While watching Man vs Baby, one thing quickly becomes clear: That baby is in almost every scene. And that alone got people wondering how Netflix managed to film so much chaos without things completely falling apart.
As it turns out, there’s a very specific reason the production cast twins for the baby role, and it wasn’t just for convenience.
The Netflix series sees Rowan Atkinson return as Trevor Bingley, this time dealing with an abandoned baby instead of a troublesome bee. The comedy relies heavily on timing, reactions and physical movement. However, filming all of that with a single baby would have been nearly impossible.
So why did they cast twins?
via Netflix
Simply put, filming rules around babies are extremely strict. Babies are only allowed on set for a short amount of time each day. In Man vs Baby, that meant around 45 minutes at a time, with a maximum of two hours in total. Meanwhile, a normal filming day can last eight to ten hours.
Rowan Atkinson explained during a Q&A session that using twins is standard practice, saying, “You always choose twins so if one gets grizzly you can bring the other one in.”
That alone made a huge difference. If one baby became tired, unsettled or simply refused to cooperate, the other could step in. It allowed filming to continue without long delays, which is crucial on a tight schedule.
But even with twin “hero” babies, there were still major limitations. For example, the main babies couldn’t crawl when filming took place, which created a problem for certain scenes.
Atkinson revealed that the production also used twin crawling babies, explaining, “We have identical twins, the hero babies, and then we had twin crawling babies because the hero babies couldn’t crawl.”
So, how did they use so many babies and still make it look seamless?
via Netflix
In those moments, CGI was used to bridge the gap. The face of the hero baby was digitally placed onto the crawling baby to make the scene work seamlessly on screen.
Director David Kerr has previously explained that real babies can’t take direction, which makes repeating actions or expressions very difficult. So the team filmed the babies using several cameras at once, capturing a wide range of facial expressions.
According to Atkinson, the hardest part wasn’t the physical comedy, but staying in character while working with a co-star who couldn’t exactly communicate between takes.
He said the main challenge was “keeping the story and the logic of it in your head” while working with babies, adding that you simply have to “go with the flow”.
In the end, casting twins wasn’t just a clever trick – it was essential. Without twins, CGI and a bit of AI support, Man vs Baby simply wouldn’t have been possible.
And if the baby ever looks a little too perfect on screen, now you know why.
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