Was Dakota Fanning really pregnant in The Perfect Couple? She even fooled her co-stars

Netflix's new hit mystery thriller limited series The Perfect Couple premiered on Sept. 5 and didn't take long to enchant viewers all the way to the peak of the streamer's most popular shows ranking. The series based on Elin Hilderbrand's book supplied us with plenty of questions: Who was the guilty party in the murder, what's Nicole Kidman's Greer hiding, and was Dakota Fanning actually pregnant in real life? It's that last one that even had folks on set wondering.

No, Dakota Fanning wasn't pregnant while filming The Perfect Couple. As Abby Winbury, the pregnant wife of Greer and Tag's oldest song Thomas, Fanning wore a super-convincing prosthetic. One scene in particular, which found Abby wearing a two-piece bathing suit by the pool, showed off the fake bump. It's such a seamless feat of prosthetic that it would fool anyone watching the series, which is obviously the point. You don't to be distracted by something terrible!

Fanning explained to The Hollywood Reporter that she wore two different prosthetic pieces to bring realism to Abby's pregnancy. The 30-year-old actress had a different fake bump to wear underneath clothing, but for the pool scene look, a special prosthetic was wrapped around her body like a corset. All of the evidence of the prosthetic was hidden behind her as she remained lying on the lounge chair by the pool. Its realism, from its visual to its color matching, is truly Emmy-worthy.

Here's what Fanning shared with The Hollywood Reporter about the prosthetic:

"It was an amazing prosthetic. I didn’t wear that one all the time — there was a different one that I wore under clothes — but there was no way she was going to wear a one-piece at the pool. It to be a bikini and you had to see the belly. But we really had to get it right. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. And it wasn’t a glued-on situation, I put it on like a corset so it wrapped around my whole body and tied in the back. I was laying there so you never saw my back; it was just so seamless from every side. It’s wild. People on set that day were staring at me a ton and then apologizing for staring. Nobody could believe that thing. I loved it. "

Dakota Fanning

While she didn't elaborate on who exactly did double takes at her prosthetic pregnant belly, more than a few costars and crew members were clearly just as fooled on set as some of us viewers were while watching The Perfect Couple at home. It's wild to think what it would have looked like in person compared to seeing the fake bump on television. But Fanning obviously loved pulling the wool over everyone's eyes as Abby, both with the character's pregnancy and her devious activities (no spoilers).

Fanning, who's nominated for her first Primetime Emmy Award (for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her role in Netflix's Ripley), previously opened up earlier this year about her desire to become a mother and eventually prioritize a family life over her career as an actress. In April, she spoke with Porter about feeling "that pull" to have children:

"Being an actor is a huge part of my identity. I don’t really know who I would be without it. But I also have a desire to set up my life and career so that I always have a choice. Having kids is probably more important to me than anything, even being an actor. If somebody said I had to choose, I would choose having kids. I’m one of those people who has always felt that pull."

Dakota Fanning

In that same interview, Fanning mentioned that she's in the midst of a very millennial experience right now, as a lot of her friends are getting married and having babies. She's even the godmother to a friend's three-year-old daughter. Balancing the steady career she's built since she was a child star with the moments that matter most is all part of the juggling act and another thing she's working toward beyond her work as an actress and producer.

Currently, Fanning keeps her personal life private, sharing only updates about her work and endorsements on her official Instagram account, while also giving fans small glimpses into her life and allowing people to see only what she's comfortable with. So, while Fanning wasn't actually pregnant like her character in The Perfect Couple during filming, she sure had a lot of us fooled with what might be one of the best pregnancy prosthetics ever.

Watch The Perfect Couple only on Netflix.