This Is Us Star Chrissy Metz Discusses Her Traumatic and 'Super Important' Season 5 Storyline

This Is Us will reveal more traumatic flashbacks in Kate Pearson's storylines for season 5, according to star Chrissy Metz.

The actress, 39, spoke with PEOPLE Now about the next season and what fans can expect, specifically about her character's past.

"There is a story, a through line, coming down the pike about some experiences that shaped Kate as a woman, as an adult, that we haven't seen yet," she teased.

Metz also recalled having a conversation with creator and showrunner Dan Fogelman about the trajectory of Kate's storyline.

"I remember Dan giving me a call and he's like, 'How do you feel about this? Are you going to be able to tackle this? How are you going to feel about it?' I'm like, 'No let's do it, I think it's super important.' While I won't give away what it is exactly, it's something that we haven't seen and we had no idea that Kate went through."

Metz added, "Oh, it's trauma for sure."

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The season 4 finale left fans with more questions than answers (yet again) as new faces and expanded storylines unspooled more details about the Pearson family’s future. Specifically, in Kate's family, audiences were introduced to art curator Hailey (Adelaide Kane), whom Kate and Toby adopted after agreeing to give their son Jack a sibling.

In addition to delving into Kate's future, viewers learned more about her past in season 4, including her "abusive" relationship with her first boyfriend Marc. Though fans saw how their romance ultimately ended, there appears to be more to discover about the emotional aftermath of the breakup and how it affects Kate as an adult. After all, Kate and her mother Rebecca (Mandy Moore) made a reference to Marc after they discovered old Polaroids of him in the present-day. "I wanted to believe so badly that you kids were happy, I didn't see what was happening," Rebecca told her daughter, who replied: "I didn't see it either."

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As fans have come to know, each season premiere starts with the Big Three celebrating their birthdays. When the fifth installment kicks off with their 40th birthdays, Kevin and Randall are not on speaking terms following the fallout of their verbal blowout.

Of next season's themes, Fogelman previously told PEOPLE, "I'm very excited about, especially with where the world is right now, the uplift, and I would call it almost rebirth, that comes next season. Kind of rebirth and a lot of new beginnings, particularly for birth and rebirth would be a big thematic part of next season."

The showrunner also teased: "There’s going to be something big in the season premiere."

Fogelman said he already wrote the season 5 premiere, but the show's production schedule has yet to be determined due to the coronavirus pandemic. Season 5 filming was scheduled to kick off in July but will now likely be pushed back.

"[This Is Us] is prepping to begin shooting this fall! Our writers are already working and the only reason we'd delay until January is if a bad 2nd wave of #covid19 were to hit hard," actor Jon Huertas, who plays Miguel, said on Instagram. "Safety of our cast & crew is very important to us. Don't worry, #thisisus is raring to go!"