INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Chrissy Metz’ Sister Helped Her Get Started, ‘This Is Us’ Star Reveals

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 05:55 PST, Feb 2, 2017

Chrissy Metz can thank her sister (or half-sister, to be specific), for getting her into acting.

As People reports, the breakout star of This Is Us had always thought that the stage might be her calling (more on that in a moment), but never really took it seriously until her sister dragged her along on an audition. The unnamed half-sister wanted to be a model, so she took Chrissy along on an audition in their hometown of Gainesville, Florida.

“My sister — we have different dads, she’s tall and thin — wanted to be a model.”

At the audition, it was Chrissy, not her sister, who caught a talent scout’s eye.

“I rolled my eyes, and she was like, ‘No, really, there’s a reason you are here … you don’t belong in Gainesville.’ “

Now, all these years later, the two sisters’ lives have taken very different turns. The unnamed sister who wanted to be a model never got there, but that’s OK: Chrissy says she’s enjoying being a mom. Chrissy, on the other hand, is the star of one of the hottest shows on TV.

That’s not to say that the road to where she is now has been an easy one. In fact, Chrissy had just 81 cents in her checking account when she landed her job on This Is Us, according to Pop Sugar. And that was hardly her first brush with poverty; even as a little girl, Chrissy and her family knew what it was like to do without.

Born in Homestead, Florida in 1980, Chrissy’s early life was that of a Navy Brat, according to Glamour, moving from here to there (and even spending some time in Japan) based on her dad’s deployments.

That all changed in 1988, when Chrissy’s mom and dad divorced. That was when Chrissy’s mom was forced to raise Chrissy and her siblings as a single mom. It wasn’t easy.

“It was challenging. There were times I’d be nervous walking home from elementary school, thinking, ‘If that red tag from the power company saying our lights are turned off is on the door handle, I don’t know what I’ll do.’ And there were nights my mom wouldn’t eat dinner. She’d be like, ‘Oh, I’m not hungry.'”

Later, things turned around for Chrissy’s family when her mother remarried and had two more kids with her new husband, including Chrissy’s unnamed half-sister whose decision to bring Chrissy on her audition that day changed her life.

Still, the road to being a successful actress hasn’t always been easy. She thought she’d caught her big break when she was cast on American Horror Story, but after AHS wrapped, those calls weren’t coming in.

“I kept auditioning, with no savings and no money, credit card debt gaining interest. I went on unemployment. I bought ramen noodles at dollar stores. I never had to — God forbid — live on the streets; I moved in with a roommate who told me, ‘Stay with me until you can afford rent. Don’t give up.'”

By the time she signed her This Is Us contract, she had 81 cents in her checking account.

“I could cry right now just thinking about it.”

And while Chrissy’s This Is Us money has helped her turn the corner on her finances, she’s not exactly loaded. She still lives with her roommate, but she’s caught up on her bills and has even paid back all the money she borrowed from friends and family. Her only splurge (so far): a pair of Alexander McQueen shoes, which she says she’s afraid to take out of the box.

Now that This Is Us is a bona fide hit, the odds are good that Chrissy will be able to re-negotiate her contract for next season. Chrissy Metz is well on her way to being a major TV star, and she has her sister to (partially) thank for it.

[Featured Image by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]

Share this article: Chrissy Metz’ Sister Helped Her Get Started, ‘This Is Us’ Star Reveals
This Is Us Chrissy Metz
More from Inquisitr