-partner Liev Schrieber’s second son until she was already three weeks into shooting David Cronenberg’s Russian-mob thriller Eastern Promises. The news only came after the award-winning actress decided to shoot her own stunts, like hopping on a motorcycle and driving through real traffic for a scene. Although Watts didn’t share her pregnancy with anyone on set at first, she “did have to tell them in the very end really because I didn’t want to do any more motorbike riding.

For all you Friends fans — this one’s for you! Being that it was such a unique sitcom for its time, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that the show’s creators had a unique way of handling Lisa Kudrow’s pregnancy when it came time to shoot the season. Rather than hiding Kudrow’s belly as they did with Courtney Cox in the very last season, the writers decided to make the pregnancy a part of the script, which is how Phoebe Buffet became a surrogate mother to her brother and his wife, eventually giving birth to triplets!

Although ABC’s television drama Mistresses only lasted four seasons, Alyssa Milano actually became pregnant while shooting the second season — something showrunners had to work around. They kept the actress’s pregnancy under wraps by having Milano’s character wear big purses and coats, or stand behind strategically-placed objects. During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Milano joked that “hiding the pregnancy is kind of always like a Saturday Night Live skit. My purses just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Once Upon a Time is an American fantasy-adventure drama that aired on ABC from 2011 to 2018. When actress Emilie de Ravin — who plays Belle on the show — found out that she was pregnant, writers and producers of the show didn’t really have much of an issue. Considering the nature of the show, they could easily just write the pregnancy into the storyline, and that’s exactly what they did. Because Belle was scared that Hades would take her baby away, she decided to put herself under a sleeping curse, which meant that Ravin could officially go on maternity leave.

So, it turns out that Cobie Smulders wasn’t the only actress on the set of How I Met Your Mother to conceal a baby bump. In fact, Alyson Hannigan, who plays Lily Aldrin, also revealed to producers that she was pregnant during the shoot of season 4. That’s right — Smulders and Hannigan were pregnant at the same time. Although the creators decided to hide Hannigan’s pregnancy as well, they did make references to her steadily growing belly when her character, Lily, wins a hotdog eating contest and shows off her “full belly.”

The Nanny is a classic sitcom starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine — a Jewish fashion queen from Flushing, New York who becomes the nanny to Maxwell Sheffield’s three children. Anyway, when actress Lauren Lane — who plays C.C. Babcock — became pregnant while shooting season 5, producers were stumped as they had never dealt with an issue like that before (after all, it was the ’90s). Since it didn’t really make sense for Lane’s character to be pregnant at that point, they decided not to add it to the storyline. Instead, they hid the actress’ belly behind props like this poster that ironically has the word ‘BABY’ written on it.

When The King of Queens’ Leah Remini got pregnant while shooting season 6, the writers didn’t want to write it into the show. Instead, they made her character — Carrie — unemployed and had the actress wear baggy clothes, like bathrobes and sweatpants, in order to make her pregnancy weight gain seem intentional. While the showrunners thought they might have gotten away with this, the storyline just didn’t make much sense considering that Remini’s character takes care of herself and wears form-fitting clothes.