‘Haunting of Hill House’ Star Kate Siegel Discovered Her Pregnancy While Filming the Series

The Haunting of Hill House star Kate Siegel discovered that she and her husband, series director Mike Flanagan, were expecting their second child while filming one of the show’s most difficult episodes.

In an interview with SyFy last month, Siegel said she found out she was pregnant while they filmed episode six, “Two Storms.” The episode famously features a long take during a funeral, even going into the past before there is a cut. Siegel, 36, also had to fall down during filming.

“Hilariously, I found out that I was pregnant while we were filming episode six. That long one-take episode where I have to fall down,” she said.

Siegel said she told Flanagan, 40, the night before the long take had to be filmed.

“I was working out with our stunt coordinator, and we were doing it over and over and over again,” she said of practicing the fall. “And there had been some interesting math with my cycle, so I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to take a test to make sure.’ And I told Mike that night, because we were going to be shooting the episode the next day, and the terror in his face was like nothing I had ever seen! He was like, ‘I’ve just been throwing my pregnant wife on the ground all day!’”

On Sunday morning, Flanagan took to Twitter to provide a text commentary for the “Two Storms” episode, explaining how the long takes were filmed after extensive rehearsals.

“On a final note, [Siegel] and I learned she was pregnant with our second child the night before we filmed segment 3. Made me really nervous every time I saw her fall down. Added a special layer of nerves to the stress of the ep,” he wrote.

In another episode, co-star Elizabeth Reaser had to punch Siegel in the boob. At the end of the day when they filmed that scene, Reaser called Siegel to tell her, “I can’t believe my job entails punching a pregnant woman in the boob all day.”

Siegel, who plays Theo Crain on the show, said she was also sick while filming her Red Room scenes. She had to “go puke in a trashcan” between takes. She told SyFy that Levy Tran, who plays Trish, is a “real hero” because she had to listen to Siegel’s dry heaving, but was still willing to work with her.

Siegel and Flanagan have been married since February 2016 and are already parents to Cody Paul, who turns two this month. The two first worked together on Flanagan’s 2013 movie Oculus. They co-wrote his 2016 horror movie Hush, which was released on Netflix. Siegel also co-starred in Flanagan’s Ouija: Origin of Evil with Reaser. Last year, she starred in Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game with fellow Hill House co-stars Carla Gugino and Henry Thomas.

The Haunting on Hill House is loosely inspired by Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel of the same name. All 10 episodes were directed by Flanagan and released in October.

Although the show has been critically acclaimed, there are still some questions about its future. Flanagan has said the Crain family story is complete, but he recently said another season could feature a new family in Hill House.

“If we did do a season 2, it definitely wouldn’t involve the Crains. I think their story is told,” Flanagan told The Wrap this week. “An anthology series, about Hill House or something entirely new, could be really interesting!”

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