‘This Is Us’ Star Chrissy Metz Teases ‘Bittersweet, Heartbreakingly Beautiful’ Final Season (Exclusive)

This Is Us is officially in its finale season on NBC and series star Chrissy Metz is getting candid about the end in an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, stating the last few episodes will be part of a “bittersweet, heartbreakingly beautiful” conclusion to the multi-award-winning Dan Fogelman series. First breaking out onto the scene in 2016 to monster ratings, the show will be bidding farewell this year with 18 episodes — though after Tuesday night, there are only 13 more to go.

While chatting with PopCulture in support of Capital One Auto Navigator, Metz, who portrays Kate Pearson on the series, revealed she is just as emotional as fans are when it comes to saying goodbye. “I’m feeling all the things,” she said. “I think there’s seven base emotions. I’m feeling all the things at any given moment. I’m elated. I’m sad. I’m distraught, and then I’m ecstatic and I’m just so grateful to have had this opportunity. I mean, it completely, of course, changed my life, but also has changed so many people’s lives that it’s so much more than just a TV show that we watch for entertainment.”

Sharing how these next few episodes, including the tearjerker and Jack Pearson (Milo Ventimiglia)-centric episode “Don’t Let Me Keep You” was one she was blown away by, Metz says the end includes a well-rounded summation of not just the five years of so many lives, but the “countless years” the family has spent together. “Whether it’s Kate and Toby [Chris Sullivan] and the unraveling of their relationship or Rebecca and her diagnosis and what’s happening and all the things — who knows what position of office Randall’s going to be running for and who Kevin’s going to be dating?” she said. “There’s all sorts of things happening, which makes it for a very exciting final season, but there’s also a lot going on and I think it’s going to be the most trying emotionally for me to perform as far as the seasons go, but it’s going to be amazing.”

Adding how her character Kate is one of her most personal roles to date, Metz explains where she would like to see the Pearson sibling head in the future, especially following all the “shame and so much guilt” she has felt over her father’s death. Stating how she felt “responsible for it, but also not feeling good enough in any capacity,” Metz adds a lot of it has “taken her life by the reins.” That is until now, where she has gained a lot more agency in her life through her relationship with Toby and becoming a mother to two children. “She’s like, ‘Oh, I get to navigate this. I get to determine where I’m going,’ and everything that she’s gone through,” she said. “I think so much of it was her standing up to Mark and all the things that she has done for herself and becoming a mother. I think people change significantly when they’re responsible for other human beings and there’s just so many ways that she’s grown, and it’s wonderful to see that be a possibility, but also to see her follow through on that.”

Metz adds, without giving too much away, that fans will also see that specific aspect as far as it can go with Kate and Toby’s relationship. “Because there are things that are going to transpire that are not easy for her to make decisions about,” she said.

While fans will get to see more This Is Us as the season continues shortly after the 2022 Winter Olympics, Metz has partnered with Capital One Auto Navigator as a way to help consumers learn more about the ease of car buying with the right tools — something she admits helps take the “scaries” away when getting your first car. “It’s just going to be so helpful and it’s so user-friendly,” she said of the service that allows car buyers to pre-qualify for financing with no impact on their credit score, shop millions of cars from thousands of participating dealerships nationwide, and see their real rate and monthly payment, all in one place and before visiting a dealer. Car buyers can visit Capital One’s official website for more information or download the iOS or Android for more information.

With a partnership that is very personal to Metz, who also admitted her own journey entailed a lot of driving around Los Angeles for gigs, the This Is Us actress and singer knows exactly why having a car and getting all of that sorted is an important part of someone’s life. “I think that opportunities really provide so much empowerment and that accessibility, whether you’re going on auditions or finding your dream job or whatever it is that you’re doing — when you can simply go and find what car, whether it’s a dream car or the car that you need right now, and you want a specific color or a specific leather or whatever it is that you’re looking for, then you can easily access that and find out, and then prequalify and do all that leg work before you get to the dealership,” she said of Capital One Auto Navigator. “Then when you get to the dealership, the exciting part is the test drive and so it’s really cool because you get to prequalify, but it doesn’t ding your credit, which we love.”

This Is Us airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m ET on NBC. For more with Chrissy Metz and everything on This Is Us, stay tuned to the latest from PopCulture.com.