When an actress’s body changes in any noticeable way, a certain kind of cruelty that exists in celebrity gossip forums tends to come to light the quickest. Sometime in 2023, Elisabeth Moss discovered that when pictures of her wearing black sweatpants and an oversized gray T-shirt went viral online, the criticism started almost immediately. There was conjecture everywhere. She revealed she was expecting her first child during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live a few months later. That provided a respectful response to the question that no one had really asked.
The way that sequence played out is worth pausing to consider. The body of a woman changed. On the internet, strangers saw it and talked about it using language they probably wouldn’t use in person. Then the explanation came—not because anyone owed the public an explanation, but rather because pregnancy eventually becomes known to the general public. The weight gain that had garnered attention wasn’t a sign of anything particularly significant, a lifestyle decision, or a health concern. She was carrying a child.
Following her January 2024 pregnancy announcement, Moss appeared to handle the logistical challenge with her usual practicality. She was scheduled to work with her co-star from The Handmaid’s Tale, Max Minghella, on the thriller Shell. Her first reaction upon learning she was pregnant was to call Minghella and give up completely. “I can’t do the movie,” she allegedly said to him. “I don’t know what to tell you, but it’s not going to happen.” To his credit, Minghella continued the discussion. In order to accommodate her second trimester, they rearranged the shooting schedule, and what could have been a logistical nightmare turned out to be “kind of perfect.”
The movie explores Hollywood’s perception of women, beauty standards, actress expectations, and what it means to look a certain way in front of a camera. According to Moss, being pregnant during the filming allowed her to portray a character who just appeared to be a regular-sized person rather than a Hollywood ideal of what a woman should look like. That has a subtly pointed quality. Body image was already a theme in the film. At that point, her body became a part of the argument the movie was making.
Moss has previously had to deal with the conflict between her work and her body. In the first season of Mad Men, Moss didn’t put on any weight for her role as Peggy Olson, who unintentionally became pregnant. To depict the physical transformation, the production team employed facial prosthetics, a fat suit, and progressively larger padding. Without using her body at all, she portrayed a pregnant woman. The irony that she wore a costume in a fictional story while her real-life pregnancy became the subject of conjecture in online comment sections is not lost.
Moss’s body-shaming debate gained enough attention for supporters and supporters to publicly retaliate, especially on social media. The argument was straightforward: she is a talented actress with a lengthy career, and making comments about her face shape or scale number completely misses the mark. However, this aspect of the discussion may have always existed alongside any actress whose appearance changes noticeably between roles. The internet doesn’t wait for background information.
After all of this, what’s left is a rather unremarkable tale wrapped in celebrity packaging. A woman got pregnant. Her physique shifted. She continued to work, modified her schedule, and figured out how to use the limitations of the circumstance to further rather than hinder the project. She gave birth, went back to directing and starring in the last season of The Handmaid’s Tale, and said that being a new mother on set made the show feel more immediate and emotional. That’s not scandalous at all. It’s just life for the most part.
The headlines about weight gain were constantly pursuing the incorrect narrative. All along, the real one was more fascinating.
