The Expanse star Cara Gee filmed emotional scenes during season 5 whilst she was eight months pregnant. Adapted from James S. A. Corey's Hugo-Award winning novel series of the same name, The Expanse premiered on Syfy in 2015. But after three seasons, the show switched base to Amazon Prime, where its season 5 is currently underway. In the show, Gee stars as Camina Drummer, a Belter who first served as Fred Johnson's assistant at the Tycho Station. Drummer befriends Naomi (Dominique Tipper) and the Rocinante crew during her time at Tycho. But she later leaves to command her own pirate fleet over the Sohiro territory.
In season 5, Drummer is suffering on all fronts after joining the Free Navy. She hasn't been able to recover from the loss of Klaes Ashford, her friend who was thrown out of the airlock by Marco Inaros. Drummer's intimate fleet of scavengers is also drifting away from her, and Karal is steadily creeping towards the captain's chair. In the latest episode 508, "Hard Vacuum," Drummer suffers a major blow when she learns that Naomi killed herself after jumping off the Pella. The revelation makes her lose control, and she angrily lunges at Karal. But Oksana, who is one of Drummer's polyamorous partners, manages to calm her down. Drummer later isolates herself and screams hysterically. Bereaved, she chugs a bottle of Scotch that Ashford had gifted to her.
Now, in an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Gee has revealed that she filmed her heartbreaking reaction to Naomi's death news in "Hard Vacuum" while she was eight months pregnant. She also opened up about her experience taping the harrowing moment. As per Gee, after Naomi's death, Drummer was surmounted by the guilt of not killing Marco when she had the chance. Therefore, screaming out into an empty space and guzzling whisky seemed like a logical reaction. Gee did not encounter many difficulties filming the scene as the showrunners were very supportive. But what she found specifically hilarious was how she had to pretend to be drunk while flaunting an obvious baby bump.
"Oh, my goodness. Drummer, back in season 3, has this line where she says, "All the optimists I know are dead." And she says that to Ashford and Naomi. And now both of them are gone, taken from her by Marco, who she had in a f***ing airlock but didn't kill when she had the chance. She feels this immense - almost Shakespearean oe Greek Theater - epic grief. The only way to express it in that moment is to just scream; scream and knock that bottle back.
I will say, though, the actual execution of that moment was shot very quickly. I think we only did two or three takes of it. And I was eight months pregnant, so there's something kind of hilarious about pretending to be drunk with a giant baby belly. It was very absurd."
Gee also added that she was extremely well-supported when she was filming for season 5. Her scenes were shot back to back, and she was released on maternity well before the end of production. Gee credits The Expanse team for a wonderful filming experience during her pregnancy. According to the actress, if a show seeks to portray strong female characters, it needs to make relevant arrangements behind the scenes as well. The accommodations that The Expanse made for Gee are a model, which, if implemented across the industry, will allow women to balance their professional and personal lives conveniently.
"It was crazy. It was wild. We shot all of the Drummer scenes back to back well before the end of the shooting schedule, so that I could get out of there and have a baby. I was extremely pregnant. It was really wonderful. I was very well supported in the shooting of it, and I think that's one thing that I really appreciate about this show. If you want to have a bunch of powerful female characters, I think that doing the right thing behind the scenes is just as important as portraying these strong women. I was so supported, and I wish that every woman who is pregnant while having to work could be as well supported as I was on the set. It's such a model for how to be in the world."
As fans and critics would agree, Gee's performance in episode 508's distressing scene was commendably raw and visceral. In fact, her hair-raising scream was very well felt by the audience. It is, therefore, laudable how the actress managed to pull off such a convincing act despite her pregnancy. Gee was a star performer in episode 508, and her magnificent acting is inarguably a paragon of performance for TV. But while Gee was brilliant in "Hard Vacuum", her best work is likely yet-t0-be-seen as there are still two episodes left of The Expanse's fifth season. So viewers should now brace themselves for big moments like Drummer's betrayal of her deal with Marco and her reunion with Naomi.