Well all knew Sandra Oh would be leaving “Grey’s Anatomy”, but we
Well all knew Sandra Oh would be leaving “Grey’s Anatomy”, but we didn’t realize how soon it would creep up on us.
Less than three months away from leaving “Grey’s Anatomy” for good, Sandra Oh is feeling quite punchy on the set of the ABC medical drama. “I don’t listen to you anymore,” she playfully tells a crew member who comes to collect her from the ambulance bay to start shooting a scene. “Yes, I’m acting out! Can you tell?” A lot of fans have felt the same way ever since it was announced that Oh would leave the hallowed halls of Grey Sloan Memorial last summer.
Even though it’s not her character’s name in the show title, some fans feel that there’s no “Grey’s Anatomy” without Oh, making them all the more nervous for her exit in the upcoming Season 10 finale (Thursday, 9/8c). But what some fans might not know is that Oh almost wasn’t cast on “Grey’s” in the first place. Initially, the actress went out for the role of Bailey, now played by Chandra Wilson, but the character “didn’t resonate with me,” Oh says, explaining that she later learned that the role of the ambitious Cristina Yang was still open. Per executive producer Shonda Rhimes’ request, Oh met with Rhimes before the studio audition and practiced her scene a few times for Rhimes, her producing partner Betsy Beers and pilot director Peter Horton, then planned to return later for the actual audition.
Now, nearly a decade later, Oh, 42, is facing actually saying goodbye to a character that she’s given nearly a quarter of her life to. “It’s going to be super easy,” Oh deadpans, saying that the reality of the situation probably won’t hit her until six months after she leaves the show. “It’s like leaving a major relationship in your life. It takes a while to process it out.”
Though Oh says she has no regrets about her time on the show — “There are certain episodes where I wasn’t so crazy about [things], but I guess that’s the same thing with life,” she says — trying to describe the impact that Grey’s Anatomy has had on her gives her pause. “The thing that I feel most fearful about is not being able to act every day,” she says. “I love it. I feel that’s the risk that you take of having a safe and known entity at least for another chunk of time. It’s the ability to come and do your job and everything that goes along with it. It’s a certain amount of routine, people that you love, being familiar with the character.”
We’ll miss you Sandra Oh!