The Actor's Side With Sandra Oh
Deadline’s “The Actor’s Side” sits down with Sandra Oh for an interview conducted by Pete Hammond. Sandra Oh is credited with 13 Emmy nominations covering her performance as Eve Polaski in Killing Eve as well as her producing credits on the acclaimed series. Pete also discusses Sandra’s guest stints on Saturday Night Live, her portrayal of Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim in her new show The Chair, and the reasoning she left behind the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC’s drama Grey’s Anatomy.
“In the metaphor of it (final scene of Killing Eve), you know it’s like when you get what you needed to get out of a relationship…But how do you keep moving on?”
Pete begins the interview by asking Sandra Oh’s opinion on the conclusion of her show Killing Eve. He mentions comments that he thought the ending was unexpected and “not where I thought it was gonna go.” Sandra excitedly jumps on this and asks Pete how he thought the show was going to end. Pete believed Sandra’s character Eve wouldn’t have been alone in the finale. Sandra then reveals that the original ending of Killing Eve went in the opposite direction. The change started back in January 2020 when Sandra approached head writer Laura Neil about the possibility of killing off her character in the finale. For Sandra, she believed that killing Eve was where the show was emotionally poised to move. However, when the pandemic hit, the decision was made to not kill Eve. Sandra mentions that the decision behind it was to make the ending less depressing during a time in the world when everyone was suffering. The final shot of the series was done on her own and signified Eve coming out of a bad situation stronger, but with the uncertainty of not knowing how to move forward.
“There’s something about the emotional weight of Eve, of having lost everything. And the way that I just feel like working nowadays is like when you play a character who has to grow and change. I have just found it…like a thing that has to happen in my own body.”
Continuing with the discussion of Killing Eve, Pete asks Sandra if she misses her time on the show, or did she feel ready to move on. Sandra Oh found it challenging to shoot Killing Eve. The emotional investment that came with playing Eve weighed heavily upon Sandra. She references episode 7 of Killing Eve as a very confusing episode. She found it difficult to emphasize an existential feeling from her character Eve because, in a way, these were the existential thoughts and questions Sandra was facing daily during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. This reminder of her distress made it challenging to complete her shoot for the episode.
“My character Ji-Yoon, Professor Ji-Yoon Kim, she’s the first woman of color to head the English department. You get to talk about a million things without talking about it. Without pointing at it, without forcing anything, and in the space of comedy, you have a lot of freedom to be able to examine certain relationships and spaces that I think we absolutely need to.”
Pete asks Sandra about her character on the show The Chair. He mentions how significant Sandra’s character Ji-Yoon Kim is as a person of color and a woman in a role that has never appointed that type of person as a boss. Sandra appreciates Pete for bringing up The Chair and her character within the show. Sandra starts by commending the show creator and executive producer Amanda Pete for developing a unique setting of a woman of color becoming the head of the English department at a university. Sandra believes that the setting allows an open discussion of many topics ranging from gender, race, merit, etc. She is glad that a character with a genuine Korean name has appeared on television. For her, this makes viewers understand that there’s now an opening for understanding that not everyone has an English-speaking name who can be an expert in English.
“I have found my way in my career through television because television has been more accepting of me.”
Pete then asks Sandra if her numerous characters on television are due to her enjoyment of jumping into various roles. Sandra agrees with Pete’s assumptions and states that she hasn’t yet experienced such acceptance in film as she does in television. Sandra believes that television provided an opening for a woman of color like her to find work. She then begins reminiscing her time in theatre, film, and television, concluding it was television that made her feel like she had a home. Pete moves the discussion by inferring actors find better and more challenging material in television than in moves. Sandra also agrees because she thinks material from television is richer, and the format is a “real slog.” Creatively speaking, Sandra claims that television material is more difficult and tough on writers while storytelling is much more manageable in a much shorter episodic order.
“I’ve always been very respectful and very grateful for my relationship with Shonda (Rhimes) because we were able to have this kind of conversation. She was open to say ‘what would you like to do?’”
Regarding Sandra’s role on Grey’s Anatomy, Pete questions her reasoning for leaving the show. Sandra answers by referencing the filming of season 8 of the show, where she and her friend/costar Shonda Rhimes took a walk together. Sandra mentions that it was a time when many of the actors were renegotiating their contracts, and in response, Shonda asked what Sandra wanted to do. This question made her contemplate her role in Grey’s Anatomy up until the point where she decided to leave the show. Sandra feels that she left the show when she believed she did everything possible to creatively develop her character Cristina Yang. Despite this, she saw maintaining Cristina Yang as both an opportunity and a challenge as an actor in remaining creative over long, repetitive cycles.
“If you find yourself in the space of being the first there, it’s like ‘I’ve just taken it very, very seriously.’”
Pete’s last question for Sandra is how she seems to be the first in many things but asks if she is tired of being called the first. Sandra twists the question back to Pete, and he responds that the phrase “the first of” is an exclusionary condition. He believes that now is an opportune time to push the issue because while there has been improvement in inclusion for the entertainment industry, there’s still a need for more progress. For Sandra, she believes the topic to be complicated. Being called “the first” is something she has carried for a long time in a complex way. She takes that position very seriously because, in her opinion, it’s imperative to set a precedent that lays the groundwork for it to become commonplace. Sandra thinks that being able to feel an Asian influence, first or otherwise, is to see how much of “our homegrown Asian talent” continues.