How Julia Louis-Dreyfus Hid Being Pregnant As Elaine In Seinfeld

Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) might not become a mother on "Seinfeld," but the actress behind everyone's favorite Pendant Publishing editor was pregnant twice during her nine years on the hit sitcom. Louis-Dreyfus sported a baby bump while filming Seasons 3 and 8, but thanks to some creative cover-ups, it went virtually unnoticed on-screen.

In an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Louis-Dreyfus said, "I gained a lot of weight when I was pregnant, I'm gonna tell you, like 40 pounds. And I'm 5-foot-3, that's a lot of weight, so we had to hide that. And so I wore just a lot of oversized clothing to try to cover it up."

There was talk of simply incorporating her second real-life pregnancy into "Seinfeld," which would help avoid big clothes, bags, and other objects. However, Louis-Dreyfus didn't exactly love Jerry Seinfeld's suggestion on how to do it: write a storyline about Elaine gaining weight. At the time, Louis-Dreyfus burst into tears, overcome with feelings of humiliation. But now, she feels a little differently. "In his defense, I think it's actually a great idea and I should've embraced it, but I was so self-conscious about getting huge that there was no way that was gonna happen," she said.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus isn't the only actress to have her real-life pregnancy hidden on-camera because it didn't align with her character's plotline. A prime example is Courteney Cox, who was expecting while filming the 10th and final season of "Friends." Since Monica Geller's inability to have children is a major storyline, it wouldn't have made sense to suddenly switch gears. Similar to the wardrobe of Elaine Benes (Louis-Dreyfus), Monica can be seen sporting uncharacteristically oversized button-downs during the final episodes of the series.

Another example is Phylicia Rashad, who was pregnant while filming the third season of "The Cosby Show." In an effort to maintain Clair Huxtable's classy style, showrunners found ways to hide the actress' bump other than putting her in large clothing. The kitchen counter was elevated, the Huxtables' bed was hollowed out, and over-the-top items — like a giant teddy bear — were held by Rashad to shield her stomach.