Chrissy Metz is obligated to lose weight for her role as Kate Pearson on "This Is Us," but how much weight she loses is up to her.
The show's creator, Dan Fogelman, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the contractual details surrounding Chrissy's weight loss.
"Thus far, the plan we had for the character and what Chrissy's been doing have been working in tandem, with a talk once a year of, like, 'Hey, here's what we're thinking,'" he explained. "We have a general long-term plan that we've all talked about, and we will adjust the plan as needed. I mean, that's life, right?"
In season one of the hit NBC show, Kate's weight is a major plot line. She meets her now fiancée, Toby (played by Chris Sullivan), in Overeaters Anonymous. She contemplates getting gastric bypass surgery and goes to a weight loss camp. Even in flashbacks, young Kate's weight is often at the forefront, as she realizes how thin her mom, Rebecca (played by Mandy Moore) is. In one scene, she is bullied for her weight while at the community pool.
Because of the honest weight struggles on the show, Chrissy felt an immediate connection to Kate during the audition process.
"Here was this woman who was actually dealing with weight," the 36-year-old actress said. "Not like, 'Oh my God, I gained a pound.' She was a real woman who was really struggling, and all I could think was, 'Oh my God, I'm Kate.'"
One particular thing Chrissy, who has lost weight since the show premiered, related to was Kate's famous "it's always going to be about weight for me" monologue.
"I remember reading those lines like, 'I'm always going to be afraid of a chair breaking underneath me' or 'whether people will be able to recognize if I'm actually pregnant,' and going to Dan, in tears, like, 'These are my fears,'" she admitted.