This Is Us: Chrissy Metz Teases an "Emotional" Trip Back to Jack's Funeral

This Is Us fans are in for another tearjerking episode on Tuesday night. Creator Dan Fogelman warned fans and journalists alike at the Television Critics Association last week that Tuesday's hour would be a "big episode" for the emotional family drama. The statement followed a clip that showed Kate (Chrissy Metz) going to an immersive weight loss therapy program that inspired her to have flashbacks of Jack's (Milo Ventimiglia) funeral -- so we're inclined to believe him that tissues are once again required on deck.

Just like many of you though, we couldn't wait until Tuesday to find out more about what's coming in the next episode. Luckily, Chrissy Metz was available to talk to us to tell us why Kate is heading to this camp and to help prepare for a very emotional glimpse at Jack's death. See what she had to say below.

What leads Kate to this therapy group in the preview?
Chrissy Metz: Kate decides after the really touch and go issues with Toby's heart problems that gastric bypass is a really big undertaking. She's still uncertain about doing it. When she discovers that there is this weight loss emersion camp -- [Kate] wants a quick fix. She wants it to all just be gone. We all do. We all want the problems to just go away, but the real issues that underly everything, that underly the weight, we discover she has yet to let go of. Just as she had to Toby in the hospital, "I think this is the first time I've ever said I love you to anyone that wasn't my family."

It's really hard for anyone, a man especially, to fill her father's shoes. There's that and it's layered because she's obviously been the glue that held the siblings together, but she also has put everyone else first. That has a lot to do with her deflecting the real issues of what's going on with her. When we can take care of other people, we then say, "Oh, we don't have time for ourselves."'...The food is not the issue, it's the symptom, with Kate. It's filling the void. As she gets into this camp, she discovers there's a lot more going on than even I think even she anticipated.

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Speaking of Toby, she didn't just say she loves him. They're engaged now -- will these new discoveries give her second thoughts about everything she said to him in the hospital?
Metz: That is such a great question. Without giving it away too much, as we go along when we know better we do better. At that moment, she's absolutely in love with Toby. As we discover and uncover and discard these things that we've held onto for so long, she does question, "Am I?" Of course, there are people that introduced to her at the camp who are a little bit of a devil on the shoulder and also a mirror. She starts to contemplate very different things that she's never had to before...There's a lot going on. There's been a lot happening. Sometimes relationships when they are tried and tested, they either fall apart or they get stronger. We don't know what's going to happen with that.

Has the heart attack put them on the same page about losing the weight at least?
Metz: I think that he has. He flew across the country to be with her on Christmas. When that happened, it's a huge wake up call. Not to say that his was just affected by weight, because it sounds like its more hereditary with the hole in his heart, but I think that when you are faced with something life threatening and you discover what's really important, which is the love between them and the commitment between them, they are going to do the best they can to be on the same page. As always, we're human and we fail, and we succeed. Sometimes we fail more than we succeed. We're going to have to try and see how that fails absolutely.

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Another big part of Tuesday's episode will be the flashbacks to Jack's funeral. What was it like having to film that scene?
Metz: I, as Chrissy, find it super emotional because I am so attached to Milo [Ventimiglia]. In my mind, he's like a dad to me. In real life he gives me advice and he's just such a wonderful human being. He's kind of like the captain of our ship and he's always taking care of us. It's hard to draw the line between, "Oh Chrissy, this is not real. This is acting." I think that's what makes our show so special. We really do care about each other. There's this other layer of emotions happening.

Just to see that because we haven't been introduced to any of how he passed other than Kate with the urn when she introduced him to Toby during football season. It was very emotional. Even seeing the clips, every time I cry. Of course, they get you with the music. You can't really tell what's happening. It's just enough to get you so riled up and so upset. It's hard. It's hard to watch the clips. It's hard to be a part of all of that because you know what a great man and a great father he was. We still don't know what happened! So then there's that. We don't have any closure at all.

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Does your relationship with Milo help, though? Because we've seen young Kate and Jack's relationship in the flashbacks, but you have to maintain that relationship without being in a scene in with Milo?
Metz: Right! We're really playing pretend. That's why I'm so grateful that I respect him so much as a person because then I can really take his essence and take that relationship that we have as friends and outside of the job and use that. I don't have a close relationship with my biological father, so I also use the sentiment and the want and the hope to have that kind of relationship that Kate and Jack had. That makes me emotional. It comes from a lot of different places for me. It's really hard to deal with and I know because people have approached me about it many times. So I know we're all kind of feeling the same thing.

We've seen Randall admit that he's Rebecca's favorite. Do you think Kate would admit she's Jack's favorite?
Metz: I think, not out loud, unless she was so furious or so hurt...I don't think she would necessarily admit it, but they definitely have a connection that the boys don't have. Also, the boys have a different kind of connection with Jack. I think it's because she's the daughter and she's the only girl that they have something special. Being daddy's little girl is always a special thing. I have friends who are daddy's little girl, and it's such a tender relationship and awesome.

Find out how it all unfolds when This Is Us airs Tuesday at 9/8c on NBC.