Eagled-eyed viewers – or, in fact, anyone with eyes – will notice that actress Rose Leslie appears heavily pregnant during the first episode of Vigil series 2.
But far from being another mystery to solve in the twisty thriller, the bump is very real and not a pillow shoved up her jumper. The Scottish actress was indeed expecting a baby in real life during the filming of the BBC One series.
In fact, her pregnancy was written into the show. As Vigil returns with series 2, Rose’s character DI Kirsten Longacre is pregnant with her first baby.
Here’s everything you need to know about Rose’s pregnancy, both in real life and in the show.
Was Rose Leslie pregnant during the filming of Vigil series 2?
Thirty-six-year-old Rose Leslie was pregnant in real life during the filming of series 2. In fact, when she told the makers of the show, they wrote the baby into the script!
Rose was expecting her second child while filming. She now has two children. In September 2020, Rose Leslie posed for a photo shoot for Make Magazine, a British fashion publication, visibly pregnant.
Her son was born in January 2021. In February 2023, she announced she was expecting their second child. In July 2023, Rose confirmed the birth of their daughter.
Rose and husband Kit Harington have not publicly disclosed the names of their babies. They are notoriously private, and don’t even have social media profiles. So zero opportunities for stalking, we’re afraid!
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Who is Rose Leslie’s husband?
Rose is married to former Game of Thrones co-star Kit Harington, with whom she now has two children.
The onscreen-turned-real-life couple had met in 2012 filming the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011 to 2019), in which they played star-crossed lovers Jon and Ygritte.
Rose and Kit, both now 36, married in 2018 at her family’s Wardhill Castle in Scotland.
Of course, as well as paying Jon Snow in the huge HBO drama GOT, Kit is also known for playing Dane Whitman in the film Eternals, and Milo in Pompeii.
He’ll soon appear as Lot No. 249.
Kirsten and Amy are expecting a baby as series returns
Talking about Rose’s character being pregnant, co-star Suranne Jones says: “We left series one with Amy and Kirsten picking up Poppy after the trauma of the submarine, and we saw that they decided to give their relationship a go.
“In this series, Kirsten is pregnant. They are very happy together, and very much in love, and Poppy is now living with them. So we see Amy really happy and in a very secure place in her life.”
Suranne Jones admits that “one of the pulls to come back to Vigil was working with Rose again”. She says: “We got on so well in series one, so to come back and then have our relationship, both on and off screen, be more settled was such a joy.
“We could dive straight back into it and just assess where we were at. Rose was actually pregnant while we were filming which was lovely, though perhaps not for Rose on many occasions – it must have been really tiring!
“It was lovely, though, as she really had the bump that we see in the series. Even when Rose had to go and have her real baby, the sound department did this wonderful thing where they recorded Rose’s dialogue. So, when I had the phone calls with her, they would then play Rose on the phone so it felt like she was there for the whole shoot.”
Talking about her character’s pregnancy, Rose added: “They are very much in love and committed to one another and have decided to raise a family together – not only to have Poppy in their fold, but to share a child together as well. They are fully fledged in being that unit.”
Pregnant Rose Leslie had baby bump written into script of Vigil series 2
Actress Rose reveals the show was “incredibly supportive” about her pregnancy during filming.
She told ED!: “I told World Productions that I was pregnant even prior to my first trimester being over, purely because I wanted to give them as much time as possible to adapt the storyline into the script that was already written.
“They were fantastic and continued to be incredibly supportive throughout – particularly shooting me in the first seven weeks of filming. Once I told them my very happy news via zoom, they were great and their first response was to sit with it and see how they could incorporate it into the script. ”
She added: “I’m therefore oblivious to what the original few episodes were, prior to me telling them I was pregnant. But, they’ve really weaved it into the plot lines seamlessly as it almost echoes the first series whereby Amy departs to investigate and Kirsten stays put to work on the investigation on the ground.”
Read more: Vigil series 2 sees Romola Garai and Dougray Scott join the cast
Vigil series 2 begins on Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 9pm on BBC One.
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