Should Pregnant Penélope Cruz Be Battling Pirates?

Would it be better if she dropped out of the movie?

By Leslie Gornstein Sep 15, 2010 3:01 AMTags
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If Penélope Cruz is four months pregnant, shouldn't she be protecting her belly instead of doing that Pirates of the Caribbean movie?

—L.L., via the inbox

There's a distinct whiff of something in this question. What is that scent? Gardenia? No. Lemongrass? No. Ah! Misogyny! That's what it is! Let's try to ignore that stink as we answer a just might offend actresses ranging from Glenn Close to Jill Scott to Nicole Kidman...

... because all of them have shot very physically challenging material while preggo. Take Close, star of Damages. For one of her most iconic roles—that of the psychotic lover in Fatal Attraction—Close had to shoot a fight scene with co-stars Anne Archer and Michael Douglas. In fact, the scene was so physical that Close reportedly was knocked out cold and got a concussion.

Close also happened to be pregnant with her daughter, Annie.

Now let's talk about Kidman. She was pregnant with daughter Sunday while filming Australia, a project that demanded 15-hour days and sweltering tent living. It was a situation that Jill Scott also knows all too well. She had to shoot No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in South Africa: "I was still working 14-hour days, six days a week, in stifling heat." Specifically? One hundred and four degree heat. And oh: She was five months pregnant by the time they wrapped.

Now let's talk about Cruz, who is shooting the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp. OB-GYNs tell me that—given that thousands of pregnant women are currently machete-hacking their way through disparate jungles and dropping kids in fields—what Cruz is doing is, seriously, no biggie.

"You're just filming a movie," points out Dr. Adeeti Gupta of Flushing Medical Center. "The only risk that arises is if you're doing jerky falls on hard surfaces," or something equally extreme, such as sky diving.

But think about it, Gupta says: What Cruz is doing is likely "pretty safe. Pregnant women take long flights, the drive and brake hard if they have to. They're swimmers, gymnasts, and they still play."

In fact, Gupta says, Cruz could "swing a sword, she could even do short jumps. It's fine!"

Let the bumpwatch continue.

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