Chrissy Metz Before ‘This Is Us’: Actress Faced Health Scare And Depression

Chrissy Metz continues to soar to new heights of success as Season 1 of This is Us continues. Fans have fallen in love with Chrissy and her character Kate Pearson. As time goes on, everyone is learning more about Metz and her struggles before being cast on her new hit drama and it can only make one love and respect her perseverance even more. How was life for Chrissy before This is Us?

Chrissy has been through a lot to get where she is today. Glamour recently shared some of Chrissy’s story and revealed that Metz was very poor growing up. Her mother and father divorced when she was only 8 years old. Their relationship with their father became nonexistent. Her mother raised her and her siblings alone until she remarried. Even then times were tough, but they survived.

Metz revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she has not had a relationship with her father all these years. Chrissy shared that he is trying to come back into her life now, and while confused and questioning his motives, Metz does believe in second chances.

Chrissy recalls her mom trying hard even though they did not have much. One memory that stands out to her is wanting a pair of Keds shoes but her mother could not afford the brand name ones. Her friend offered to glue the blue tag off of her Keds so Chrissy could put them on her Payless pair. While Chrissy says now she can laugh about it, back then it was a big deal to her.

Once older, Chrissy decided acting was in her future, but she admits she had no clue how to pursue her dreams. Metz escorted her sister to a modeling audition where the representatives asked Metz if she could sing or act. Chrissy sang “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera. They must have loved what they heard because she got a call that they would introduce her to managers and agents in Los Angeles.

Chrissy shares that once moving to Los Angeles, things were really tough. She had few auditions and cried a lot. Chrissy had the following to say about her first big role.

“And then in 2014 American Horror Story came up. I’d wanted the role of Ima [Barbara] Wiggles desperately, and after I got it, I thought, OK, awesome, this is a jumping board for my career! But when it wrapped, there was…nothing. I almost moved back to Florida, but my mom said, “You can either be miserable here and not pursue your dreams, or you can be miserable in L.A. and at least pursue what you want.”

With support from her mom and her friends helping her out when the going got tough, Chrissy survived and has now finally landed her dream job. Metz says when she got the role as Kate Pearson, she only had 81 cents in her bank account. Chrissy hopes to be able to provide for those who stood by her through her dark days.

Being poor and a struggling actress were not the only hardships Metz has faced. Since Chrissy was not being offered any acting roles, her manager advised her to lose weight. She put acting on the back burner and it sent her into a world of self doubt and depression. Chrissy admits she ended up eating due to her feelings and gained more than 100 pounds.

People shared that it was a health scare Chrissy faced on her 30th birthday that left her determined to change her ways. Just prior to her party, planned by her now ex-husband, Chrissy began experiencing heart palpitations. Metz says she was terrified. Chrissy said, “I’m like, What is this? Am I dying? What’s happening? It was really scary — really, really, really scary.”

Chrissy went to the hospital instead of her birthday party where doctors confirmed Metz was having a panic attack. They warned her she needed to lose weight. It was a huge eye opener for Chrissy and she became determined to get her life on track. Metz made a vow to herself that she would no longer allow the opinions of others to take away her self worth.

Not only was Chrissy making positive mental changes, but she was making physical ones too. Metz said, “I was so gung ho, I lost 100 lbs. in less than five months. All I did was eat a 2,000-calorie diet and walk 20 minutes a day.”

Chrissy says she has managed to keep most of that weight off and is now looking towards the future and her goals to lose more weight alongside her character Kate. While she doesn’t have a particular size or weight in mind, she is determined to let the way she feels when she looks at herself set that goal.

Now that success has finally found Metz, she says,

“I’ve had women—average women, older women, teenagers—who say to me, “Your role and this show has changed my life.” That makes all the struggle, all the ramen noodles, all the times when I couldn’t pay my bills, all the times where I was like, “I can’t do this,” worth it. Sometimes I cry on the way to the set still. There is something that happens when you are grateful: You continue to keep receiving blessings. So I will always be grateful.”

Blessings definitely continue to come to Chrissy. Not only has her hit show been renewed for two more seasons, but she has become a positive role model for women everywhere as well. Chrissy has also found love with This is Us cameraman Josh Stancil.

Fans can continue to watch Chrissy as her journey as Kate continues on This is Us, Tuesday nights on NBC.

[Featured Image by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]