The actress gets candid about why her nonexistent relationship with her biological father in real life helped her
Warning: Please do not proceed if you haven’t watched Tuesday’s This Is Us. If you have, read our recap and our exclusive interview with Milo Ventimiglia.
This Is Us continues to tug on your heartstrings.
On Tuesday’s episode, the long-standing question of what happened to the patriarch of the Pearson family, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia), was finally addressed head-on -- and of course, the moment was heartbreaking. Kate (Chrissy Metz) reveals to her boyfriend, Toby (Chris Sullivan), that she has a Sunday ritual of watching football with her father, showing him the urn containing Jack’s ashes once he asks to meet him.
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In the latest installment of the This Is Us aftershow, Metz opened up about filming that emotional moment, revealing that Kate’s tradition with Jack is “near and dear to her heart” because it was “bonding time” for the father-daughter duo.
Metz, who revealed that she doesn’t have a relationship with her biological father, admitted “it was a challenge” filming that scene.
“It was more about the desire to have that relationship where I pulled from for that particular episode and for that particular thread in the show,” she explained.
“It’s honestly emotional and overwhelming because I’ve never had that, that I really do feel that connection to you,” Metz added, addressing Ventimiglia. “As Chrissy and as Kate.”
RELATED: 'This Is Us' Reveals Jack's Fate and It Is Absolutely Heartbreaking
Metz also shared her Buddhist-inspired beliefs on why her character's parents, Jack and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), were destined to raise Kate, Kevin and Randall.
“We have lessons that we get to learn and lessons that we get to teach, so we choose which parents and [our] siblings,” she explained.
Ventimiglia spoke to ET about Tuesday’s big Jack revelation, saying that he “always knew that it was going to happen this way.”
“I think now that the audience knows, though, now pay close attention to what this family has got to go through,” he said.
This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
