Chrissy Metz is proud to have helped a 10-year-old boy with an eating disorder.
Chrissy Metz
The 38-year-old actress has had a number of encounters with fans of 'This Is Us' - on which she plays Kate Pearson - who have told her about the parallels between the show's storylines and their own lives and she was particularly moved by a youngster who was inspired to "love himself for who he was" after seeing her alter ego's struggles and the support she received an a weight loss group.
She told 'Today': "I had a little boy ... his mom told me that he was going to an eating disorder clinic.
"And at 10 years old, I was just devastated, because I think in our society we tend to separate and divide, compare and despair.
"And when he wrote me a note and said that I had encouraged and inspired him to just love himself for who he was, I was like, 'Yes.' Like, yes, that's all we really want to do, and that's all we're trying to do.
"It was very emotional on many levels."
Meanwhile, Chrissy recently admitted she is keen to lose weight for herself.
She said: "[I'm losing weight] not for anybody but myself ... I want to have a fit, healthy body and not have to be put in a box. I don't want to be limited by anything ...
"You don't realise that somebody who's average or even very fit could relate to someone who's overweight but it's not about our size - it's how we look at ourselves and how we feel about ourselves."
The actress has also revealed how she was passed on auditions in the early stages of her career because of her size.
She said: "I'd be getting maybe two auditions a year, and I'd always see the same small group of girls. It was like watching your boyfriend take another woman out every day ... I was so gung ho, I lost 100 lbs. in less than five months. All I did was eat a 2,000-calorie diet and walk 20 minutes a day."