On This Is Us, Chrissy Metz captured viewers from the first time her character Kate stepped on the scale.
Off came not just the clothes but the jewelry too, in a scene that so many dieters know as the “hold your breath weigh-in before the diet starts” sequence.
Not only has Kate shown viewers every aspect of being overweight, from childhood (played by Mackenzie Hancsicsak) to teen (portrayed by Hannah Zeile) to adult (handled by Metz), but the This Is Us character also has revealed how her weight is tied in with her romantic fate.
And in the latest of those inevitable twists and turns on This Is Us, some think Kate’s and Toby’s future may be linked to his recent weight loss along with her failure to take off the pounds.
But that possibility doesn’t answer the big question: Could Chrissy’s lack of weight loss actually change what the writers have planned for the final shows?
Fan theories have come up with some intriguing possibilities.
This Is Us star Chrissy Metz: Everything she’s said about her weight
Chrissy, who plays the adult Kate on This Is Us, hasn’t held back when it comes to her honesty about her weight.
Soon after the show first began, however, Metz sparked controversy when she said in an interview that her This Is Us contract required her to lose weight. The actress subsequently clarified what she had meant in a People interview.
Initially, Chrissy said that she, like Kate, would be on a path to weight loss. She called that plan a “conversation” she had with producers, adding “it’s in my contract” to shed pounds “in a healthy manner.”
But the controversy over the idea of a contract requiring an actress to shed pounds to hold onto her role resulted in Metz rephrasing her remarks.
“It wasn’t mandated in the contract, and I probably — if I ever said the word contract, I didn’t mean it in that way,” commented Chrissy. “I was pitched that the trajectory of Kate is that she’s going to lose weight. That is who and what’s going on.”
Metz emphasized that she felt positive about the fact that if her character is shown getting slim, she needs to lose weight in real life.
“Why not have a motivation beyond me to get to a healthy weight?” Chrissy asserted. “Every actor does that. We’re chameleons. We change, we grow as an actor… you lose weight, you gain weight, you change your hair or whatever.”
However, she admitted being somewhat surprised by the way that her size has stolen the spotlight.
“It’s like all people want to talk about is my weight,” pointed out Metz. “I was like, ‘Okay, this is weird.'”
This is Us Kate and Toby: Is their future linked to Chrissy Metz weight?
We’re all the way into Season 4, and it’s increasingly starting to look as if Toby’s weight loss success and Kate’s lack thereof could be the straw that broke the This Is Us romance’s back.
When This Is Us first showed Kate and Toby’s meet-cute history, the two first crossed paths in a support group that focused on weight loss. Kate made it clear at the time that she was determined to shed pounds, getting Toby to agree to hop on board the weight loss express with her.
However, that plan changed dramatically from showing Kate as the leader of the diet pack and Toby as her obedient follower.
Instead, following the stressful discovery that the couple’s son Jack had a disability, Kate returned to relying on food to comfort her. At the same time, Toby discovered CrossFit and lunged his way into the intense workouts, complete with a deep dive into the accompanying diet as well.
And the big question that looms over the show — How can This Is Us handle the rumored original plan to show Kate triumphantly losing weight if the actress playing the adult character remains overweight?
How This Is Us could show slim Kate without Chrissy Metz losing weight: Possible spoiler alert
Some on Reddit have been blunt about their views concerning Chrissy Metz, with one This Is Us fan asking if Metz was the “wrong choice” to play Kate.
But one Reddit user came up with a solution for keeping the plot of Kate getting slim the same if Chrissy doesn’t lose weight.
“If the writers wanted to show Kate has lost weight, and Chrissy is unable to do so in time for the scene, would you accept Hannah [Zeile] being aged up with Chrissy’s voice?” asked the commentator.
The reference to the actress playing the teen comes at the same time as a critical plot point in teen Kate’s life. The next show will focus on Kate, potentially showing exactly what happened with the boyfriend that resulted in her turning to food so much.
However, the question of whether it would be “disrespectful” to Chrissy to use a different actress to portray weight loss remains unanswered.