It can be a bit of a situation for showrunners when the actors and their on-screen counterparts seem to be in different situations in life. The most prominent example of this is pregnancies. From FRIENDS to How I Met Your Mother, many popular shows and their actors have navigated this situation strategically, and Modern Family was no different.
Claire actress Julie Bowen was pregnant with twins in the very first episode of the show. If you couldn’t tell earlier, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. Apparently, many fans are finding out this interesting tidbit on their subsequent rewatch sprees.
Julie Bowen was pregnant in the Modern Family pilot episode
Modern Family did not fail to entertain the audience during its 11-year run. The show incorporated all elements of emotions from humor and fun to sentimental and heart-warming moments that made fans go, “Aww!” While we only got to see Gloria and Haley’s characters pregnant on-screen, actress Julie Bowen was actually pregnant in reality while filming the pilot episode.
In fact, she was pregnant even during the audition process for the show. The showrunners might have had some concerns regarding the same, but Bowen’s unparalleled skills and ability to channel her inner Claire must have won them over because she was cast in no time. Bowen recalled in an interview with People,
I was pregnant with twins, and I kept thinking they weren’t going to hire me. They kept bringing me in over and over and sort of staring at my humungous belly, and I thought, ‘I’m never getting this job.’
If you watch the Modern Family pilot episode more closely, you’d notice Claire hiding her belly very strategically in all the scenes she’s in, from a laundry basket or folded clothes to a pie and other household items. This actually worked out in favor of the show since it conveyed how Claire likes to keep busy and immersed in household chores.
It further helped establish Claire’s urge to keep things organized and streamlined. Redditors are now noticing how the showrunners played this move cleverly. Bowen was over 8 months along during the pilot episode, and gave birth to her twins soon after.
Julie Bowen struggled with an eating disorder
When Bowen was a teen, she had trouble separating her emotions from her eating habits, which led to an eating disorder. Back then, she used to fuss over her weight and appearance a bit more than what was needed, and eventually gave her a complex about food. She called it a coping mechanism as she spoke about the same on The Tamron Hall Show,
We didn’t talk about anything, and it just sort of felt like… dirty. And I realized, when you’re really starving, you don’t have any feelings. It’s kind of amazing. The body goes, ‘We don’t have time for that.’ So I think it was a coping mechanism.
Fans speculate if something like this helped her lose all the baby weight after giving birth. In the second episode of Modern Family, Bowen seems to be completely back in shape, leaving no trace of her recent pregnancy. However, the actress still had concerns since the paparazzi never left her alone following the Modern Family fame and even showed her in a bad light.
Nevertheless, Bowen has since moved on and adorned tougher skin to let the haters not bother her. She will next be seen in the upcoming sequel of Happy Gilmore alongside Adam Sandler.
Modern Family is streaming on Hulu.
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