Chrissy Metz opens up about writing a children's book — and why 'This Is Us' is 'such a high bar'

Chrissy Metz will be in New York City with her partner, songwriter Bradley Collins, on Valentine's Day, but the couple may not have time for a candlelit dinner or Sleepless in Seattle-style rendezvous at the Empire State Building; they'll be too busy marking the Feb. 14 launch of the children's book they've written together.

Featuring serene illustrations of animals by artist Lisa Fields, When I Talk to God, I Talk About You is a picture book intended to help introduce the idea of prayer and spiritual connection to young readers. Metz, a 2017 Emmy nominee for her role as Kate Pearson in NBC's This Is Us, credits her grandmother with instilling the faith that she holds dear to this day.

"It's definitely been my saving grace in so many situations, and obviously pursuing very ambitious goals and dreams and doing it for the right reasons," Metz tells Yahoo Life. She and Collins, with whom she'll mark three years of dating this May, connected over those shared values early on in their home-bound courtship at the height of the pandemic. "And so it just felt like a natural progression to write the book together. Bradley feels the same way about prayer, and also the idea of very gently introducing prayer to kids' lives, because it's a very big concept. You're like, OK, you can talk to this person that you can't see, but when can you do it? Where can you do it? It's just sort of to demystify this idea that the universe, God, it's all conspiring for you and it's all positive and you can talk to God at any time, anywhere. It doesn't have to be in a church. It doesn't have to be in the morning or at night; it could be anywhere, anytime. So we just were inspired to do something, and I'm so glad we could do it together."

Metz — who has described herself as a "dog mom" to a pooch named Mabel — doesn't have children. But she leaned on her background as a (pre-Hollywood) preschool teacher and aunt to nine nieces ranging in age from almost 3 to 24 to help guide her through the process of writing a book for kids. Already the author of the 2018 New York Times bestselling memoir This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today, Metz knew she wanted this picture book to strike a gentle, tender tone that would empower and affirm young audiences.

"When I was a preschool teacher, circle time reading was always my favorite part of the day," the actress says. "And I would just see how important books were in, obviously cognitive development, but also [building] self-esteem and self-confidence and social awareness, but also empathy. And I think empathy is one of the most important, invaluable ways that we could walk through life."

Acting, the Screen Actors Guild award winner says, lets her practice empathy by sharing other people's stories and perspectives. Being a preschool teacher in her former life taught her patience.

"You have to allow there to be space for kids to grow on their own and learn on their own and make mistakes — whether it's social situations or, you know, coloring with a particular paint and it doesn't mix in a way they wanted it to, you name it," she says. "And so it was so rewarding when you would see them succeeding in anything, whether it's playing with a friend and they're sharing, or they're being supportive and empathetic to a fellow student.

"[Kids are] so present in the moment," she adds. "I think the reason why people want to have children is because they really keep you present. Like, you're not lamenting about the past or worried about the future. You're like, I'm here right now in this moment with them. And I think that's such a cool thing. But also they teach us so much about ourselves and things that we haven't figured out or that we've had our own issues with. I really just enjoyed that; seeing the world through a child's eyes is, like, the coolest thing."

Metz divides her time between Los Angeles and Nashville. While the TV star always has her eye out for the next great acting project — "once you go from This Is Us, you've got to be particular because it's just such a high bar," she says — she's taking the time to focus on music right now, and hopes to release a full-length country music album. In the meantime, she and Collins have also released Prayed for this Day, an album of bedtime-ready lullabies to accompany When I Talk to God, I Talk About You.

"It just naturally kind of happened, and I was so grateful," says Metz. "My grandmother always said that, singing was like praying twice, and that always stuck with me."

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