A relatable plot twist. This Is Us fans were shocked to learn that Kate and Toby are divorced in the future, but as more details emerge in season 6, Chrissy Metz hinted that the split will play out like an average couple’s.
“Chris [Sullivan] and I always joked, we were like, ‘Well, it wasn’t gonna be Beth and Randall, so it had to be someone, right?’ We have to see sort of the unraveling of a relationship and what that means,” the actress, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, January 26, while discussing her partnership with Capital One Auto Navigator. “With the writers — who I luckily have had a chance to write with, I cowrote an episode, episode nine — we were talking about that relationships … we grow so much from them and the people are so instrumental in our evolution, but it doesn’t mean that they’re our forever people.”
Kate and Toby have weathered their fair share of marital woes throughout the NBC drama’s run, but a season 5 flash-forward that teased her wedding to Phillip (Chris Geere) seemed like the final nail in her relationship with Toby.
“That’s so difficult because Toby and Kate are just this amazing couple who have put themselves back together over and over together, and it’s such a beautiful journey to see,” Metz said. “But then, at the same time, people grow and they grow in different ways and take different journeys. And so, it’s hard to imagine them not together. And it’s like, ‘Who is this new guy? And he’s still in Kate’s phone as the mean jerk. What is Kate thinking?’ I’m sure people are like, ‘What is wrong with her?’”
Thus far in season 6, Kate and Toby have struggled to maintain their long-distance marriage after he moved for work. In a flash-forward from the January 18 episode, their adult son, Jack (Blake Stadnik), hinted that a childhood accident with the family’s smoker that left him injured led to his parents’ split. However, Metz revealed that no one person is to blame for their divorce.
“We’ll come to find that neither Toby or Kate are wrong or right,” she told Us. “They’re just sort of growing apart, and I think that’s such a beautiful way to — we always see these very tumultuous endings of relationships, and we’re gonna see that these are two people that love each other desperately but just aren’t meant to be together forever. And it doesn’t have to be terrible all the time. You can understand each other’s perspectives. We’re gonna go through that whole journey of the new and the old.”
As for Kate’s growing connection with Phillip, Metz urged fans to give him a chance. “He’s such a wonderful, of course, actor but also person. And he’s like, ‘I know this is gonna be tricky for you, and I’m here for you every step of the way.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh,’” she explained. “We do see this sort of, like, underlying charm, and aside from his very dry English wit, [Phillip] is very sweet and we’ll get to see all that.”
In the midst of wrapping up This Is Us’ final season, the Emmy nominee has partnered with Capital One Auto Navigator to help people realize that buying a car can be easier with the right tool. Capital One Auto Navigator allows car buyers to prequalify for financing with no impact to 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 https://www.capitalone.com/autonavigator or download the app for more information.
“For me, a car meant freedom. It meant accessibility,” Metz told Us. “Living in Los Angeles and pursuing acting, you have to have a car. The auditions are every single which way. And so, it was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna need a car. I just am going to need a car.’ And luckily it provided [an] opportunity to get me to the place I am today. I’m very grateful for that. And that’s why I’m pairing with Capital One Auto Navigator because it just makes so much sense to be able to get on your phone and literally find specifically what kind of car you would like, whether it’s a particular leather or a color. And then also just being able to prequalify and figure out the financing and without it [impacting] your credit score. Then you get to the dealership [and] you really get to have a good time at the test drive, as opposed to sort of the daunting process and the scary process of like, ‘Am I gonna be able to afford a car?’”
This Is Us airs on NBC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
