Vanessa Kirby has revealed the physical toll her role as Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps took on her especially during the film’s intense birth scene, which left her temporarily without a voice. The 37-year-old actress shared with Variety that filming the scene, in which Sue gives birth in space, was both exhausting and emotionally powerful.
“We had an amazing couple of weeks shooting that sequence in that spaceship. I loved every minute,” Kirby said. “I lost my voice by the end. You only see a few shots in there, but we did hundreds, just roaring the whole time. I think the crew had to get earplugs by the end.”
The production used real babies throughout filming — a choice that brought authenticity, but also challenges. “Our lead baby, Ada, a little girl, was just heaven,” Vanessa recalled. “We got really attached to them … It almost became weird if they weren’t there.” One particularly difficult moment came during a night shoot in the cold London winter. “All the babies cried at exactly the same line,” she said jokingly. “I thought: ‘Am I delivering something so bad that they’re crying at the same moment?’”
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Kirby, who is currently expecting her first child with partner Paul Rabil, also compared her real pregnancy to wearing a fake belly during filming. Speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she explained how she asked for the prosthetic bump to be made heavier — even using rice packets to simulate weight. Ironically, she later found her actual baby bump much lighter. “So, I gave myself a backache for no reason at all,” she laughed.
Vanessa’s commitment to realism underscores her dedication to bringing emotional depth to her superhero role.
