Actors On Actors: Sandra Oh & Jung Ho-Yeon

Actors Sandra Oh (Killing Eve and The Chair) and Jung Ho-Yeon (Squid Game) take part in Variety’s Actors on Actors segment. Together, they explore what it was like becoming internationally recognized overnight, the pressure that comes with representing people of Asian descent, and the difference between modeling and acting.

“Maybe it’s weird to say it, but while I’m shooting my death scene, I was so happy. I was most comfortable since I ever had because I’ve been living my character over a few months.”

Sandra begins the interview by asking Jung if the filming of Squid Game was conducted in chronological order. Jung reveals that, for the most part, the show was filmed that way due to the set situation. Some exceptions were present such scenes from the last episode being filmed on the first day. Jung notes that director Hwang was always thinking about each character. He was so focused and knowledgeable of each character that there was an unspoken belief in whatever he said among the cast. Despite her stellar performance, Jung felt there was a time when she needed to let go of the feeling of her character. She comments that her character's death allowed her to let go and close the book on that role.

“Killing Eve was probably one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had because I felt like so much of the entire show is about internal life, at least for Eve.”

Jung then asks Sandra about her experiences filming the show Killing Eve. After confessing her view of the show being difficult to film, Sandra states that when an actor has a character they play for a long time, it means the actor is creating the character in real-time. She believes the image of Eve in season one was starkly different from the Eve of season four.

“When things are difficult, that is a real opportunity to grow.”

Jung appreciates Sandra’s acting in Killing Eve because she feels that every scene with Sandra’s character Eve has a sense of complexity due to Eve’s facial expressions. Jung then compares acting to conducting an interview. Sandra agrees with this comparison and claims that, in both cases, no one knows how either of the two will end.

“It’s very interesting per show; you get a different actor, and you get a certain type of openness.”

When Jung asks Sandra how she communicated with costars, Sandra admitted that she didn’t communicate much with costar Judy Comer on Killing Eve. It wasn’t due to a dislike of one another. There was effective synergy both actors had with each other. Both didn’t want to ruin said synergy, so they never addressed it. Sandra then begins to commend actor Jay Duplass for his performance on her show The Chair. To build friendship and a sense of familiarity, in a short amount of time, Sandra reveals that both she and Jay actively touched each other in every scene. Despite Sandra and Jay never working together in the past, a bond needed to be present among both characters.

“I’ve had this question, I think, my entire career which is how much do you think things have changed for Asian Americans…I will only say that it was, for me, maybe 2019 that I felt for us, as Asian Americans, things have changed.”

Sandra is curious about how Jung sees Asian American actors playing as Korean Americans and asks her opinion on the topic. Jung claims that when she came to the United States to campaign for Squid Game, she met many Asian American people who thanked her for representing them as an ethnic group. Jung wonders if she, as a Korean who has lived in South Korea for most of her life, is allowed to represent Asian Americans. Does she have an extra responsibility to do so? Sandra claims that Jung does have the right. She advises Jung to not let a feeling of responsibility overwhelm her. Sandra believes that change and growth is coming in diversity, not only in a racial sense, but also in every other meaning of diversity.

“It’s good to share about thoughts in me right now, so it’s helpful to just keep sharing to not be too isolated with [your] closest people.”

Sandra moves on to ask Jung if she has been keeping her life balanced and healthy since the release of Squid Game. Jung states that she has asked those same questions to those she trusts in the industry. She has spoken to director Hwang and costars Jung-jae and Hae-soo about keeping life balanced after a major project.

“I got sick frequently from stress and not addressing my state of health while filming [Killing Eve].”

Jung also asks Sandra how she deals with the stress and confusion enough to live a balanced life. Sandra believes her placement in Grey’s Anatomy changed her life. While she admits that it’s difficult to compare her gradual rise to fame to Jung’s sudden popularity increase within a year, Sandra feels that the stress and confusion she experiences are similar to Jung’s. Sandra even jokingly admits that she got sick quite often on and off set due to the stress she was putting on herself.

“While I was getting into watching movies when I’m doing modeling, I kind of fell in love with feeling.”

The last discussion of the interview addresses Jung’s modeling career. She believes there is a different process between acting and modeling. While practicing to be a model at a South Korean modeling academy, Jung was more focused on constantly training muscle movement and posing angles. Despite the emotionless nature of modeling, Jung realized the sense of how to feel from watching movies. These viewings of films developed a curiosity in studying the human being which led her to try out acting. Similar to modeling, Jung practices muscle movement while acting, but now takes time to feel out a scene and analyze reactions.

The interview ends with Sandra and Jung thanking each other and hugging.