Susan Kelechi Watson Has Another Job Behind-The-Scenes On This Is Us

Susan Kelechi Watson has played Beth Pearson on NBC's "This Is Us" since its 2016 debut. Watson not only will be a central component of the "This Is Us" wrap-up episodes, but she embraced a key role behind the cameras for Season 6 as well. Watson started acting years ago, but wasn't until "This Is Us" she had the opportunity to truly display her talent. Her character has been embraced by most "This Is Us" fans, although Beth's strong, no-nonsense temperament has, at times, ruffled the feathers of some viewers. Love Beth or hate her, there is no question Watson has delivered some brilliant performances during her time on the series.

Getting to this place in her career wasn't an easy journey for Watson, detailed Good Housekeeping. She grew up in New York City as one of six kids to parents who were immigrants from Jamaica. She attended New York University for graduate school, and also studied at the University of Oxford thanks to a scholarship tied to Phylicia Rashad and Denzel Washington. "I had to really press through to get to being the artist I am today," Watson explained to the outlet. "There was a time when I just didn't have the opportunities, which meant going without things in my life — whether it was clothes, or food, or money — and living a really bare-bones life," the "This Is Us" star added. There's no question things have changed a lot since then, with plenty of fabulous opportunities available now.

As Season 6 of "This Is Us" started filming, Susan Kelechi Watson revealed a juicy tidbit on Instagram. Not only would Watson continue to play Beth Pearson on-screen, but she also wrote an episode. "Today baby takes her 1^st steps," she began, as she showed the script title page for "Our Little Island Girl: Part Two." Watson explained, "Couldn't have done this without my fabulous co parent @ebonifreeman who also wrote Our Little Island Girl part 1. She is Queen." That previous episode, Part 1 of "Our Little Island Girl," aired as Episode 13 of Season 3 and focused on Beth's backstory, detailed Vulture. The episode delved into Beth's complicated relationship with her mother and the beginning of Beth's dance career. In the present-day, Beth had been laid-off from her corporate job and would soon open a dance studio.

In her Instagram post, Watson gave "the biggest shout out" to the show's creator, Dan Fogelman, "who called me up and said 'I know you wanna write... wanna write this episode?'" Apparently, Watson's reply was "no words, only emojis," indicating she was all for it. She received plenty of support from her "This Is Us" team, with Mandy Moore (Rebecca Pearson) and Caitlin Thompson (Madison Simons) relying on emoji to show their support. Chrissy Metz (Kate Pearson) was clearly thrilled too, as were fellow "This Is Us" cast members Eris Baker (Tess Pearson), Asante Blackk (Malik), and Melanie Liburd (Zoe Baker).

Susan Kelechi Watson's Instagram post didn't detail the storyline for "Our Little Island Girl: Part Two." During Season 5, the coronavirus pandemic forced the closure of Beth's dance studio, detailed Entertainment Weekly. Luckily, however, viewers got a peek at what appeared to be a new dance studio in Beth's future. The episode Watson wrote likely focuses on Beth's continuing journey to heal from her past and find her groove in what comes next. "She has been scarred by what has happened in the past, especially within the dance world," Watson explained to Entertainment Weekly. "How she was treated and the loss of her father and all those things have really left scars that she hadn't dealt with. She gets an opportunity to reckon with those things," she teased.

During Season 6, "We get to see Beth become empowered and own herself and her purpose in what she wants to do in life, and it's really beautiful," Watson explained. When it came to the episode she wrote, she admitted, "As I was writing it, I started to tear up because I realized that this was her final opus." She added, "This was my way of also starting to say goodbye to her character. To be able to write her words in that moment was really beautiful." Fans will surely be eager to see this particular episode as "This Is Us" winds its way toward its series conclusion.