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'It was devastating': Chrissy Metz talks poverty-stricken upbringing and reveals she had 81 cents to her name before landing This Is Us

Published: 17:55 EST, 1 February 2017 | Updated: 18:35 EST, 1 February 2017

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She's the star of critically acclaimed NBC show This Is Us, but Chrissy Metz underwent a good deal of hardship along the way to the top.

As she's told Glamour, her family was so financially strapped during her childhood that her single mother occasionally went without supper.

'I knew she was giving up food to make sure we could eat, but when you’re 9 or 10 years old, you can’t help,' she said. 'It was devastating.'

The brunette also confessed she was broke before she landed her TV gig: 'When I booked This Is Us, I had 81 cents in my bank account. I could cry right now just thinking about it.'

Rags to riches: She's the star of a critically exulted network show, but as she's told Glamour, Chrissy Metz underwent a good deal of hardship along the way

Food became 'the way we showed love - my grandmother would make me a grilled cheese sandwich every time she’d pick me up from school.'

The 36-year-old recalled: 'I really valued that attention. As I got older, that turned into: "Oh, I’m happy - let’s celebrate and eat. I’m sad? Let me eat my feelings."'

Her divorced parents had had three children, and after her mother took a second husband, she had two more daughters, leaving Chrissy one of five siblings.

The past: The actress' family was so financially strapped during her childhood that her single mother occasionally went without supper; pictured on This Is Us

Turning to comedy, 'I was always the class clown, and I think I gravitated toward performing for the attention I didn’t always think I was getting at home.'

Acting became her ambition, and despite lacking wealth or connections, 'I never was afraid of the odds, even though they were seriously stacked against me.'

Going with her 'skinny and tall and beautiful' sister to a 'open-call model and talent search,' Chrissy impressed by singing Christina Aguilera's 2002 song Beautiful.

Beginnings: Going with her 'skinny and tall and beautiful' sister to a 'open-call model and talent search,' Chrissy impressed by singing Christina Aguilera's 2002 song Beautiful; pictured with Chris Sullivan on This Is Us

'The following day [the woman she sang for] called my sister for a modeling contract and told me she’d introduce me to managers and agents in Los Angeles.'

Born and brought up in Florida, the actress aspirant and a group of female friends 'caravanned all the way from Florida, then lived in a two-bedroom apartment, three of us to each room, in Burbank.'

She landed a gig as Ima Wiggles on American Horror Story's fourth series, subtitled Freak Show, appearing in five episodes from 2014 until 2015.

Though at the time 'I thought, OK, awesome, this is a jumping board for my career!' she found that 'when it wrapped, there was…nothing.'

Start and stop: Whilst playing Ima Wiggles on five episodes of American Horror Story: Freak Show from 2014 to 2015, 'I thought, OK, awesome, this is a jumping board for my career!' yet she found that 'when it wrapped, there was…nothing'

Financial difficulties grew, but friends rallied about her. 'I moved in with a roommate who told me: "Stay with me until you can afford rent. Don’t give up."'

She remembered that ''People who supported me were like: 'If you don’t have money for food, I’ll cook you dinner. You don’t have money for acting class? Let’s get together and read lines."'

Even now, though, 'You may think: "Ooh, you’re on TV, you’re a millionaire!" No. It’s definitely a lot more than I was making, but I still live with my roommate - though I pay my proper share of the rent now.'

The nick of time: She's recalled that 'when I booked This Is Us, I had 81 cents in my bank account,' saying: 'I could cry right now just thinking about it'

Touchingly, 'what I really wanted was my grandmother to have a washer and dryer in her apartment before she passed away. I never got to give it to her.'

Said she: 'I’ve had women - average women, older women, teenagers—who say to me: "Your role and this show has changed my life,"' which to her renders her old troubles 'worth it.'

In her words, 'Sometimes I cry on the way to the set still. There is something that happens when you are grateful: You continue to keep receiving blessings. So I will always be grateful.'

Created by Dan Fogelman, This Is Us premiered on NBC last September and is still airing its first series. Two more were green-lit last month.