Dakota Fanning's Pregnancy In The Perfect Couple Explained: How It Impacts the Story

Dakota Fanning stars in Netflix's The Perfect Couple as Anna Winbury, and her character's pregnancy plays an important role in the plot.

The Perfect Couple is an adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's popular mystery drama novel of the same name. In a similar style to The White Lotus or Knives Out, the Netflix series follows the idyllic wedding of a wealthy family that is rocked by a suspicious murder.

Eve Hewson stars as Amelia Sacks, the bride marrying into the wealthy Winbury family that includes Billy Howle as her fiancé, Benji, Nicole Kidman's matriarch, Greer, Liev Schrieber as the dashing father-in-law, Tag, and Dakota Fanning as her new sister-in-law, Abby. 

Is Dakota Fanning Pregnant in Real Life?

While Dakota Fanning may portray a heavily pregnant character in The Perfect Couple, this should not be confused with the actress' real-life condition. 

At present, Dakota Fanning is not known to be pregnant, nor does she have any children. 

The actress has spoken on the topic, however, telling Net-A-Porter, "Having kids is probably more important than anything else:"

"Being an actor is a huge part of my identity. I don’t really know who I would be without it. But I also have a desire to set up my life and career so that I always have a choice. Having kids is probably more important to me than anything, even being an actor. If somebody said I had to choose, I would choose having kids. I’m one of those people who has always felt that pull."

Why is Abby Winbury's Pregnancy Important?

Similar to Amelia, Abby also married into the Winbury family with her husband being Thomas, Benji's older brother and the eldest of the siblings. The couple are expecting their first child throughout The Perfect Couple which mirrors Abby's pregnancy in Hilderbrand's book. 

However, unlike the novel, Abby's pregnancy in the Netflix series plays a more important role in the mystery.

After the washed-up body on the beach is revealed to be best friend of the bride, Merritt Monaco (Meghann Fahy), the question then becomes who and why killed her. 

Throughout the series, it's revealed that Abby's husband Thomas has landed the couple in serious debt, which is not ideal considering they will soon need to provide for a baby. 

There is hope on the horizon for the couple as Thomas is one of three siblings who is soon set to inherit a large trust fund from his father, which comes into effect when his youngest sibling, Will, comes of age. 

However, when it's revealed that Merritt is secretly pregnant with Tag's fourth child, this jeopardizes Abby and Thomas' chances as they will have to wait another 18 years for the money, plus it will be split four ways instead of three. 

There's also the fact that Thomas is having an affair with his family friend, Isabel, which only adds to Abby's desperation and feelings of neglect. Combined this all leads Abby to murder Merritt by drugging and then drowning her on the beach. 

This marks quite a difference to the plot of The Perfect Couple in Hilderbrand's novel, where it's revealed that Merritt's death was an accident that many people had a hand in. 

So, while Abby's pregnancy wasn't of much consequence in the novel, in the Netflix series it motivates her to kill, in the hope that she can somehow secure her husband's inheritance for their child.

The Perfect Couple is streaming now on Netflix.