NBC’s This Is Us has been a breakout hit thanks to its writing and talented cast. Packed with emotion, drama, and warmth, the show easily lures people in with its storylines.

Pulling that off requires each actor to sink into their character’s role so they can become someone else. You’ll find that many are able to do that by drawing from personal experience, giving their characters depth, beauty, and relatability. It sometimes makes you wonder how deep some of them have to dig for the painful parts.

Chrissy Metz plays Kate Pearson, a woman who loves her family but struggles with confidence and weight issues. Much like her character, Metz faced similar challenges as a child, but much of it was due to poverty, neglect, and child abuse.

She recently penned a book titled This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today, and it details her personal journey, including her painful childhood. Excerpts from the book were published in People magazine, and they highlight some of the things she suffered at the hands of her stepfather, Trigger.

Metz, her two older siblings, and mother were abandoned by her biological father when she was just 8 years old. Metz’s mother had another child with a vagrant boyfriend before meeting Trigger, whom she married before giving birth to another baby.

Trigger’s treatment of her included shaming her about her weight:

“My body seemed to offend him, but he couldn’t help but stare, especially when I was eating. He joked about putting a lock on the refrigerator. We had lived with a lack of food for so long that when it was there, I felt like I had to eat it before it disappeared. Food was my only happiness.”

“And so, I began to hide my eating. I’d get up in the middle of the night and eat. I’d sneak food to eat in the bathroom. Cookies, chips. Things I could eat as fast as possible to avoid detection. . .”

But he also physically abused her. Metz described the way he would punch and kick her:

“I don’t remember why Trigger hit me the first time. He never punched my face. Just my body, the thing that offended him so much. He shoved me, slapped me, punched my arm. He would hit me if he thought I looked at him wrong. I remember being on the kitchen floor after he knocked me over, and I was begging to know what I did.”

This treatment continued into her teenage years when Trigger would force her to stand on a scale to check her weight. He would emotionally torment her and beat on her about her size on a regular basis. Through all that, she felt both anger and love for the person who was taking care of her family. She just had difficulty understanding his cruelty.

One of the themes in Metz’s book is that of forgiveness – for self and for others. Over the years she has learned to love herself for her, and her time on the show has also allowed her to channel some of those old hurts into her character’s journey.

Today, Metz and her stepfather are on much better terms – he’s apologized and they’ve taken steps to have a positive relationship. Her hope is that people learn to be less judgmental of themselves (and others), and can become more comfortable opening up about their emotions. Her book and her work as Kate Pearson may be inspiring people to do just that.

Did you know about Chrissy Metz’s personal struggles? What do you think about her traumatic past? Your thoughts on her message?