Male Actor Enters Alien World of Childbirth

Actor Eric Pierpoint never dreamed that someday he would give birth.

Then he became an alien. And in two episodes of Fox TV’s “Alien Nation” series (airing the next two Sundays), Pierpoint’s character, George Francisco, becomes the first male in the history of television to give birth.

“It never occurred to me that this could happen,” said Pierpoint. “But I’m sure glad it did. It was a lot of fun. I had to make certain twists to give it an alien point of view--like arching my back forward and waving my legs in the air during the contractions.”

The scenes transferring the pregnancy “pod” into Pierpoint and the birth itself were also meaningful for Michele Scarabelli, Pierpoint’s TV wife.

“My hope all along has been to explore basic assumptions we have about gender roles by seeing earthlings through the eyes of someone completely different,” she said. “Flipping the genders this way was terrific.”

The two shows where Scarabelli first transfers her pregnancy pod to Pierpoint and then waits while he gives birth were different from anything either performer had done before.

“During the week we shot it, I had a dream that as myself, not as George Francisco, I was giving birth,” Pierpoint said.

During the eight working days when his character was pregnant, Pierpoint also felt a bit pregnant.

“I felt out of sorts continually,” he said. “I was waddling around with a pod . . . and I would get hysterical very suddenly. Even the crew started whistling at me. And the subtle patronizing tone in the voices of Michele and the woman playing the doctor just incensed me. I didn’t even like the stretch marks. But they were essential--this was supposed to be my third baby.”