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Chrissy Metz Opens Up About the Panic Attack That Led to Her This Is Us Audition

"There was something my body was trying to tell me," the actress says. 

By Tayi Sanusi
The Final Chapter | NBC's This Is Us

Chrissy Metz recently opened up about the rocky road that ultimately led to her landing the role of Kate on This Is Us . 

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"I was broke and living paycheck to paycheck," Metz said during an interview on The Pulse With Bill Anderson. "Now, I’m fortunate enough to have pursued something that became a success, which I never thought would happen."

Before acting, Metz was working as her agent's assistant, but she was deeply unsatisfied with her life. It turns out, a panic attack she had at a movie theater led to her realizing she needed to switch things up and pursue her dreams. 

"I was very unfulfilled, very unhappy, and my body was keeping the score," she said. "I’m sitting in this movie theater, and this panic attack arises, and I’m like ‘Oh, this is it, I’m going to die watching The Expendables, this is how I’m gonna go,'" Metz recalled. "An ambulance came out, put me on a stretcher, and they did a whole work-up and were like, ‘OK, you’re fine, you’re healthy, but I think you might have anxiety'...It really caused me to take a pause and understand that there was something my body was trying to tell me, and it’s that I was so unhappy….[I] needed to figure out what was going to make me happy."

Fortunately, Metz took action and listened to her gut. It wasn't long after this experience that she auditioned for This Is Us. An important lesson that it's never too late to take stock of what brings us joy. 

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