DAYS Exclusive: How Rachel Boyd Learned To Love Sophia’s Pregnant Belly
Belly Dancer: Rachel Boyd (Sophia), with Leo Howard’s Tate, has learned to maneuver the pregnancy padding that is now part of her DAYS wardrobe.
Among the pitfalls of playing a pregnant character on a soap opera when you’re not pregnant in real life comes having to wear cumbersome pregnancy padding as your character’s belly expands and the story develops over nine long months. Yet, donning the padding has made for some memorable moments for Days of our Lives actress Rachel Boyd, who portrays young mother-to-be Sophia Choi.
A Pregnant Pause
“The pregnancy padding has been really funny,” shares Boyd. “Honestly, it was like [the show’s wardrobe team] would Velcro me into it and it would be really tight to my body, even though it was a padded belly. So it kind of felt like I was having a hug around me, because it was actually really comfy.”
Of course, as Sophia’s pregnancy has gone on, the experience has shifted. “When I got to the later months, it was a little bit heavier,” notes Boyd about the padding. “They needed to pin me into it, essentially, so I couldn’t take it off for the whole day when I was working.”
As a result, Boyd quickly figured out how to maneuver in and around the studio while she was wearing it. “I learned how to take naps and stuff in my dressing room in comfortable positions with the belly on,” she chuckles. “When I would walk over to the commissary, I couldn’t take it off if it was midday. There was one day, Leo [Howard, Tate] and I went over to the commissary for lunch. I was in the pregnancy padding, and we were getting the craziest looks from some of the workers there. Then we were eating upstairs on the balcony, and I was sitting back and using my belly as a table for my chicken shawarma bowl, so that I could access it [more easily]. It’s hard to bend over a table when you have that big belly in front of you, and I hadn’t realized that [before this experience]!”
That wasn’t the only memorable encounter Boyd had while sporting her fake baby bump at the commissary, the only place she’s regularly ventured to during her work day while sporting the padding. “There are a lot of corporate workers in there, so I’ve gotten to experience the looks that you get when you are very young and look very pregnant,” the actress recounts. “[A female] security guard, who was working at the commissary one day when I walked in, looked at me and said, ‘Welcome to the club, mama.’ That was really funny. I was like, ‘Thank you so much.’ ”
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