How Chrissy Metz Feels About Losing Weight For This Is Us

This Is Us actress Chrissy Metz said last month that she'll be losing weight for her role. Her character Kate is in Overeaters Anonymous and is thinking about getting gastric bypass surgery. She told TVLine that the weight loss was included in her contract and that she viewed it as a "win-win" despite criticisms of the show for being less than body-positive. On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she further explained why she was OK with the decision. "Like most actors, we are chameleons, so we have different roles — like Christian Bale lost all that weight for The Machinist,” she said. "So I was kind of like, 'Oh, I hope I get to lose weight' because that’s like a win-win for me, motivated in a different way this time." She also clarified that she had the choice. "It wasn’t mandated. It wasn’t like, 'You have to do this.' But if this is the story line, naturally you would lose weight. So I’m excited if that should happen," she said. Ellen asked how she'd portray the quick, drastic weight loss that gastric bypass surgery would cause, but she was careful not to give away whether or not Kate would go through with it. Metz clarified that Kate's eating issues were "not about the food" — her desire to lose weight was really about overcoming the underlying emotional problems. She has also said it's important to her to portray a plus-sized woman realistically, not as "a butt of the joke or the stereotype."