Bailee Madison is relieved she no longer has to hide her pregnancy – well, her character’s pregnancy, that is. The 22-year-old stars as expectant high school student Imogen in HBO Max’s “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” which premieres with three episodes on July 28.
Speaking with POPSUGAR, Madison discusses what it was like wearing a prosthetic baby bump and getting into the mindset of being pregnant. “It was wild,” she says. “It’s also really exciting that people know finally. I joke all the time that the show’s going to come out and everyone’s going to have these cast photos and I’m just not going to be in them, because I was hiding my pregnancy bump when I was filming for nine months. But that was a surreal experience.”
As an actor and creator, Madison enjoys getting to “dive into something very unknown” and challenging herself. “That belly and I became very close, lots of shared sweat,” Madison jokes. “Psychologically, [it] just played a big role in my mental health and thought process at times. So yeah, it felt deeply personal and also very vulnerable, even though it was a prosthetic.”
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“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” also stars Malia Pyles (Minnie), Maia Reficco (Noa), Chandler Kinney (Tabby), and Zaria (Faran). The new chapter takes place far away from Rosewood in another Pennsylvania locale, years after a “series of tragic events almost ripped the blue-collar town of Millwood apart.” As of now, a second season has not been confirmed, but Madison would love to continue telling Imogen’s story. “Our story’s just beginning, and I think we would be eager and excited to get to truly dive in,” Madison says. “First season’s always the first season, it’s really exciting and nerve-racking, but I think it’d be really, really fun to get to stay with these characters and these individuals and just continue to push the boundaries of what we’re able to do with this show.”
