Meet Chrissy Metz

She’s breaking body-image barriers on NBC’s This Is Us— and becoming a new Hollywood role model.

- Lanford Beard

In its most recent tissue-grabbing moment, This Is Us showed the devastation of 8-year-old Kate Pearson as she realized for the first time that she was overweight—and would face a lifetime of judgment for her looks. Hours after proudly parading around a local pool in a bikini, Kate was now hiding her body under her father’s T-shirt while staring at a picture of a piglet her friends scrawled on a napkin. Chrissy Metz, the actress who plays Kate, has known that pain. “I was always the little girl wearing a T-shirt with my bathing suit,” Metz tells People. “I’ve always had an issue with weight. I have pictures of when I was 3 and 4, and I’ve always been chubby.”

Now 36, Metz is delivering an honest, nuanced performance on fall’s most buzzed-about new TV show. Along the way she’s been surprised to find how much Kate’s story has empowered viewers. “I just feel really grateful that I can pursue my dreams and also reach people in ways that I never expected,” she says.