Chrissy Metz had to endure some unnecessary Hollywood comparisons in her breakout role.
While opening up about her run as Kate Pearson on NBC‘s This Is Us, the 2x Golden Globe nominee explained how it felt to be “chosen for such a special role” by creator Dan Fogelman that ultimately contributed to plus-size representation on screen.
“Anytime I think about Dan, it really makes me emotional,” Metz said on The Jamie Kern Lima Show. “First of all, he’s absolutely brilliant in the most humble way, self-deprecating way. And he’s just so in tune with emotion and the human condition. It just comes through, I think, with everything he does.
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She added, “But also, it was pitched originally as a film, and one executive at some, I don’t know, wherever place said, ‘Oh, wait, so the plus-size girl, she’s, like, how plus size? Like Kate Winslet?’ And [Fogelman] was like, ‘First of all, what are you saying? Second of all, no, this is a real woman who’s really dealt with weight issues and it’s plagued her entire life.’”
Noting that the character “was loosely based off of his sister,” Metz said, “I think Kate was very important to Dan.” On the show, Kate is obese, causing her to struggle with self-esteem throughout her life, as well as straining her relationship with her mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore).
“So, knowing that and knowing that he was so intentional about who he wanted,” explained Metz before she began tearing up. “A lot of my life, I never felt chosen … and to be chosen for such a special role and a show and a time as it was, I always say, if I never book another role or show or movie again, it’s enough.”
Milo Ventimiglia and Moore played Jack and Rebecca, the parents of “the big three,” triplets Kate, Kevin (Justin Hartley) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown), for the entirety of the NBC drama series’ six-season run from 2016 to 2022. The show followed the Pittsburgh family through multiple eras, from the birth of their kids, to Jack’s untimely death, and the triplets’ adult lives, raising families of their own.