‘This Is Us’ Star Chrissy Metz Talks Contractual Weight Loss: ‘I’m Not Selling Out the Big Girls’
Is it too early to call Chrissy Metz, one of the breakout stars of fall TV’s hit This Is Us, an awards contender?
The 36-year-old actress plays Kate Pearson, a 30-something woman who is struggling with her weight. Perhaps one of the reasons Metz is so great onscreen is because she calls Kate’s journey “parallel to my life.” Metz spoke with TVLine about how in order to realistically portray this character, she will also need to gradually lose weight as Kate does.
“In our contract, it did state that that would be a part of it, to lose the weight in the trajectory of the character as she comes to find herself,” she explained. “That was a win-win for me. Because it’s one thing to try to do it on your own. But as human beings, it’s an ego thing: We’re more likely to do something for someone else.”
Fortunately, Metz wasn’t put off by the requirement. In fact, she found it to be a “different kind of motivation” and said she was “excited about it.” However, she does not want you to view her eventual weight loss as a byproduct of fame.
“I just have to be very clear. Whether or not I lose weight or stay the same, it’s purely a choice of mine for health,” she insisted. “Not because I think that plus-size, curvy, voluptuous, big bodies aren’t attractive — because I think they’re awesome and sexy.”
She laughed, “So I’ll just have to make sure that’s known, because I’m not selling out the big girls. I don’t do that. That’s not me.”
So far this season, Kate’s storyline has mostly revolved around the character’s emotional journey to get healthy. Metz said there have been “discussions” about eventually focusing on other apects of Kate’s life, which she called “exciting.”
“I, as Chrissy, want to do things that mentally, emotionally, and physically make me the best that I can be,” she said. “That’s the intention for our writers and the development of the character.”
Given the popularity of the NBC show, we’re sure we’ll get a chance to see that play out.
