Just when I thought I knew everything about one of my favorite movies of all time, Julianne Moore is dropping knowledge bombs about The Big Lebowski on The Drew Barrymore Show! It turns out that Moore was secretly pregnant for the first time while shooting Joel and Ethan Coen’s cult classic comedy. Moore says she felt awful during portions of the film’s production, making the iconic dream bowling scene particularly challenging to pull off.
“Can I tell you? I was pregnant with my son. The first time I was pregnant. I was so sick that day,” Moore told Barrymore about the scene. “I was so nauseous I could barely move, and that dress was really solid and made from Styrofoam, and I was always like, ‘Oh,’ every time I moved… I was just unbelievably sick and I couldn’t tell anyone I was pregnant because I didn’t want them to know.”
The scene in question happens after Jeffrey Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) is drugged and passes out while investigating Jackie Treehorn, a wealthy pornographer and loan shark living in Malibu. While unconscious, the Dude (or, uh, His Dudeness, Duder, or El Duderino if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) experiences a fever dream featuring Moore’s eccentric Maude Lebowski as a Viking queen bowler. While strutting to “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In),” performed by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, the Dude and Maude dance among women dressed as bowling pins while throwing rocks down the alley. It’s very psychedelic, man.
“Jeff is such an extraordinary person. He’s so funny, so generous. I couldn’t look him in the eye without laughing,” Moore confessed about filming the legendary scene. “I’d have to look at his mouth while he was acting because if I saw his eyes, I’d start to laugh. Or I’d look just beyond him or something.”
What a trooper! First pregnancies are a rough business, and the pressure of shooting The Big Lebowski must have weighed on Moore considerably. While her role in the film is brief, Maude adds a hysterical feminine touch with unforgettable dialogue, mystique, and ulterior motives for getting close to the Dude. I’ll think differently about her performance from now on, knowing she was acting for two.