HBO's 'War' Incorporated Actress Pregnancies, But Kept One Under Wraps
Phoebe Fox's pregnancy was written into the series, while Sienna Miller's was masked through creative blocking and costuming.
HBO's legal drama War saw a unique collaboration between its creative team and its stars, incorporating actress Phoebe Fox's real-life pregnancy into her character Serena Byrne's storyline. However, a parallel pregnancy for actress Sienna Miller was kept under wraps through strategic filming techniques.
Serena's pregnancy was not initially part of creator George Kay's plan for the character. When Fox revealed she and her husband, Kyle Soller, were expecting their first child, Kay offered her the choice to have it written into the show or concealed. Fox opted to integrate it, seeing an opportunity to normalize pregnancy on television without making it the central plot point.
"It's so rare to see a character on TV, a woman who is pregnant, and it is not the story," Fox told DECIDER. "I think it's really important for women to see that and to have it normalized."
The irony of the situation was that Miller, who plays Carla Duval, was also pregnant during filming with her third child. While Fox's pregnancy was written in, the production team for Miller's character relied on the classic television tactic of using props like handbags and strategically placed desks to obscure her bump. "You can't have all the characters — you can't all be pregnant," Kay explained.
Director Ben Taylor noted the challenge of filming out of chronological order without prosthetics, as designers deemed them too risky. "We sort of just went for it," Taylor said. "And we'd occasionally get notes from HBO and Sky, and it just meant that you went tighter coverage to hide it. But for the most part, you went with it and Matt, the costume designer, sort of embellished it."
Miller confirmed that Fox's pregnancy announcement came first. She speculated that having both characters pregnant simultaneously might have been difficult to manage within the narrative, though she acknowledged the potential for comedic storytelling. "They could have had fun with it… But it was nice both being pregnant on set because we could commiserate and share chocolate," Miller recalled.
Even small details, like Serena's increased snacking, were organically incorporated due to Fox's pregnancy. "All I think about all day is snacks. All day," Fox told Kay, who then added it into the show.
New episodes of War premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.