Every This Is Us fan is well aware that actress Chrissy Metz has a beautiful singing voice—her character, Kate Pearson, works as a professional singer after all. But last night at the Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMs), Metz performed a brand new song live on stage. A mighty big leap for any artist, and a first for the actress.
She originally recorded the song, called “I’m Standing With You,” for the soundtrack of her upcoming film Breakthrough. “I’m excited,” Metz told People on the red carpet before the show. “I mean, you know, as a little girl, you always dream about something like this. But to actually do it and to hold a stage with these incredible women—Lauren Alaina, Carrie Underwood, Maddie + Tae, Mickey Guyton. Are you kidding? It’s really exciting.”
Metz not only made her live television singing debut, but she did it alongside some country music greats, including Underwood who introduced her on stage. You can see a clip of the performance over at The Hollywood Reporter.
Jeff Kravitz/Getty ImagesKevin Winter/Getty Images
Being amongst country royalty wasn’t lost on Metz. “Here’s the thing. I just ran into Tanya Tucker. I was like, she literally kissed my hand — I have her lip gloss on my hand, folks. I really do love all of these acts and all of these artists,” Metz said. “I got to see George Strait and Miranda Lambert sing one of my favorite George Strait songs at rehearsal. I was like, losing my mind. Everyone here is just incredible. I love country music.”
Fans new and old loved the performance. “You really impressed me tonight @ChrissyMetz – Could you imagine the pressure being on stage with all those strong, fierce female vocalists? Jack would be so proud,” one tweeted. “Never knew Chrissy Metz could sing. I approve #ACMawards,” wrote another.
She even impressed Broadway icon Kristen Chenoweth who wrote, “Omg @ChrissyMetz you just nailed your first live tv singing performance! #standingwithyou #ACMs”
We agree, Jack Pearson would definitely be very proud of his “Katie Girl.”
The anecdote has reached mythic proportions: Before Chrissy Metz, 38, made it in television, she lived with six women in a cramped two-bedroom apartment. She had to borrow gas money to get to auditions and lived on a steady diet of dollar-store ramen noodles, all while racking up massive debt (nearly $12,000 worth.) When fate at last intervened, with Metz landing the role of Kate Pearson on This Is Us, she had 81 cents in her bank account.
But while the gig was a personal game-changer, Metz was the rookie on set. In the first and second seasons, she made much, much less than her cast mates. While she earned $40,000 per episode, veteran actor Milo Ventimiglia took home $115,000, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Metz didn’t make a fuss. After all, even earning a steady paycheck as an actress had seemed so inconceivable. She’d grown up watching her mom skip meals. Before she landed This Is Us, she collected unemployment checks. And even now, she’s one of the few plus-size women with a leading role on television. Metz felt fortunate just to have a seat at the table. “For the first two years, I thought, ‘Oh I should just be grateful,’” Metz tells Glamour. “But then I realized, ‘I think I’ve done ok, and now it’s time [to negotiate].’”
After the second season of This Is Us, with two Golden Globe nominations under her belt (and the collective chorus of women who’ve stood up to demand more in here ear), Metz decided she was done just being grateful. “It was everything, collectively,” she says. “Our audience’s [support], other women standing up for themselves, and just feeling like, ‘Ok, I’ve been recognized for the work that I’ve done—not entitled, but recognized, and maybe it’s ok [to ask].’”
With the tremendous success of This Is Us—it’s the biggest drama on broadcast TV—Metz’s cast mates also came to the conclusion that it was time to revisit their contracts. But this time, the beloved Pearson clan banded together. Now Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Justin Hartley, and Metz receive identical checks. What does equal pay mean to Metz? A cool $250,000 per episode, which amounts to $4.5 million per season, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Metz credits her co-workers for the tenor of the process: “We all understood where everyone was coming from. It felt really respectful and professional and nice to know that if I need to, I could do it again.”
But the newfound zeros at the end of Metz’s paycheck haven’t changed her financial philosophy. She doesn’t have to reach too far back in her memories to recall what it felt like not to be able to afford rent, let alone a new pair of shoes. Lately, she’s trying to feel comfortable living in a “gray area” in relation to her wealth. “It’s about not being so tight that you’re not enjoying what you worked really hard for, but also not spending all of it just because you have it,” she says. “It’s sitting in that gray area of like, well, this is what I’ve learned from my past experiences, my parents, and this is what I’m going to have to do in order to have a different life.” For Metz, this means evaluating her purchases. While she’s reluctant to spend a lot on more disposable items, like clothes, Metz has built a beautiful home for herself—and fills it with the kind investment furniture she never had as a child.
Alison Brie and Chrissy Metz have nothing but love for each other after all those bizarre rumors from last night’s Golden Globes.
Don’t know what I’m talking about? Here’s quick recap. Outlets started reporting Sunday night that Metz called Brie a “b-tch” during a Facebook Live pre-show interview on the Globes red carpet. “Do you know a girl named Alison Brie?” one of the hosts asked Metz during the chat. “Do I?” the This Is Us star responded before mumbling something inaudible that the Internet heard as “She’s such a b-tch.”
Metz quickly took to Twitter and shut this story down, though. “It’s terribly unfortunate anyone would think much less run a story that was completely fabricated,” the actress wrote. “I adore Alison and would never say a bad word about her, or anyone! I sure hope she knows my heart.”
Several responses from Brie, Metz, and people in their inner circles followed shortly after this. Below, check out a timeline of quotes and posts about this incident that prove, once and for all, there’s no bad blood between Metz and Brie:
The original statement from Metz’s rep, Cheryl McLean. “Chrissy has nothing but admiration and respect for Alison and, frankly, every fellow actor who must wade through this much-too-common attempt to create a feud among colleagues,” the statement reads, according to USA Today. “This ‘story’ is a complete fabrication and deserves no further momentum.”
Metz’s first interview about what happened. “I’m so distraught and upset,” she told People. “I don’t speak about anyone like that, I don’t speak like that. I love Alison, I follow her. … When I was walking up they said, ‘Do you know Alison,’ and I said, ‘Oh boy, do I.’ I love her.”
This Is Us director Ken Olin comes to Metz’s defense. “Folks, I’ve known @ChrissyMetz for three years and I have NEVER heard her say a mean word about anyone. Move on,” he tweeted.
Brie’s initial response. “But why?,” the GLOW actress said to Vanity Fair writer and reporter Nicole Sperling when asked about the rumor. “I know her. I saw her on the carpet and I told her how beautiful she looked.”
And, then, her sweet post about Metz on Instagram Story. “Nothing but love for @chrissymetz!!” Brie posted, alongside a photo of herself and Metz. “Rumors can’t keep us down!”
Metz saying she and Brie texted about the situation. She told Us Weekly she and Brie have already cleared the air. “It’s unfortunate people want to say stuff that they don’t know is true or not. Alison and I obviously are friends,” Metz said. “She knows that I would never say something like that…It’s kind of terrible. So I’m glad that … I mean, I know the truth. If you actually listen to the video, I don’t say anything. It’s actually not me speaking about that, so it’s unfortunate.”
The Facebook co-host clarifies Metz’ comments. AJ Gibson, who interviewed Metz on the carpet, tells People he believes she called Brie a “babe,” not a “b-tch.” “While interviewing Chrissy during the HFPA Presents: Globes Red Carpet LIVE pre-show and as our conversation came to its natural conclusion, we were told to wrap and toss over to our co-hosts on another portion of the carpet, who were on standby with Alison Brie,” Gibson told People in a statement. “I jokingly asked Chrissy if she knew who Alison was, as a way to transition into the ‘toss’ and she played along. She then referred to Alison as a ‘babe’ and the fun exchange ended.”
He continued, “Chrissy is an absolute sweetheart and an immensely talented and kindhearted woman. On the heels of the powerful show of solidarity via the Time’s Up movement amongst women and allies in the industry on the same Golden Globes Red Carpet just one year ago, I can’t imagine a scenario where Chrissy would want anything more than to support her female counterparts…It’s more important than ever that we ALL support and love on one another and from my position on that stage, a few feet from Chrissy, it was clear to me that she had nothing but love for Alison.”
A hot mic loose on tonight’s Golden Globes red carpet seemed to catch This Is Us star Chrissy Metz in an awkward moment. At the end of her interview on the Facebook Live pre-show, Metz was asked to help introduce Alison Brie. (The Glow actress was about to be interviewed elsewhere on the carpet.) But it, uh, didn’t go quite as planned.
“Do you know a girl named Alison Brie?” one of the co-hosts asked Metz. “Do I?” she replied. When the camera panned to focus on Brie, some close listeners seemed to hear Metz add, “She’s such a bitch.” The Internet, of course, soon took notice:
Brie hasn’t publicly responded to the moment, though Vanity Fair writer and reporter Nicole Sperling reports that she asked Brie about it. “Just asked Alison Brie about this,” she wrote on Twitter. “She had not heard about Metz’s comments and seemed very confused by the entire matter. ‘But why?,’ she asked. ‘I know her. I saw her on the carpet and I told her how beautiful she looked.'”
But while fans and tabloids dissected the clip, Metz took to Twitter to address the moment—and shut it down. “It’s terribly unfortunate anyone would think much less run a story that was completely fabricated! I adore Alison and would never say a bad word about her, or anyone!” she wrote in a retweet of an Us Weekly article about the incident. “I sure hope she knows my heart.”
Several of Metz’s friends and fans also took to social media to defend Metz. “Folks, I’ve known @ChrissyMetz for three years and I have NEVER heard her say a mean word about anyone. Move on,” director and producer Ken Olin wrote.
Chrissy Metz has said on multiple occasions she’s cried in bathrooms with fans over This Is Us. It’s not surprising why: Her character, Kate, goes through so many relatable issues on the show—from dealing with weight and body image to grappling with her father’s sudden death. Metz loves having these conversations, but in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she admits she’s had to pull back a bit for the sake of preserving boundaries.
“I’ve had to learn how to draw really healthy boundaries, meaning I want to take pictures with everybody, I want to talk to everybody, I want to sign autographs and pictures. But sometimes I just can’t,” Metz told the publication at the Banff World Media Festival this week.
But don’t think saying “no” is easy for Metz. The Emmy and Golden Globe nominee admits it’s just the opposite. “I really have a hard time telling people no, because the disappointment on their face, literally, I reel for three hours. I tell myself, ‘I should have taken that picture, I should have taken that picture.’ So drawing healthy boundaries for me is really a challenge, because I’m so grateful,”she said.
Metz isn’t the first celebrity to open up about setting limits with fan encounters. Last November, Jennifer Lawrence said she now sometimes just has to act “rude” to get fans to leave her alone.
“I’m still one person and I am a human being, and I’m not perfect, believe it or not, and that’s really challenging — so I’ve learned to say no to pictures at restaurants and airports,” Metz continued. “And that’s a big deal, guys. I still give people my time, and say, sorry, I’m not taking pictures. I ask them their name and engage them, but I don’t want to disturb the vibe of the restaurant or have a receiving line at the airport. That seems ridiculous and ostentatious.”
It’s admirable that Metz still chats up fans even with her new boundaries; however, it’s important to remember she doesn’t have to do that. No one—not even the biggest This Is Us fan—is entitled to her time.
Chrissy Metz is redefining the way we see plus-size women on screen. This started, of course, on NBC’s hit show This Is Us, where she plays a woman, Kate, dealing with painfully-relatable body image issues. Kate’s one of the first plus-size characters in pop-culture who’s actually treated like a real person—not some caricature designed for ridicule or embarrassing slapstick humor. She’s nuanced and flawed and framed so empathetically that anyone who’s struggled with weight sees themselves in her. I know I do.
But seeing Kate fully realized on screen doesn’t fix Hollywood’s plus-size representation problem. After all, her storyline is by and large still about weight—and that, in itself, is an issue. Plus-size people don’t spend every waking moment of their days agonizing over the scale or what they eat; they have jobs and friends and relationships. Some don’t even have an interest in losing weight at all. It’s great that Kate’s weight issues are addressed respectfully on This Is Us, but the next step is having them not exist at all—or, at least, talked about less. Granted, this is happening—slightly—on This Is Us season two. Kate does have narratives—albeit minor ones—unrelated to her weight, but the undercurrent of her body issues still exists.
Maybe Metz’s new film role will change that, though. Deadline reports that the actress has been tapped to star in The Impossible, which is based on the real-account, faith-based book The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mother’s Faith and Her Child’s Resurrection. Metz will play Joyce, a mother whose 14-year-old son fell through a frozen lake in Missouri and was pronounced lifeless. However, she kept praying by her son’s bedside until his heart (miraculously) started beating again.
That’s all we know about Metz’s character for now, but from this description, it appears any weight or body-image storyline is minimal or nonexistent—and that’s huge. For the first time, it feels like Metz is being viewed as an actress who happens to be plus-size and not a “plus-size actress.” Her physical appearance is taking a back seat to her talent, which is what we all want at the end of the day: for the world to know that our bodies don’t define us—that we’re capable of doing anything (or, in Metz’s case, playing anything).
This role is a long time coming for Metz, who told Glamour a few months back that she was reading several “really great scripts” but not receiving “a ton of offers.” (We also reached out for comment on this latest news and will update if we hear back.)
“I have to say, there’s not a ton of [movie] offers,” Metz said. “But, for me, comedy is so important. Obviously, comedy stems from tragedy, so that’s something I always wanted to do. I thought that was really going to be my niche, and then American Horror Story happened and This Is Us happened. So I want to [cover] all the spectrum—from Kate to kooky, really outrageous characters, to heartfelt [roles]. But I have read a lot of really great scripts, so fingers crossed. There’s a lot of really amazing women and a lot of really talented people out there, so I believe what’s right for me is right for me. Hopefully it will come around, and maybe I’ll just start writing myself. Who knows!”
Hopefully, Metz’s casting in this film leads to more diverse body representation in Hollywood, too—specifically in rom-coms and action movies, where plus-size characters are virtually nonexistent. And I’m hoping this will give the This Is Us show-runners a push to steer Kate’s narrative in a different direction. She’s so much more than her dress size or a number on the scale.
I’m certainly feeling empowered just from hearing this news. Culture has ingrained this warped notion in my mind that, no matter where I go, my body will always be an issue—that I can’t exist at a bar or restaurant or party without my weight being noticed. It’s like my size is the elephant in the room that I must address—or, in most cases, apologize for—before I’m deemed worthy of social interaction. The idea that people who look like me can exist in pop-culture without their weight being acknowledged is comforting. On This Is Us, Chrissy Metz held a mirror up to my body-image issues, and that was extraordinary. But now she’s doing something even more important with this film role (and the film roles to come): She’s giving me permission to just exist—unapologetically.
