Chrissy Metz beat out a “Hollywood overweight person” to land her This Is Us role

The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter went behind the scenes of the NBC hit, finding that Metz and the actress she was up against “represented different ideas of what passes for heavy on television — and dramatically different directions for the show.” "The other actress was a sort of 'Hollywood overweight person,'" says NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke, "struggling with losing, maybe, 20 pounds." But Salke decided that Metz could bring authenticity to the role. Before This Is Us, Metz was a struggling actress, whose biggest credit was “the fat lady" on American Horror Story: Freak Show. So Metz was desperate to play Kate: ”Here was this woman who was actually dealing with weight. Not like, 'Oh my God, I gained a pound,'" she says. "She was a real woman who was really struggling, and all I could think was, 'Oh my God, I'm Kate.’” PLUS: This Is Us creator initially found Milo Ventimiglia too good-looking for the part, the show benefits from its diverse writers’ room, and Mandy Moore says “Milo is No. 1 on the call sheet — he isn’t going anywhere.”