'I think they just want to talk about it because it's not talked about a lot,' the actress tells ET of the response.
Chrissy Metz is clearing the air.
The This Is Us star made headlines when it surfaced that she may be contractually obligated to lose weight while on the hit NBC show, where she plays Kate, who happens to be on a weight-loss journey. The 36-year-old actress later appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she addressed the speculation.
“It wasn’t contracted, it wasn’t mandated that I had to do this, but I knew that this was going to happen in the trajectory of the character and so it wasn’t a big deal,” Metz told ET’s Katie Krause at 102.7 KIIS-FM’s Jingle Ball at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Friday.
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Metz admitted that the interest surrounding her remarks was a bit odd -- and something she didn’t quite understand.
“It’s weird,” she said. “I think it’s still weird for people to be like, ‘Oh, she’s the big girl, oh, she’s on network television.’ I think that’s still really new for them.”
“I think it’s an education and the more that we see people who are average or plus size, we’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not scary, it’s not a weird thing,’” Metz added. “But I think they just want to talk about it because it’s not talked about a lot.”
With the holiday season now here, that means Christmastime with the Pearsons on This Is Us is in full swing. Though Metz was coy about what viewers can expect on Tuesday’s fall finale, she did have this to tease: “Nobody is ready for it!”
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One thing you can be ready for is the return of Kate’s on-again, off-again beau, Toby (Chris Sullivan). “Families do get together for the holidays and sometimes you know miracles happen sometimes,” Metz hinted. “People have maybe a little forgiveness in their heart and sometimes they don’t.”
Metz also hinted, unknowingly, that she may be sharing a scene with Milo Ventimiglia, who plays the late Pearson patriarch Jack (and we’re not talking about the urn!).
“I don’t know what to say right now. I don’t want to get in trouble!” Metz adorably admitted when asked if she has filmed with Ventimiglia. “It’s a hard question… I can’t answer that!” We’re counting that as a… maybe!
In a November interview with TVLine, Metz candidly spoke about how her character’s desire to shed weight has affected her life off-screen, saying that she had to agree to lose weight in real life.
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"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," Metz said. "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."
Earlier this year, Metz spoke to ET about why her character resonates with so many viewers.
“I think everyone has shame about something, whether it’s a lack of a relationship with a child or maybe their weight or a lack of communication within their marriage,” she said. “Everyone can relate to that because we all have something that we’re like, ‘God, I can work on that or I wish I was better at doing this.’”
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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