This Is Chrissy

She bares her soul on This Is Us, and now she’s lending her voice to Kung Fu Panda

Chrissy Metz has checked one more thing off her bucket list: playing an animated character. The This is Us star is Mei Mei in DreamWorks TV’s Kung Fu Panda:

The Paws of Destiny

(out Nov. 16). “She has a really big heart, and she means well,” says Metz, 38, who opens up to Us.

Q: When did you realize how big This Is Us was? People started to notice me at the grocery story and share their deepest, darkest secrets with me, a girl who has her own deep, dark secrets. Then I ended up crying with them in the chips aisle.

Q: How will Kate and Toby continue to work together through IVF and his depression? I think this is her time to really be there for her husband [played by Chris Sullivan]. I think men think they have to be tough and they can’t be vulnerable. Toby’s gone through a lot, and that’s OK.

Q: Has the story line made you think about parenthood? I have a huge family, and I taught preschool. I love children, but I can’t even keep a succulent alive. Who knows? I feel like a baby myself. I need to nurture myself first before I could do that to another human being.

Q: Turning to Kung Fu Panda, was it easier to voice an animated character? It was easier in some ways: My entire body and face wasn’t being put on camera. But also more difficult, because it’s just your voice, and you have to convey so much through that.