When it came to revealing her pregnancy to the world, Kaley Cuoco took a rather interesting route that eventually introduced the world to baby Matilda! However, that process took a different turn when Cuoco had to tell her collaborators on her upcoming addition to the 2023 TV schedule, Based on a True Story. What started as a simple nudge to break the news actually turned into a valuable tool for the story that’s set to be told in the upcoming Peacock original comedy/thriller.
In a pre-birth chat with the Emmys magazine, the Big Bang Theory veteran told a cute story about how she revealed she had conceived with Ozark actor Tom Pelphrey. It all came down to her character Ava Bartlett, who wasn’t originally written to be with child. As it turned out, even though the actress had to walk away from horseback riding while pregnant, she didn't have to walk away from this new project. This was, in part, thanks to these hints she dropped to her producers:
I'm like, 'What if this character was pregnant?' And they're like, 'Umm ...' And I'm like, 'Think really hard about it because maybe it's a really good idea — and it might be the only option.' They were looking at me, and I'm smiling, and they all went, 'Oh, my God, are you pregnant?' I'm like, 'Uh-huh.'
Based on a True Story didn’t plan on having a mother-to-be as one of its leads, but as Kaley Cuoco explained, she wasn’t expecting to have a baby at this point in her life. It was the connection she felt with Pelphrey that made up her mind, and before the world knew it, Cuoco was teasing the blessed event on Tik Tok. Not to mention, she was jumping streaming homes from her usual base of Max to Peacock.
Turning this twist into an opportunity, executive producer and creator Craig Rosenberg actually saw Cuoco’s progressing motherhood journey as a valuable experience that only made things more exciting. Based on a True Story’s true crime-inspired comedy was able to morph into something a bit different, as Rosenberg noted the following advantages:
Kaley as a pregnant woman — we haven't seen that before. We would still get the Kaley we wanted, but we'd have a new Kaley, so to speak, going through all different story elements and the challenges that come with being pregnant.
Admittedly, if this was another season of Max’s The Flight Attendant, a whole slew of other concerns might be included when trying to work in Kaley Cuoco’s pregnancy. But as the new Peacock series was as fresh as... well, a baby, it wasn't out of the question to make some changes. Speaking further about the entire enterprise, Craig Rosenberg admitted that the dialogue didn’t really have to change too much when it came to bringing up baby, thanks to the reality of the situation being “in your face, so to speak.”
The timing was right too, as filming of Based on a True Story was revealed to have taken place between the fifth and ninth months of the pregnancy. Through 12-hour days and a shooting schedule that wrapped just short of a month before Matilda was due, Kaley Cuoco and her team were able to stick another landing. Only this time, one more passenger would be present on arrival who wasn't there upon takeoff.
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Based on a True Story debuts on June 8th, and will be available to those of you with a Peacock subscription. Meanwhile, loyal Max subscribers can still catch Kaley Cuoco’s previous seasons of The Flight Attendant and Harley Quinn, both of which are currently streaming.
