Hilary Swank Went to Hilarious Lengths to Hide Her Pregnancy During Filming

Kids Health

A lot of expectant mothers keep their pregnancy hush-hush during their first trimester, and Hilary Swank is definitely the frontrunner when it comes to keeping things under wraps. The Golden Globe-nominated Alaska Daily star didn’t want her cast and crew to know she was pregnant with twins just yet, but she also wanted to do what felt right during a notoriously tiresome time.

Her character frequently jogs in the series, but Swank had no intentions of tying up her laces. While there are doctor-approved pregnancy workouts, the actor did not want to film the one-to-two-minute jog scenes. Those can take around two hours when you account for all the different takes from various angles, she explained to James Corden during an appearance on The Late Late Show.

And so she devised a plan to get herself a stunt double.

“I was like, ‘You guys, I’m a really bad runner,’” she told her coworkers. “‘I need a stunt double to run.’”

Stunt doubles are typically reserved for, well, stunts. Not everyday exercising. And so everyone was like, “Huh?” she said, confused about why she would need a stunt double to simply run. Calling her bluff, they asked her to prove it right there in the show’s newsroom set.

“And I was like, ‘Ok how do I look like real bad — I’m not a great runner to start with — but I really gotta sell this so I can use this double,’” she said.

After trying (and failing) to correct her faked, flat-footed form, her coworkers came to a conclusion.

“These four men all looked at each other and went, ‘Yeah, you need a stunt double.’”

And so Swank and the twins, who are expected to arrive in April, were spared from hours of running.

Corden, Swank’s fellow guest Gwyneth Paltrow, and the audience were thoroughly impressed (as are we!).

“Clever, very clever,” Corden said. “I’m going to use this all the time. ‘I need a stunt double just for that walk from the curtain.’”

Swank did her own walk from the curtain to Corden’s couch. As filming for Alaska Daily continued, Swank’s stunt double did indeed take over her walking scenes. The mama-to-be was shot from the chest up to hide her growing bump, another fact which had Corden overcome with jealousy.