Chrissy Metz Says ‘This Is Us’ Fans Share Their Eating Disorder Experiences With Her: It’s ‘Not Just a TV Show’

usmagazine.com:

A relatable arc. Chrissy Metz got real about how her This Is Us character, Kate Pearson, has inspired fans to open up about their experiences with eating disorders.“What I will miss most about Kate is that I think so many people, not even just women, relate to her and her walking imperfectly through her trials and tribulations and all the shame and guilt that she’s carried for so long,” the actress, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly amid the show’s final season. “It’s really sort of like a torch that she’s carrying, and I think that’s a really special thing to meet people that I’ve never met before and be able to cry in bathrooms with them about what they’re going through.”Kate has struggled with her weight and body image since the NBC drama’s series premiere in September 2016.

She and husband Toby Damon (Chris Sullivan) argued over their children’s diets during the Tuesday, March 8, episode as she accused him of fearing that their son, Jack, would get “fat.”The show’s raw approach to the topic has resonated with viewers time and again over the years.“So many women have shared their experiences, and I will never forget one of the first people to come up to me in New York City,” Metz recalled. “Justin [Hartley] and I were out to dinner, and I look at her and she looks, like, just so in shape and, well, just beautiful, glowing, and she’s like, ‘You don’t understand.

I have a massive eating disorder, and I didn’t even understand what it is that I was going through. And then to see Kate going through it.’ Two women that I would never think that we’d have anything in common were more alike than we were different, and it was so special.