There's a Lot Still in Store for Kate Pearson's Weight Loss Journey on 'This Is Us'

Fans know that Kate Pearson of the Big Three carries a lot of emotional baggage. The This Is Us character had to grapple with the loss of her father at a young age, an abusive relationship, and a complicated relationship with her mother. It's hard to pinpoint "why" Kate develops an unhealthy relationship with food, but it's understood that the weight gain didn't stem from one issue — it stemmed from several that accumulated over the years.

As a grownup, Kate (played by Chrissy Metz) continues to struggle with over-eating, and some of these struggles present themselves in her relationship with her husband Toby (Chris Sullivan). For instance, in Season 4, when it's revealed that Toby has been sneaking to the gym and has lost a considerable amount of weight, Kate ultimately feels betrayed. (Toby also reveals he uses exercise as a way to distract himself from the stress of being a dad to a son with special needs.)

That scene, and really any scene that focuses on Kate and/or Toby's weight, has made fans wonder if either of them have worn a fat suit. Since losing weight has been a part of both Toby and Kate's storylines, is it possible that they wear fat suits on the show? 

Although Chris has admitted to wearing a fat suit (Toby was actually larger than Chris is in real life in previous seasons, so the actor had to wear a prosthetic costume to appear bigger), Chrissy has never worn a fat suit on This Is Us, although she was asked to wear one when she was on American Horror Story: Freak Show. Chrissy had just lost 100 pounds and was "thrilled" to learn she wasn't big enough for her role as "Fat Lady" Irma Wiggles.

“I was thrilled to find out that I wasn’t big enough. It was a first in my life. It was liberating," Chrissy told Yahoo in 2014. She added, "Physically, I am a different person onscreen because the suit is so cumbersome. My bust is something crazy like 109 inches. I can't cross my legs. I walk differently. There are hallways at work I don't fit in. If it is 75 or 80 degrees outside, it is like 100 in the suit, and it makes me sweat. All that helped me get into character."

However, it's totally possible Chrissy might wear a prosthetics costume eventually, since Kate's storyline does involve her losing weight. Although it's not required of her in her contract, it does sound like Chrissy knows she'll have to lose weight if she wants to follow Kate's weight loss journey, which she's been on since the very first episode of This Is Us.

 “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. I was pitched that the trajectory of Kate is that she’s going to lose weight. That is who and what’s going on," Chrissy told PEOPLE. 

Chrissy says she's fine with losing weight for her role, and is treating it like how most actors treat any kind of physical transformation they need to go through to tell the character's story. “Why not have a motivation beyond me to get to a healthy weight? 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.”

Of course, losing or gaining weight for a role can be triggering for many actors (and most are supervised, so they don't lose or gain weight too quickly), so we hope that Chrissy is taking her physical and mental health super seriously and prioritizes herself before the show (it sounds like she is). At this point, it's unclear which season Kate will ultimately shed the pounds (nor do we know how much she'll lose).

Watch new episodes of This Is Us every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.