It would be an understatement to tell you that actress Ellie Kemper has had a big year. The breakout success of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has turned her into a household name, while Season 2 of the show has become one of the most highly-anticipated upcoming Netflix premieres, and she even recently unveiled secret pregnancy to the world. However, that last one presented something of a challenge during the production of her hit series. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the former star of NBC's The Office that she had to lie to her Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt co-stars in order to keep her pregnancy a secret while filming the show's second season.
During the show, it didn’t really affect filming until the very end. We had a table read and I saw that my character was supposed to be on a roller coaster… It was still very early on but I felt like a pregnant lady on a roller coaster was not ideal. So I did tell my boss, Tina Fey. Because it was still so early on, [we decided] we’ll just tell people I have a back injury and that’s why I can’t ride the roller coaster. It makes sense. I could not act like I had a back injury. [I’d say] ‘I sprained my spine.’ I’m a bad liar.
Although Ellie Kemper’s pregnancy did not really have much of an impact on the actual production of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, it did present some problems for a specific scene during which the titular character was supposed to hop on a thrill ride. Understandably concerned about potential health implications of such a stunt, Kemper told Tina Fey – and only Tina Fey – about her pregnancy, causing them to lie and say she had suffered a back injury. After all, think about how strange it would be if Kimmy was just pregnant all of a sudden; I'm sure Titus wouldn't let that kind of a surprise go without making a scene of it.
Check out Ellie Kemper’s full interview with Jimmy Fallon in the video clip below to see her energetically adorable explanation as to why she lied to her costars for so long:
We here at Cinema Blend would like to congratulate Ellie Kemper on her newly announced pregnancy, as well as the immense critical success of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The entire second season of the hit sitcom will become available tomorrow on Netflix. For information related to any and all other upcoming TV premieres, be sure to take a look at our comprehensive summer TV schedule to learn more!
