Where babies in movies come from

Casting babies isn’t the same as casting adult actors.

Have you ever wondered how babies get cast in film and television? It turns out there are many unique rules and regulations producers have to follow if they want to have a newborn in their movie.

It’s a confusing and oftentimes complicated process that varies wildly from state to state. California has the most stringent guidelines regulating baby actors, only allowing them to work for 20 minutes a day. But in some states there are virtually no laws that say how long babies can be on set.

Some states follow the Coogan Law, a law that says parents need to set aside a certain percentage of a minor’s income that they can access once they turn 18. It was named after Jackie Coogan, a child actor who starred in a number of Charlie Chaplin films and whose parents squandered millions of his earnings.

Watch the video above to see how producers are able to work around baby actor regulations and to find out how productions sometimes use terrifying robotic babies for their shoots.

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