Chrissy Metz Had 81 Cents In Her Bank Account When She Landed Her 'This Is Us' Role

Chrissy Metz is all smiles in this new feature for Glamour magazine, on newsstands February 7.

Here’s the 36-year-old This Is Us star had to share with the mag:

On American Horror Story: “And then in 2014 American Horror Story came up. I’d wanted the role of Ima [Barbara] Wiggles desperately, and after I got it, I thought, OK, awesome, this is a jumping board for my career! But when it wrapped, there was…nothing. I almost moved back to Florida, but my mom said, ‘You can either be miserable here and not pursue your dreams, or you can be miserable in L.A. and at least pursue what you want.’ So I stayed. I kept auditioning, with no savings and no money, credit card debt gaining interest. I went on unemployment. I bought ramen noodles at dollar stores. I never had to�”God forbid�”live on the streets; I moved in with a roommate who told me, ‘Stay with me until you can afford rent. Don’t give up.’ People who supported me were like, ‘If you don’t have money for food, I’ll cook you dinner. You don’t have money for acting class? Let’s get together and read lines.’ I am so grateful that I had such an amazing support system, but when I booked This Is Us, I had 81 cents in my bank account. I could cry right now just thinking about it.”

On getting the role of Kate on This Is Us: “Getting the role of Kate has changed everything. It’s crazy to go from not having enough money to buy food to getting free dinners. Why is it that when you really need something, you don’t have it? And when you can afford it, you have a surplus of it? You may think, ‘Ooh, you’re on TV, you’re a millionaire!’ No. It’s definitely a lot more than I was making, but I still live with my roommate�”though I pay my proper share of the rent now. Meeting my car payment on time? That’s new. I paid my friends and my stepdad back. And three months ago I finally paid my credit cards off! Funny, but I still get buyer’s remorse�”I just got my first pair of Alexander McQueen shoes; I’m so convinced I shouldn’t have bought them, I still haven’t busted them out of the box.”

On always being grateful: “I’ve had women�”average women, older women, teenagers�”who say to me, ‘Your role and this show has changed my life.’ That makes all the struggle, all the ramen noodles, all the times when I couldn’t pay my bills, all the times where I was like, ‘I can’t do this,’ worth it. Sometimes I cry on the way to the set still. There is something that happens when you are grateful: You continue to keep receiving blessings. So I will always be grateful.”

For more on Chrissy, visit Glamour.com.