Chrissy Metz Recalls 'American Idol' Audition and What Led Her to Push Back (Exclusive)
Chrissy Metz is opening up about her little-known American Idol audition.
The This Is Us star recently talked to ET about her new book, This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today, in which she reveals she once tried out for the hit singing competition show. Metz says she auditioned to be respected for her vocal abilities -- which comes as no surprise to This Is Us fans, who have seen her singing on the series -- but had to push back against those who wanted her on TV for another reason.
"You know, I get it, they're trying to make stories and they're trying to invest the audience into these characters and I understand the whole scope of everything, especially [since] I was a talent agent," Metz says. "So, I understand what they're doing. And I was like, 'Oh, I can sort of see that and I don't want to be that girl. ...Like, if you don't dig it, you don't like my voice, I'll just keep it moving.'"
The 37-year-old actress continues, "But it just felt like -- it was like, 'Oh, how else can we kind of jab?' and I was like, 'Don't -- you're not ready because I'm gonna jab right back.' Or, I'm just gonna leave because of course that's not the purpose of me going. I didn't want to make ridiculous TV. I wanted to, you know, be respected as a singer."
Metz sang "Heavy Heavy" from Dreamgirls for her audition, and says she couldn't even fathom winning the competition.
"I don't know, I mean, I have a pretty busy schedule but I think musicians travel the world at a very rapid pace so who knows?" she says.
In Metz's deeply personal memoir, she also opens up about painful moments from her childhood, including stories of growing up in poverty and the alleged emotional and physical abuse she endured from her stepfather, whom she calls Trigger -- which he has denied to ET.
Watch below:
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