by | August 25, 2025
Why Actor and Floridian Chrissy Metz Loves a Good Underdog
Chrissy Metz shares how she went from a Gainesville school teacher to an Emmy-nominated actor and why she's rooting for the underdog on Netflix’s “The Hunting Wives.”
After 12 years in Los Angeles trying to make it as an actor, Chrissy Metz had just 81 cents in her bank account. “I was about to head back home,” says Metz, known for her roles as Kate Pearson in “This Is Us” and Starr in Netflix’s “The Hunting Wives,” tells Flamingo. “I just thought that I was delusional about being an actor and that nothing was happening.”
It was Chrissy Metz’s mother who advised her to stick it out, explaining that she could either return home to Gainesvilleand “be miserable, or stay in Los Angeles and pursue what you want.” Metz persevered. After years of auditioning for roles where she was the “butt of the joke” or being rejected because she wasn’t deemed right for “cookie-cutter perfect” characters, she was still eager to appear on screen and change people’s hearts and minds. “You never saw people that looked like me on screen. My friends would always tell me, ‘You have a story.’ I wanted to tell stories about the 97% of the other people in the world who look and act differently and portray characters that would be impactful,” she says.
Metz’s decision to stay in Los Angeles almost immediately paid off, as she was soon cast as Kate Pearson in the smash-hit NBC drama “This Is Us.” Metz would go on to portray Kate for six seasons, earning two Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy nomination for her work. “I was just so grateful to (creator) Dan Fogelman, who created a character that paved the way for different body types and stereotypes to be pushed aside,” remarks Metz. “We want to see those stories, we want them to be human stories, not just have them be about weight.”
While Metz’s journey to acting stardom began in Gainesville, she spent the first eight years of her life living in abroad. Six months after being born in Homestead, Florida, Metz moved to Japanfor her father’s career in the U.S. Navy. She’s yet to return to the country as an adult, but she still remembers how beautiful Japan’s culture and people were. “I really would like to go back because I just have glimpses of memories and I’m always like, ‘Did I make this up? Did it really happen?’”
After her parent’s divorced when she was 8 years old, Metz ended up in Gainesville with her mother, a place she was always looking to escape as a teenager. Now, she can’t help but appreciate how serene and beautiful the Florida city is. “All of my family still lives there,” notes Metz, who now lives in Nashville. “I can drive down there (or) get a flight in an hour. I’m even thinking of moving back there because my mom is getting older and my nieces and nephews are there. If I’m not in Nashville or working, I’m in Florida.”
I wanted to tell stories about the 97% of the other people in the world who look and act differently and portray characters that would be impactful.
—Chrissy Metz
It was while she was in middle school when Metz was first bitten by the acting bug. Still painfully shy, she ended up joining the choir rather than auditioning for theater roles. “I loved movies and comedians, but I had no self-esteem or confidence. I wanted to be part of something super creative, but I didn’t want to be the standout. I didn’t even want to have the solo.”
Immediately after finishing high school, Metz didn’t even try to act—instead, she taught preschool until her sister learned about an open-call model and talent search at a Holiday Inn in Gainesville. Initially reluctant to sing for the visiting talent scout, Metz finally caved in and sang “Reflection” from the 1999 Disney film “Mulan.” “She was like, ‘If you’re interested in pursuing acting, we’re doing some acting classes.’ So, I ended up driving to Orlando every weekend for six months.”
When the talent scout decided to do a showcase of her actors in Los Angeles, Metz bit the bullet and flew over. She was soon signed up by her first agent Jackie Lewis. “She was like, ‘I just think you’re adorable and different. ’” Far from being the moment where Metz’s acting career kick-started, Lewis instead hired her to be her assistant. “She wanted me to learn everything about the business. At first, I was like, ‘What!? Wait!’ But I actually became an agent for nine years and learned so much.”
Over the next 12 years, Metz landed small parts in seldom-seen movies like “Loveless in Los Angeles” and “The Onion Movie,” as well as popping up in “Entourage,” “All Of Us,” and “My Name Is Earl,” playing characters like Heavy Girl and Chunk. At the time, Metz’s struggle to land acting roles and her lack of money were of huge concern to the burgeoning actor. But she insists these issues ultimately helped to make her dramatic performance in “This Is Us” even more powerful and resonant. “It made me more empathetic. All these things that I thought were terrible tragedies were really the triumphs that paved the way for my career.”
Being able to see the positive in people and find the heart in characters is exactly what drew Metz to playing Starr in “The Hunting Wives,” the family drama that was released on Netflix earlier this summer. Based on May Cobb’s novel of the same name, the show revolves around the arrival of Sophie (Brittany Snow) to an affluent suburb in East Texas. Drawn to a circle of housewives with dangerous secrets, Sophie ultimately becomes the prime suspect in the death of a teenage girl. Starr is very much regarded as an outsider, as she’s a single mother who is nowhere near as rich as the other housewives.
I’m even thinking of moving back there because my mum is getting older and my nieces and nephews are there. If I’m not in Nashville or working, I’m in Florida.
—Chrissy Metz
“I always root for the underdog,” insists Metz. “I imagined she was friends with the housewives, got divorced and then focused all of her energy on her daughter. I love to play a grounded character. She’s the only one with redeemable qualities, a conscience and a heart. You root for her.” Even though “The Hunting Wives” has only been on Netflix for about a month, Metz has already been repeatedly stopped by fans eager to discuss its various plot points, mysteries and cliffhangers. “There’s a catharsis in watching it,” opines Metz when quizzed about why “The Hunting Wives” has struck such a chord so quickly. “We can look at this world and their lives and know that we’re not as crazy as these people. It’s just a fun show to talk about. It’s liberating to watch. You don’t have to condone or agree with it. It’s fun to watch the twists and turns.”
Despite her huge success, Metz insists that she still doesn’t feel entirely confident as an actor. That didn’t get in the way of her from lining up her next gig after “The Hunting Wives,” as she’s currently filming opposite Stephen Graham and Liev Schrieber in Apple TV+’s adaptation of Lars Kepler’s Joona Linna books. But while Metz might lack self-belief, she knows exactly what to feel when considering a potential project and what she wants her impact to be. “I need to feel scared. That’s where the growth comes from,” she explains. “And even though I’m riddled with anxiety right up until the moment they say action, I love to enlighten myself. Hopefully I enlighten other people with the roles I take, too.”
