Amy Schumer makes her 'return to movies' as fake mom-to-be in “Kinda Pregnant”: See first look

Amy Schumer considers herself a picky person, at least when it comes to choosing her films.

"By that, I just mean I only want to do something if I think I could do it the best," she tells Entertainment Weekly. "I don't want to take on a role that I'm like, this would be so funny if somebody else did it."

Enter her newest film, Kinda Pregnant. Schumer stars as Lainy Newton, a newly single teacher who's wanted to be a mom since she was little. But life had other plans, and when her best friend, Kate (Jillian Bell), gets pregnant first, Lainy becomes jealous and decides to don a fake baby bump...and then accidentally meets the man of her dreams (Will Forte) while wearing it.

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"I think I waited for something that I felt really connected to," Schumer says of the film. "I really enjoyed doing The Humans with A24 [in 2021]. But I do think of this as kind of my return to movies, and it's because I was waiting to have something to say."

That "something" boils down to "the idea of what you think it means to get married and have a child versus the reality of it." She adds, "Everybody has their own journey with deciding whether or not to become a parent, or fertility, or infertility, and I thought that this was a really great way to explore that."

While that could get a bit heavy, it should be noted that the film, first written by Julie Paiva, is a true comedy at heart. "It’s not your traditional rom-com; it’s wild and pushes boundaries while still being heartfelt," director Tyler Spindel — who calls the project "a comedy nerd's dream" — tells EW via email.

In other words, it sounds like an Amy Schumer joint — and it should because besides starring in the film, she also produces and has a writing credit alongside Paiva, which was "a really fun surprise" for the comedian. "It was a surprise because without going into too much detail, I think if you rewrite a script, it goes into automatic arbitration, and the union reads all the drafts, and they decide, and it's very rare," she explains. "So I was surprised and excited, and Julie and I are really proud to both have credits together and loved working with each other. We knew that we wanted the same message."

Schumer's contributions to the script are evident throughout, or as she puts it, "my prints are all over this thing." For example? "I would say this proudly as a little surprise, a little spoiler, that there was no sex scene before I came onto the project," she teases. Make of that what you will.

Part of what makes Kinda Pregnant such a nontraditional romantic comedy is its emphasis on female friendships. In addition to Bell, the film also stars Brianne Howey as a pregnant woman who befriends Lainy, and Lizze Broadway and Urzila Carlson as Lainy's hilariously obnoxious coworkers. The evolution of Lainy's relationships with these women is a delightful throughline in the film.

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Those friendships are so central to the story that Schumer struggles with the idea of marketing the film purely as a rom-com. "I don't think we should ignore the romance, but the takeaway from it for me is definitely about finding love for yourself through your friendships and how much you love your friends," she says.

Her onscreen relationships even translated to the real world, with Schumer saying she and her costars got "weirdly close" while making it. To illustrate her point, during this interview, she attempts to include the cast in the conversation by filming a video message to their group chat, asking sweetly, "Can I just put you on it for a sec? Because I feel like they should be a part of this first interview with me.")

Nevertheless, we'd be remiss to not mention the adorably swoon-worthy turn by Forte as the film's romantic lead, a Zamboni driver named Josh, whom Schumer hopes audiences crush on. As for what makes Forte the perfect onscreen boyfriend, she says it goes back to the same reason she wanted to work with the MacGruber star in the first place. Says Schumer, "The reason I wanted to work with him on this was he is, I mean, so funny. And I think he's handsome and he's the kind of guy that I would want to talk to and maybe be my boyfriend. And it feels possible. You know what I mean? I love that the romantic love interests that I have worked with, you can really feel their appeal, I think. And it feels maybe attainable."

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Back in April, Schumer told Variety of Kinda Pregnant, "I’m striving for it to be one of the 10 funniest movies of my lifetime" and “I think it’s going to be as funny as Trainwreck.” When asked in November if he thinks they succeeded in this, Spindel jokes, "It’s hard to say because comedy is subjective, but I can objectively say it’s funnier than The Green Mile and Schindler’s List combined."

Related: Will Forte says a spirit once warned him he'd be stabbed to death at 73: 'I've got 19 years left'

As the film gears up to debut on Netflix, Schumer hopes it "makes people feel good and happy and vulnerable and that it starts some conversations that maybe wouldn't have started."

"We want to give people something fun to watch, that’s light, sweet and doesn’t take itself too seriously," Spindel adds. "It’s a great date movie, or for a girls' night, I prefer to watch it with my fish in Spanish — the choice is yours."

Kinda Pregnant, which also stars Damon Wayans Jr., Alex Moffat, Joel David Moore, Francis Benhamou, Molly Sims, and Jackie Sandler, hits Netflix on Feb. 5, 2025.

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