‘This Is Us’ Star Chrissy Metz Had Previous Connection To Her Younger Kate Counterpart, Hannah Zeile

This Is Us stars Chrissy Metz and Hannah Zeile have something in common—and it’s not just the fact that they both play Kate Pearson on the hit NBC drama, but at different ages. Zeile, the actress who plays the 17-year-old version of Kate Pearson, reveals that she actually knew her older actress counterpart years before they were co-stars on This Is Us. In an interview with E! News, Hannah Zeile revealed that Chrissy Metz used to be her commercial agent.

“I saw her in the makeup trailer here and she was like, ‘This is so weird. I totally remember looking through your head shots,'” Hannah said of Chrissy. “And I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m playing you. This is so crazy.'”

On This Is Us, Chrissy Metz doesn’t appear in any scenes with her younger alter egos due to the show’s time-traveling format. (In addition to Zeile, young Mackenzie Hancsicsak plays the 10-year-old version of Kate.) But while we may never see them onscreen together—unless there’s one heck of a flashback scene someday— off the set is a different story. Just a few years ago, Metz helped represent Hannah Zeile, as well as other up and coming child actors, including Dove Cameron and Ariana Grande. Clearly, Chrissy had an eye for blossoming talent, as some of her child star finds are now some of the biggest young stars in the business.

While she will forever be known as the adult version of Kate Pearson, Chrissy Metz has talked about her past as a Hollywood scout. Chrissy previously told the Hollywood Reporter that when she first moved to Hollywood from her home state of Florida in 2006, her agent at the time needed an assistant. Metz admitted that while she came out to Hollywood to work as an actress she “needed to pay the bills.”

While Chrissy worked “for peanuts” as a commercial agent, she was able to scout new talent. Chrissy Metz worked as a junior commercial agent at Buchwald Talent Group and Abrams Artists Agency and ultimately put her dreams of becoming an actress on hold.

“I became really good at finding talent,” Metz told THR.

“I went on auditions maybe twice a year on my lunch break. I ended up gaining weight sitting behind a desk and being depressed. All people do is send you Sprinkles cupcakes, which is lovely but not when you’re depressed and want to be an actress. But I thought if I can’t do it for myself in my time, I can help other actors facilitate their dreams.”

Chrissy Metz finally landed a breakout role herself, playing Ima “Barbara” Wiggles on American Horror Story: Freak Show, but she never forgot her early days in the business working behind-the-scenes.

“I have been able to help my friends and people that I believe in pay their bills and stay afloat in L.A. while following their dreams,” Chrissy said.

You can see This Is Us star Chrissy Metz talking about her early days as a junior commercial agent in the video below.

[Featured Image by Evans Vestal Ward/NBC]