*** Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on The TV Junkies and has been republished here with the consent of its author. ***

It’s 2017 and Wynonna Earp is poised to deliver a superhero unlike any we’ve seen before. Due to the real life pregnancy of its star, Melanie Scrofano, the Syfy and Space Channel supernatural thriller just revealed that Wynonna Earp, the gunslinging, hard drinking Earp heir, is pregnant as well. It was a shocking twist that fans did not see coming, but a story direction that showrunner Emily Andras 100 per cent embraced upon learning of Scrofano’s good news.

Now that the big news is out, fans should prepare for the show to deliver a full on demon-hunting superhero says Scrofano. The actress recently spoke to The TV Junkies about what this reveal means for Wynonna. Who or what is inside of her and what does it mean for a character that hasn’t always played by the rules? Scrofano also discusses how she felt about having to tell Andras, her producers at IDW Entertainment and Syfy about her pregnancy right before Season 2 was set to start production.

The TV Junkies: So if we thought the ending of Episode 204 was shocking, we now have this week where we find out that Wynonna is pregnant. What? How is that possible?

Melanie Scrofano: Wynonna has never been one to shy away from sexual contact. [laughs]

TTVJ: Don’t tell me, because I don’t want to be spoiled, but I still don’t know if this is a real baby, or some kind of demon baby because of everything that’s been let into the Ghost River Triangle.

MS: Right, and well, good! I think you’re confused because well, Wynonna is just as confused.

TTVJ: This story direction was made because of changes in your personal life, as you were pregnant during filming. I really love that we’re not going to see Wynonna standing behind things or carrying laundry baskets everywhere. Given that, will we see the pregnancy play out for Wynonna then during the rest of the season?

MS: Yes, Wynonna is just going to be a superhero and be pregnant and all that that entails. It’s pretty brave, pretty amazing and pretty empowering. Also, she’s still Wynonna, so how hilarious would Wynonna be pregnant, right? She’s not the most grown up of grownups, so she’s going to be pretty funny. One of the first things Emily said was that we’re just going to have fun with it. It’s going to be really honest too, and we’re not going to hide the fact that it sucks you can’t drink while you’re pregnant. All the stupid little things women have to deal with in real life, we’re not going to shy away from them, it’s just going to be part of the bigger story, which is Wynonna is the heir and has to find a way to break the curse.

TTVJ: Sometimes it’s very difficult for us as women to tell work that we’re pregnant, regardless of what field we’re in, and there’s always that worry of how that’ll be perceived. Now I imagine that feeling is magnified when you’re the lead of a TV show. Did you worry at all about telling Emily and everyone at Wynonna?

MS: Yes! I was sobbing because I was scared. More than anything I didn’t want to disappoint Emily and have her be mad at me. This is my dream role, and the thought I wouldn’t be able to do it just because I was pregnant made me really sad and really angry. I just started projecting that they were going to take the show away, and be mad at me, and I got really angry. I told them and they were so supportive. Emily right away started having ideas and her brain went into ‘How can we use this for the story?’

She told IDW and they immediately were like ‘this is groundbreaking! Let’s do it!’ That’s not what I expected, and then they told Syfy. We thought they’d pull the plug, and at that point we only had 10 episodes, and they told them and by the end we had 12 episodes. They added two episodes after they found out I was pregnant because they wanted to write it into the storyline. It was literally the opposite of whatever your worst nightmare is.

It says a lot about who I’m working with and gives me hope for women in the future who are trying, whatever your career is. Sometimes people will react the way you don’t want them to, but you will be surprised that sometimes, everything is going to work out and maybe even better than you could have hoped. That’s what happened in this case.

TTVJ: What about the cast? How did they react when you told them?

MS: They were so excited. We didn’t want it to leak so we didn’t tell anyone until we started shooting and I was 5 months pregnant. The producers took us all to dinner and I told the cast there. I got hugs from everyone, Dom was crying and Tim was sort of in good shock. After lunch he sent me this text that made me cry, but also because I thought Tim would be like ‘Good job bro!’ I didn’t think he’d really care and then he wrote ‘You’re amazing! We got your back! Let’s do Season 2 for the little person growing inside of you, yo!!!!’ It was shocking and he surprised me the most. I knew Dom was going to be adorable about it, but I did not know Tim was going to react that way.

TTVJ: How hard has it been to keep this secret from everyone? I don’t think any of the fans had any idea at all. Can you guys believe you pulled it off?

MS: I only can because it’s not like we’re Game of Thrones. I think people didn’t really care enough to spread it. A lot of people didn’t even realize I was pregnant on set, even when I was 6 or 7 months.

TTVJ: Plus you have the cold weather helping you out in the wardrobe department.

MS: The wardrobe was a bit ridiculous and I’ve definitely felt sexier than wearing all those huge coats and scarves. [laughs]

TTVJ: But now Wynonna has a pretty sweet coat, it was even Bobo-esque.

MS: Oh I love that coat! It’s a great coat and I love that one.

TTVJ: You guys work very long hours and every character seems to get physical now and then. What was shooting like this season for you while pregnant?

MS: Some days were really hard, and other days I was so grateful to be there, and not just be sitting on a couch thinking about the fact I was pregnant for another how many weeks. My job is hard if you’re not pregnant, so to me it was going to be hard either way and it’s just this type of hard right now. That kept me going, and like whatever the cause, I would’ve been tired no matter what.

I was pretty moody, not more than usual, but last season if I was moody I would try to hide it. This season I thought ‘It’s too much work to try and hide it and I’m already working hard. I’m just going to let myself be and not try to be everything to everyone this season. If I don’t feel like joking around or talking to everyone in sight, then I’m not going to do it.’ I tried to make it easier on myself that way and I think people were really understanding.

TTVJ: But really you should be allowed to feel that way regardless of whether or not you’re pregnant, right?

MS: Yes, I know! It’s sad but a lot of times in life, especially in this industry, they’ll immediately label you a “bitch” if you’re the type of person that doesn’t feel like talking to everyone all the time. So you’re right, but now I had the perfect excuse to just be like, “Hormones, bye!”

TTVJ: One of the aspects of the reveal I really loved was that Waverly knew even before Wynonna did. The Earp sisters have a very special bond, so I assume Waverly will be by Wynonna’s side through a lot of this?

MS: Definitely, but at the same time Waverly is still going through her personal crisis of trying to find out who she is. That’s going to be complicated and Wynonna’s pregnancy just puts it even more in the spotlight that she might not be related to Wynonna or the baby, if it is a baby. It’s really hard.

TTVJ: I, for one, can’t wait to see where you guys take this. Wynonna is such a perfect show to do this story.

MS: I completely agree. Last season it was about a real girl who had to do this extraordinary thing. This season it is so much truer, and she’s even more of a real “real person” now and doing these extraordinary things. I’m so proud of our show for being brave enough to go with it, and not try and hide it, and for realizing if anyone would screw up this big, it would be Wynonna. I’m so inspired and proud of them for embracing it.

I’m so grateful because it gives you hope, as a woman, that people are starting to see what we can do. Just give us the chance, and let me show you what I can do. They gave me that chance, and I hope Wynonna will show people everywhere not to fuck with a woman just because she’s pregnant — or at any point. We are not weak when we’re pregnant, we’re not sick, we are just as capable, if not more so of everything you can do.