Amber Marshall Opens Up About Playing Pregnant Amy on Heartland: “Fun Would Not Be a Word I’d Use”

Amber Marshall revealed that Amy Fleming’s pregnancy on Heartland wasn’t real — it was acting, sweat, and a silicone prosthetic.

For years, Heartland has held a special place in viewers’ hearts — a rare family drama that feels grounded, lived-in, and emotionally honest. Among its cast, Amy Fleming, played by Amber Marshall (explore her character journey)., remains its center of gravity: the quiet force connecting horses, heartbreak, and hope.

And yet, one question keeps coming up from longtime fans: Was Amber actually pregnant while filming Amy’s storyline? The truth, as Marshall finally explained, is both more technical and more human than fans expected.

Acting, Not Expecting

Speaking on the Hallmarkies Podcast, Marshall revealed that Amy’s pregnancy arc required wearing a heavy silicone prosthetic suit.

“I wouldn’t say fun — because it was very hot,” she said. “And I wore a very thick prosthetic, like a silicone suit. Fun would not be a word I would use.”

The realism of those scenes came not from real-life experience but from careful study.

“It was really great because it was one of those things where I had to play morning sickness and stuff that I’d never experienced,” she added. “So I’d talk to Michelle [Morgan] or different people and be like, ‘What does this feel like? What’s a Braxton-Hicks contraction?’”

Her openness about the process strips away any illusion — what fans saw wasn’t a hidden pregnancy, but a performance rooted in empathy and observation.

Building Amy’s Storyline

The writers of Heartland wove Amy’s pregnancy into the show’s emotional spine, balancing her bond with Ty Borden (played by Graham Wardle) and her evolution from a young horse trainer to a grounded mother. The arc gave her character new emotional territory — the physical toll, the anticipation, and the fragile warmth of starting a family — while also deepening the show’s long-running themes of love, responsibility, and resilience on the Alberta ranch.

Even for a series that’s always been about real-feeling lives, this one hit differently — largely because Marshall committed to the realism so completely.

Amber Marshall wasn’t pregnant during those Heartland seasons — but her portrayal carried the weight of one who might’ve been. Between the prosthetic suit, the heat, and the attention to detail, she turned a technical challenge into a believable, deeply felt chapter of Amy Fleming’s story.

Sources
ET Canada, TV Insider, Heartland Fans
Hallmarkies Podcast (Amber Marshall interview)
CheatSheet – “Amber Marshall on Playing Pregnant on Heartland”