Betty Gilpin Gets Candid About Unusual Prosthetics Used in Netflix's 'Office Romance' Birth Scene

Betty Gilpin is sharing the unexpected behind-the-scenes moments from her latest Netflix project.

The 39-year-old actress portrays Sydney Bloom in the streaming rom-com Office Romance, appearing as the pregnant colleague and right hand to Jennifer Lopez's character.

At the film's Los Angeles premiere, Gilpin spoke with Variety's Marc Malkin about the challenges of bringing the movie's pivotal birth sequence to life, particularly regarding the prosthetic elements involved.

"Honestly, I was pretty freaked out when I first saw the prosthetic vagina," she explained. "I had a nervous breakdown and then I was like, 'Oh, but I'll be holding the ultimate working mom's hand, Jennifer Lopez, so what could go wrong?'"

The actress went on to describe the technical complexity of executing the scene. "My real legs were below a table, [I had] fake prosthetic legs, and then a puppeteer was standing at my real legs pushing an animatronic baby out of my prosthetic vagina, and it made it sound like [Gilpin makes a popping sound]…It was insane," she recounted.

Gilpin also detailed the grueling reset process between takes. "The saddest part was when the scene was over and everybody but the puppeteers stayed in the room because the only way to reset was to go under and pull the fake placenta — I think the placenta is not in the movie anymore – but reach up through the prosthetic vagina that I am still zipped into, pull the placenta back and take the umbilical cord and pull it back and then pull the baby back through, and then it was time to do it again," she shared.

Office Romance is currently available to stream on Netflix.