Julia Ogden’s surprise reveal in ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ also happens to be from actress Hélène Joy

Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for “Murdoch Mysteries.”

The day Dr. Julia Ogden told her husband, Detective William Murdoch, that she was pregnant, Hélène Joy, the actress who plays her, was able to reveal a secret of her own.

“I could stop sucking on my belly,” said Joy, who, in the case of life-imitating art, or is it the other way around? – was about three months pregnant in August when the scene in which Julia reveals her condition was shot.

Viewers caught wind of the Murdoch baby news Monday night when the long-running CBC drama aired its Christmas episode.

No one on set knew that Joy was also waiting, aside from the costume department head and the showrunner, until Julia dropped the beans.

“I was already getting a little belly, which I had been hiding on set, which is not so easy with these costumes,” he said, referring to early 20th century costumes.

“Even though I look back and think, ‘What was I worried about?’ I look so thin compared to now, ”added Joy, 43, who will be born with her first child in late December.

You might think that an actor would be particularly happy to deliver lines that hit so close to home, but Joy said it was “pretty much the opposite of what you would expect.”

“When you completely fake it, you can immerse yourself in an emotion,” he explained. “I felt quite shy the entire moment compared to what I would feel if I were completely faking it.”

However, it was a blessing for showrunner Peter Mitchell, who had been looking for “a grand finale” to the Christmas special.

Obviously, “Murdoch” is just one of many television shows that are tailored to a pregnant cast member.

The most famous case involved Lucille ball, who was expecting her second child with her husband and co-star Desi Arnaz in 1952 while making “I Love Lucy.”

Murdoch from the popular CBC series Murdoch Mysteries married his character's love interest during the series' 100th episode.

According to Time magazine, the television code at the time prohibited even the use of the word “pregnant,” but Arnaz convinced CBS to incorporate Ball’s pregnancy into the plot. She was reportedly five months old when she filmed the episode in which Lucy Ricardo tells her husband Ricky that she is pregnant; gave birth to her son Desi Jr. just hours before 44 million Americans saw Lucy go to the hospital to have little Ricky.

Since then, other stars have written about their pregnancies on their shows, such as Lisa kudrow on “Friends,” Melissa Rauch on “The Big Bang Theory” and Melanie Scrofano on “Wynonna Earp,” who is worth noting that she continued to do her own stunts during pregnancy. Sometimes the plot is altered to disguise the pregnancy, like when Gillian Anderson’s Agent Scully was kidnapped in “The X Files.” Or the seasons have been shortened, as in the case of Sarah Jessica Parker in “Sex and the City.”

Even baby bumps have been removed, like Claire Danes’s in “Homeland.” But most of the time, pregnancy is hidden under baggy clothing or behind accessories.

Joy had to do some of that in “Murdoch,” since her episodes, like many TV shows, are filmed out of order. He had to “hide a growing belly” in four or five episodes. “We had a lot of fun doing that,” he said.

Julia carried folders and bags, wore large coats, and was behind other people. And “they could never shoot me from the side.”

Then “the day came when I was allowed to look pregnant and it was great.”

Then came the question of how to dress up a pregnant Julia.

Joy notes that Victorian women often wore corsets until they were quite advanced, although that became less popular around the 1910s. There was another “unattractive” style of pregnancy dress that looked like a tent over the body.

Fortunately, Julia adopted imperial waists that left her skirts just below the bust line, although “it ends up making me look pretty big.”

Unfortunately, the wardrobe team was unable to help with Joy’s morning sickness, which was more like an all-day illness and lasted almost into her fifth month.

“I was terribly ill,” she said. “I don’t think I have experienced anything so horrible.” He vomited on set a couple of times, even in a garbage can “while everyone was waiting for me. That was disgusting. “

But “after that, it got fun.”

Her colleagues “have been so incredibly supportive that it has been like a dream place to be pregnant.” And it has been entertaining to feel the baby “rolling in the middle of a scene”.

In fact, there has been a bit of serendipity in this on-set pregnancy.

For example, the early season plot saw Julia being fired from her job as a surgeon at a large hospital, a job that would have been highly unrealistic for a pregnant Julia to continue doing. Instead, she is working with women and childbirth at the institution that will become the real-life Women’s College Hospital. “They planned it before I knew I was pregnant,” Joy said.

And while the season’s unusual 24-episode ordering has kept Joy working past the point where filming would normally end (“I’m amazed at how what I would have called an average workday completely knocks me out now”), the cast and crew will have you go on a five-week hiatus exactly when it’s due.

Julia will still be pregnant when Joy returns to work, so her wardrobe will grow a fake belly and baby Murdoch will be “born” sometime in January. The set will also resemble a small nursery, with Joy’s baby there and the twins playing Julia and William’s son, “which will be very interesting,” Joy said.

She and the Murdochs will discover the early stages of parenthood together.

“Julia is a great doctor and she has all the medical knowledge in the world, but she doesn’t really have a lot of maternal instincts,” Joy said. “Murdoch doesn’t either, he’s too nerdy.

“It will be a lot of fun to see what parents are like.”

“Murdoch Mysteries” returns to CBC on January 3 at 8 pm and can be broadcast on CBC Gem.

Debra Yeo is associate editor and contributor for Star’s Entertainment. It is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @realityeo



Reference-www.thestar.com

6 thoughts on “Julia Ogden’s surprise reveal in ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ also happens to be from actress Hélène Joy”

  1. I love this show. It has a lot of science stuff that I like and talks about all the persons that actually invented all this stuff. The characters are always very well developed. I adore Julia; she makes Murdoch more human.

    Reply
  2. How does the Murdock Mysteries explain the fact that the Character Julia Ogden could not have children earlier in the series and that’s why they tried to adopt?

    Sorry, been a fan since the show started.

    Sandy Lamb
    Pensacola Florida, USA

    Reply
  3. Love the Murdoch series. Have watched from begining , now on OVATION. Hope the series never ends! Enjoy watching the reruns too.
    Great stories and great actors, actresses.

    Reply
  4. I just started watching this show. The two main characters were married, by the second season they were not married.
    is there some reason for this?

    Reply

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