Ben Mckenzie and Morena Baccarin have welcomed their baby. True or false: Morena is still technically married to Austin Chick? That’s true. Morena’s pregnancy actually dragged out the divorce, because she was too pregnant to fly to LA to be properly deposed. So, she’s still married and still in the middle of a nasty custodial battle with her husband over their son Julian, and she’s paying Austin $23,000 a month (ouch). But as soon as that’s over, Morena plans to marry Ben. Perhaps. Honestly, the whole thing is pretty messy, but Ben and Morena seem pretty happy. And now they have a baby girl!
It’s a baby girl for Morena Baccarin and Ben McKenzie! The Gotham stars welcomed their first child on March 2, USA TODAY can exclusively report.
And the little one’s got an adorable vintage baby name: Frances Laiz Setta Schenkkan.
“Morena and Ben are so happy to welcome baby girl Frances Laiz Setta Schenkkan on March 2,” reps Jennifer Allen and Rhett Usry confirm to USA TODAY. “All are happy and healthy and appreciate the well-wishes.”
I don’t have an issue with the name Frances. It’s a lovely name, and the nicknames are cute too – Franny or Fran – although we don’t know if Morena plans to call her daughter Franny or one of the middle names. I would assume the “Laiz Setta Schenkkan” names are family names or they have some sort of ancestral meaning? If Ben and Morena just picked those names out of a hat, then it’s twee. If they’re family names, God bless. But little Franny Mckenzie? That’s super-cute.
Update: I honestly didn’t know that Mckenzie was his stage name/middle name! So his real last name is Schenkkan, so the baby is Franny Schenkkan.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I loved her as Vanessa in Deadpool. I hope they bring her back for the sequel.
Me too. I liked her since she played Inara in Firefly.
Congrats !
Someone make a Deadpool joke. Please someone make a Deadpool joke out of this.
Replying to my own comment. They can nickname her Ajax.
THANK YOU. As soon as I read Frances I was like – FRANCES! I hope beyond hope Ryan Reynolds sends baby Ajax a gift 😀
You guys are hilarious with baby Ajax Deadpool jokes. I’m sure they will be bringing Morena back for the sequel.
Ha!
It does seem like a lot of names, but they’re all pretty cool and he’ll have a lot of options. My eldest is named Rowan Hawley — the middle name being my husband’s grandmother’s family name. It sounds like ‘Holly’, and she can certainly change it if she feels like it. I love Schenkkan, it sounds like a Neil Gaiman character name.
Yikes!
Her husband may have to sign some documents stating he isn’t the father.
Since by law the assumption is while married and pregnant the father is the husband.
MESSY!
I am all for love but this was very messy. She should have divorced him before getting pregnant. I understand that life doesn’t happen on a schedule but she didn’t just fall on Schenkkan’s staff.
How much extra is it going to cost her to get her greedy husband to not claim this kid is his too.
That assumption existed in the time before Paternity tests. If Ben’s name is on the birth certificate then that is what matters.
Not true. Birth certificates are virtually worthless in regards to paternity and are not legally binding. Her husband could indeed drag things out by insisting on DNA testing. The kid’s not his, but so what? He can (and probably would, based on his clear anger in the situation) probably make her go through it just to humiliate her.
No, if you are still married and have a kid with someone else, most (if not all) state family codes make your spouse the presumptive father, even if he isn’t. Special language must be included in your divorce decree stating that he isn’t dad.
Hell, even putting someone on a birth certificate isn’t enough to make them dad, anymore.
I love Frances as it is, no nicknames. Schenkkan is Ben’s actual last name.
Me too. Not liking Franny Schenkkan. Frances Schenkkan sounds nice and not so Hollywood but a nice name!
I love the name Frances, and Frankie is a cute nickname. Franny not so much.
What?!? No baby name-shaming posts yet?
McKenzie is Ben’s middle name and Schenkkan is his actual surname.
Messy. I loved her hair on Homeland. She has such a pretty face. I have a sweet artist friend named Frances and I’ve always liked it. Congrats.
Carrie and Brody’s baby is named Franny ! (This will only make sense to people that know who Morena is from Homeland, lol)
Out of ignorance: couldn’t the lawyers take a video deposition?
IKR? It’s 2016, they can’t do a video conference?
So according to my research Ben’s mothers name is Frances and Morenas mother’s middle name is Setta. Laiz, I guess, is because of Morenas brazilian roots and they probably just liked that name.
replying to my own comment. Setta is also Morena’s middle name 🙂
I chuckle every time they speak of her pregnancy in Gotham. What a glorious mess. Jim Gordon is so annoying I can’t with him anymore.
They look so good together. That baby girl must be super cute. Congratulations!
Congratulations! I like Frances. No need for a nickname.
Congratulations beautiful name. She is so stunning I want to see more of her in movies.
Fun fact: Ben is related to the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Robert Schenkkan. He’s Ben’s uncle.
It’s strange that in a matter of months, Morena is now the bigger, more recognizable celeb.
I just came here to comment on how much she looks like a younger Ashley Judd!
YES! Thank you I’ve been trying to pinpoint who she reminds me of.
Yes I can see it in these pics! Pre plastic surgery Ashley Judd.
omg I came here to say that, too. Wow, I really thought it was Ashley Judd for a sec!
Aww, I looked Ben up and Frances is also his mother’s name. That’s sweet. This situation is messy, but I thought that was sweet to name the baby after her.
I’ve liked them both for such a long time, despite the mess that’s her divorce, and I wish them and the baby all the best. Frances’ parents are two stunningly beautiful people and she has some very good genes to build on.
I’m gonna throw shade here- Ben looks like her teenage lover. And his makeup artist should be fired for caking powder on him like that.
But the name is a nice one. I can’t shade babies. They are awesome.
I totally agree. I believe he’s actually older than she is, surprisingly. She’s beautiful but somehow older looking.
That is because Ben has a baby face.
She looks a lot younger than 36 to me. I saw deapool and thought she was 32 at the most. god, the expectations on womens ageing is actually becoming worse despite the fact women are looking younger than ever. Now it isn’t good enough to be beautiful, you need to have a selena gomez baby face to be “young” looking. She looks the same as she did when she was 30.
This second name, Laiz, it’s pretty usual here in Brazil (where she comes from) and I hate, it’s quite the equivalent to the Hillaries and Annes, so it’s usual but very uninspired. Not to offend the Hillaries and Annes, just using a parameter to illustrate how usual it is.
Laiz is a pretty common girl’s name in Brazil, where Morena is from. Also in Brazil you get both your parents last names and your mother’s usually comes first. Setta is one of Morena’s surnames. Soooo its a very tradicional name. I do find it interesting Morena used Setta and not Baccarin in her daughters name, I wonder why.
Not trying to be rude and maybe he just has a baby face, but she looks old enough to be…..not quite his mother, so I’ll just go with older sister.
And yet he is the older one. He does have a baby face. She looks her age which is 36. It is pretty sad when people think 36 is old.
I actually think he looks like the older one. I was surprised to learn she was 36! I think we’re just conditioned to expect a man with a much younger woman. It’s ingrained into us thanks to the media. I’m a bit sick of it to be honest. She honestly looks younger to me but I suppose we’re just used to seeing hollywood men with women at least 5 years younger than themselves and 8 years younger as the norm.
No shade, I hope they’re happy and raise this baby well. Frances is a lovely name.