Ron Batzdorff/NBC Chrissy Metz as Kate.
In the second season of This Is Us, Kate’s main goal will be to become a professional singer. In “A Father’s Advice,” Kate tried out for a house band, but didn’t get the job. She surprisingly wasn’t deterred though after she was told her weight had nothing to do with it. Her out-of-practice voice was the reason. In “A Manny-Splendored Thing,” she got to show off that voice after a singer got sick. Can Chrissy Metz, who plays Kate really sing? The answer is yes.
In “A Manny-Splendored Thing,” we saw Kate as a young girl (played by Mackenzie Hancksicssk) hoping to sing “Lean On Me” in a school talent competition. She has always struggled in the shadow of her mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore), since Rebecca is a singer. After hearing her mother sing “Lean On Me” in the shower, Kate decides not to sing at the show.
But in the present, Kate puts her fears in the back of her mind. Even after she sees Toby (Chris Sullivan) show up with Rebecca, she belts out a perfect performance of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” However, we see that Kate and Rebecca are still not on the same page. Kate feels Rebecca has pushed her to be the person her mother never was.
There are plenty of videos of Metz singing. She attended vocal courses taught by Dot Todman. In a December 2016 interview with Todman, seen below, Metz discussed how important vocal training has been in her life.
For another example of Metz’s singing, here she is with singer J. Omer performing “OMG” and “Hometown Glory” in 2012.
In an interview with Glamour last year, Metz explained that she has always wanted to entertain. She said she joined a choir in high school.
“I wanted to entertain and make people laugh,” Metz said in September 2016. “I think it really hit in third grade, but once I was in high school, I joined chamber choir. I wanted to do musical theater too, but they had rehearsals at the same time. That was a bit of Sophie’s Choice. That’s probably an extreme way to [reference it]! But I chose chamber choir because it was really elite to get into.”
Creator Dan Fogelman told Entertainment Weekly that he wanted to depict Metz’s journey to becoming a professional singer realistically. She’s 37 years old and she’s not suddenly going to become the next Adele.
“So we thought it would be interesting to almost sell like that what it’s going to be, and then give her the victory in the smallest way, which is a victory of self-worth and self-confidence — even if it means rejection and heartbreak and starting from the bottom, I am going to figure out my path,” Fogleman explained.
This Is Us airs on NBC at 9 p.m. on Tuesdays.
