Chrissy Metz Lost Weight Before Beginning Her Career — but Was Told to Lose More
Chrissy Metz is best known for portraying Kate Pearson on the hit NBC family drama This Is Us. For six seasons, fans saw how Metz helped not only to transform the character of Kate Pearson but also to transform the landscape of television by featuring a plus-size character without only focusing on her weight. And in real life, Chrissy Metz’s weight was a factor when she broke into Hollywood.
Chrissy Metz is best known as Kate Pearson in ‘This is Us’
This Is Us fans know Kate Pearson is the only woman of the Big Three. Metz plays the character with strength and honesty, coming from her own experience of being perceived differently due to her size.
Metz played Kate throughout the show’s six seasons. She spent that time developing Kate into a relatable woman. Kate deals with myriad obstacles, including fertility, divorce, an ailing parent, and relationships with her siblings. And although some storylines focused on Kate’s weight, the show did move beyond her size and worked toward featuring every part of her character, not just the physical side.
Chrissy Metz’s weight affected her career
Chrissy Metz’s weight has played a significant role in her career, facing plenty of rejection before landing This is Us. Early in Metz’s acting career, she was getting ready for her first pilot season (the time of year when new shows are for the fall). “I had already lost fifty pounds before moving to LA, per my manager’s suggestion, but it became clear to me that I should either lose more weight or stay the butt of the joke,” Metz discussed in an interview with Daily Mail about her memoir, This Is Me.
It wasn’t hard for Metz to see that her pivot to acting was going to be a hard road. “Back then there were even fewer roles written for people of size,” she continued. “You were a size zero or a sight gag.” Metz appeared in one-off episodes of series such as Entourage and My Name Is Earl before securing This Is Us. Executive producer Dan Fogelman knew size and body image would be a part of Kate’s character. This allowed Metz to show the world that people can and should be able to see people like her in entertainment.
What’s next for Chrissy Metz?
Now that This Is Us has ended, Chrissy Metz is finding various new roles to play, both on screen and through voiceover. She recently worked on the independent film Stay Awake. And she voiced the ghost of Harriet in Muppets Haunted Mansion, along with the character Mel Mel on Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny.
Metz hasn’t limited herself to her acting career. She released her memoir, This Is Me, in 2018. It details her life growing up in Florida, experiencing poverty, and having a stepfather who constantly weighed her. Her memoir also covers her personal assistant, her failed marriage, and how her acting career took off.
