17 Things You Never Knew About Sandra Oh
Born In Canada, Oh Is The Daughter Of Immigrants
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Oh was born in Nepean (now called Ottawa), Canada in 1971. Her parents emigrated from South Korea to further their education in economics (her father) and biochemistry (her mother). Once they arrived in North America, Oh's father was an entrepreneur, and her mom worked as a biochemist.
About 10 other Korean families lived in Oh's childhood neighborhood and attended church together. This perpetuated a strong sense of faith and community for Oh and her family.
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Oh Got Her First Big Role By Laying Down On The Floor During Her Audition
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While in acting school, Oh auditioned for the lead role in the Canadian TV movie biopic The Diary of Evelyn Lau. The film is about a runaway teen who endures harrowing experiences and later writes about them. Oh was up against about 3,000 other actors for the part, but she stood out from the enormous crowd by doing something unexpected.
The movie's director Sturla Gunnarsson described Oh's audition, saying, according to Biography: "When she came in to the audition, she asked for a moment to focus herself. Then she lay on the floor for five minutes... I thought it was remarkable that at 19 she had the confidence - and audacity - to do that."
Oh landed the part and earned a Gemini nomination for her performance. She also received a nomination for the 1994 Cannes FIPA d'Or for Best Actress.
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She Received Five Emmy Nominations For Her Work On 'Grey's Anatomy'
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Oh received five Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Dr. Cristina Yang on the long-running ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Oh played the renowned surgeon from 2005-2014, which spanned 220 episodes.
The actress took home a Golden Globe for playing Dr. Yang in 2006.
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Oh Initially Auditioned For The Role Of Dr. Miranda Bailey On 'Grey's Anatomy'
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After more than 200 episodes, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Chandra Wilson as Dr. Bailey and Sandra Oh as Dr. Yang. However, during a Grey’s Anatomy panel at PaleyFest LA in 2006, Oh said: “I first auditioned for the part of Miranda Bailey. And thank God I didn't get that part. Can you imagine not having her? Forget it.”
Oh said Cristina Yang's character intrigued her, so she asked the show's producers for the role. One of the things Oh liked most about Dr. Yang was the character felt “charmless” and had no sense of humor. However, Oh thinks those attributes add humor to Yang's character.
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The Mayor Of Ottawa Awarded Oh A Key To The City
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In July 2013, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson presented Oh with an honorary "Key to the City" to celebrate her many accomplishments in the arts. During the ceremony, Oh gave a speech discussing how excited she was to be back home.
“I’m happy and excited to be back in my hometown and to be a part of such a celebratory event," said Oh. “I’m looking forward to seeing all my friends and all those who I haven’t seen in many years and to figure out what this key to the city opens.”
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A Billboard Featuring Oh Impressed Her Parents
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Oh’s parents have incredibly high expectations for their three children. The actress’s sister is a lawyer, and her brother is a medical geneticist. Even though Oh is a successful Hollywood star, it took a towering Killing Eve billboard for her to feel like her parents could finally be excited about her success.
“Koreans are ambitious, man,” Oh said during a 2018 interview with Vanity Fair. “It means a lot to my parents that I do the work that I do and it has the visibility.”
Oh proudly took her parents to see the enormous Killing Eve billboard and posted a picture of them smiling in front of it. In the photo's caption, Oh wrote, “Proud #immigrantparents Just took me 30 yrs…”
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Oh Initially Thought 'Killing Eve' Producers Wanted Her For A Supporting Role
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The BBC America show Killing Eve derived from the Codename Villanelle novella series written by Luke Jennings. In those books, Eve Polastri, a security services operative, is white. But that’s not the only reason why Oh initially thought the show’s producers wanted her to play a supporting character on the show.
In a 2018 interview with Vulture, Oh recalled how when she first got sent the show’s script, she was a little confused because she perused the pages looking for the secondary-type doctor part. She even called her agent and asked what role the producers wanted her to play.
Oh confessed the experience made her realize how conditioned she had become to the idea leading roles were for white actresses only, saying:
[So] many years of being seen [a certain way], it deeply, deeply, deeply affects us. It’s like, how does racism define your work? Oh my goodness, I didn’t even assume when being offered something that I would be one of the central storytellers. Why? And this is me talking, right? After being told to see things a certain way for decades, you realize, “Oh my god! They brainwashed me!” I was brainwashed! So that was a revelation to me.
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She Doesn't Have A College Degree
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Oh does not have a college degree. In an interview with Ellen Degeneres, Oh said: "I’m the only person in my family who doesn’t have a master’s in something." She skipped the academic route and went right into acting out of high school.
In retrospect, it's clear Oh made the right choice, but at the time it was hard for her parents to accept their daughter's alternative path. The actress said her parents felt the arts was not a desirable profession, as they couldn't understand how it helped society. However, Oh has brought her parents to several high-profile awards shows, so it appears she has a loving relationship with them despite their initial reservations.
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Oh Made Emmy History In 2018
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When the Emmy nominations came out in July 2018, Oh became the first Asian woman nominated for Best Actress thanks to her role as the titular Eve Polastri on Killing Eve. Other actresses nominated for Best Actress in 2018 include Claire Foy (The Crown), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale), Keri Russell (The Americans), and Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld).
Although Foy took home the award, Oh's achievement is still worth celebrating.
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She Believes Racism Exists In Hollywood
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Despite her success, Oh thinks racism exists in Hollywood. During a 2018 interview with Vulture, she explained: "Yes, because you know what, not only is sh*t hard, it’s extremely unfair. And racism exists. Let’s start there. I felt it, and I have felt it deeply. And I’m extremely fortunate. So I’m not going to not say that it’s not there, because it is."
At the same time, Oh believes people of color can still find their way in show business:
But it’s changing the mindset that being an actor of color, person of color, that you’re at a disadvantage in the creative life. That you don’t have opportunity. It’s all how you see the opportunity. And the clearer and deeper you get into what you really want, you just become a better artist. If that’s what you really want - becoming a better artist - does that include access? Does that include having 5 billion Instagram followers? I don’t know. That’s for you to decide. But if what you want is to connect, if what you want is to be a great artist, I think you can find your way. Even within this giant paradigm that a lot of times doesn’t include people who look like us.
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Oh Turned Down An Academic Scholarship To Act At The National Theatre School Of Canada
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Oh found early success in the entertainment business. By the time Oh was a teenager, she had appeared in TV commercials and plays. Oh was also an honor roll student, class president in high school, and received a journalism scholarship from Carleton University in Canada.
However, Oh turned down the scholarship and paid her tuition to attend the National Theatre School in Canada. It was a decision with which her parents struggled: "They didn't see that there was any meaning to being an actor," Oh recalled, according to Biography. "It was like, 'What are you doing for society? Are you being a good Christian?'"
"They just didn't understand," she told The Globe and Mail. "Most parents, especially immigrant parents, would not want their child to go into something as intensely insecure as acting. I know they did it with my best interests at heart. And I am eternally grateful for the struggle."
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She Doesn't Care About Being A Celebrity
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While many of the top actresses in Hollywood enjoy the perks of fame, Oh sees celebrity as a downside: "It's interesting. You get to a place where you, as an artist, can do the kind of work you want and reach a wide audience, but it brings a whole different set of challenges," she told The Globe and Mail.
Oh is willing to do what's required to promote her shows, but outside of work responsibilities, she tries to avoid being in the spotlight. She chose to live in the suburbs outside Los Angeles rather than in the Hollywood Hills, and she'd rather dine in a dive than at the city's trendiest restaurants.
Additionally, when Oh receives questions about her personal life in interviews, she remains mum: "I've learned my lesson over and over again," she says. "You just can't talk about it. I choose not to."
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A $5,000 Scratch-Off Ticket Win May Have Saved Her Career
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Despite her critically acclaimed performance in 1994's The Diary of Evelyn Lau, Oh struggled to find consistent acting work. She landed several bit parts on shows like Six Feet Under and Judging Amy, but none of the gigs were steady.
Thankfully, the actress won $5,000 on a scratch-off lottery ticket when she was nearly out of money. The fast cash was instrumental in helping to tide her over until she landed the part of Rita Wu in the HBO show Arli$$. It was the big break Oh needed, as she appeared on the series from 1996 to 2002.
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Oh Does A Lot Of Voiceover Work
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Sandra Oh is best-known for her work in movies and television. However, the Sideways actress has also done a lot of voiceover work in animation. You've probably heard Oh on various TV series like Phineas and Ferb, Robot Chicken, and American Dad. “I really, really love doing animation,” Oh told The Star in 2016.
The actress also voiced Frankie in the Canadian animated children's movie Snowtime! Additionally, she did the voice of the president of the United States on the kid's show Peg + Cat, where the self-proclaimed "non-singer" actually had to sing. Oh called the singing part of the show "frightening."
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She Is Vegan
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Oh is reportedly vegan. In 2008, when the actress was still on Grey's Anatomy, she took several members of the show's cast and crew out to a vegan lunch at Truly Vegan in Los Angeles.
Since the lunch, there have been reports that Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo (Cristina Yang's "person") has made meals at Truly Vegan a regular thing.
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She Has No Plans To Return To 'Grey's Anatomy' As A Series Regular
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Many essential Grey's Anatomy characters left the show via dramatic passings. When Oh decided to part ways with the medical drama, her character relocated. Dr. Cristina Yang left Seattle to become the director of cardiothoracic surgery in Switzerland.
Since Yang's departure was a geographical switch, it's technically possible for Oh to return to Seattle and once again become "Meredith's person." However, fans of Grey's Anatomy rooting for a Cristina-Meredith reunion may be waiting forever. Oh squashed the possibility of a continuing Grey's return during a 2018 interview with Variety, saying:
I’m just going to say no. I’m just going to put that down there because it’s been four years since then, and I’ve really got to try and create much more of that separation. Even though I could just talk on and on and on about that show and what I feel like I learned from it and continue learning from it. It was so special, lightning in a bottle that’s lasted for over a decade.
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Oh Might Come Back For The 'Grey's Anatomy' Series Finale
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In 2018, Grey's Anatomy began its 15th season. While the season premiere pulled in an impressive 6.8 million viewers, subsequent ratings were markedly low, leaving many wondering how much longer the weepy medical drama would continue.
During the series finale of ER in 2008, George Clooney, who left the drama in 1999, made a brief reappearance. Does Oh plan to do the same? In 2014, after Oh left the series, she was asked whether or not she was considering coming back for the series finale. Although her return is uncertain, it's a possibility. Oh told The Hollywood Reporter:
We talked about that when I told [executive producer Shonda Rhimes] I was going to leave, but we haven't talked about it again. There are certain things that Shonda and I talk about once, and then we leave it because we want things to happen without pressure. I told her, "If you guys want to finish it out, however you want to finish it out, I'd be more than happy to come back. And if it doesn't fit in that way, I totally understand. I just want you to know that I'm available." Who knows! I might be doing something fabulous and it might not work out, but I did say, "Yes, of course I would."
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Oh Made History In 2019 With Her Golden Globes Win
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In 2019, Oh made history as the first Asian entertainer to ever host the Golden Globe Awards ceremony and the first Asian woman to win multiple Golden Globe awards. Oh's most recent Globes win was for Best Actress In A TV Drama for her role in Killing Eve.
Oh gave an emotional speech lauded on social media. In addition to thanking various industry professionals, Oh also thanked her parents, who attended the ceremony with her.
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