Based On A True Story: How Kaley Cuoco's Pregnancy Changed The Series
A new comedy thriller series has just premiered on Peacock: it's called "Based on a True Story" and it stars Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina as a couple, Ava and Nathan, who decide to make a true crime podcast about the serial killer who has been terrorizing Los Angeles — all while they have a baby on the way.
However, as it turns out, Ava being pregnant was not originally in the script. Rather, Cuoco's own real life pregnancy led her to convince the producers that the show would be better if Ava was also pregnant. Cuoco revealed this during an appearance on the podcast, "Smartless", which is hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett. She explained that, after she'd gotten the role, she sat the producers down and pitched the idea of Ava being pregnant even though the scripts were already done and ready for filming.
Cuoco continued, "I was like, 'Guys, what if this character was pregnant.' [creator] Craig [Rosenberg] goes, 'Hmm.' [And] I'm like, 'Now think hard about this' ... And they were like 'Well' and I'm like, 'No, really,' and they're looking at me and they're like, 'What,' and I'm like, 'Surprise!'"
Cuoco thinks that the show was made better because of the storyline pregnancy
On "Smartless," Kaley Cuoco then revealed that, even though they were meant to shoot in about a month, she kindly asked them if they could write the pregnancy into "Based on a True Story." She then explained that she didn't want to put off filming until after she gave birth because she was so excited for the project — but also because she realized that it could work well with the show's narrative arc.
Cuoco said, "I don't remember it not being about this couple being pregnant. Plus the way they wrote it in was so brilliant like it never focused on the pregnancy, I was just pregnant." The hosts then noted that the pregnancy raises the stakes for the couple as they work toward finding the serial killer, to which Cuoco completely agreed with.
The actress also noted how enjoyable the job was while being pregnant, especially because she felt empowered by the fact that she was pregnant on the screen. Cuoco said, "I've been in this business for so long that I thought it was cool, like okay now people are seeing me, I'm gonna be real about this and I'm gonna show that this is exactly what I am and I'm pregnant and it's fine and I'm working. I thought it was a good thing to do, I don't know. It just felt right."