Sandra Oh reveals she is now ‘specifically interested in roles that explore a character’s race’

Sandra Oh has revealed that she is now ‘specifically interested in roles that explore a character’s race’. 

The Killing Eve actress, 48, opened up in a candid tell-all interview with Elle Canada about her thoughts on how race is covered in film and television. 

She said: ‘I’m in a place in my career now where I am specifically interested in roles that explore a character’s race. Because I can. 

‘You can’t just write a character without having the background of who she is.’ 

She added: ‘Asian-Americans, particularly from my generation, almost recoil if we hear an accent onscreen because of how laden in racism and misunderstanding it is.’ 

The international superstar also revealed the secret to her success is playing characters that are ‘essential to the plot’ and ‘conduct the narrative’. 

She added that the crucial step was getting to a point in her career where she could afford to turn down certain roles.

Sandra studied ballet while growing up in Ottawa, Canada, and was certain she wanted to be an actress by the time she was in high school. 

The former Grey’s Anatomy actress even turned down a scholarship from Carleton University and instead paid her own tuition fees while attending Montreal’s Nation Theatre School. 

It’s Sandra’s commitment to the standard of her performance that led the creator and executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy, which Sandra acted in as Cristina Yang, to grieve her leaving the show. 

Grey’s Anatomy producer Shonda Rhimes told Elle: ‘There are plenty of actors who want to be nice or who want to be seen as romantic or who want to be seen as a hero, but Sandra’s not interested in that. She’s interested in playing the stuff of life.’  

Sandra said: ‘I decided that I’m only going to play characters that are essential to the plot, that conduct the narrative and therefore can’t be cut out.’ 

Sandra has won further acclaim after appearing in Killing Eve alongside Jodie Comer. 

And the actress recently revealed that as soon as she met Jodie, 27, she knew they would have amazing chemistry. 

Before appearing on Friday’s edition of The Graham Norton Show from her home, the actress, 48, explained: ‘When we first met and had our first read together I knew we had good chemistry. 

‘I could just tell because of the way we were listening together and I could actually feel the way we were reacting to each other.’  

In March, Sandra revealed that it’s the sense of mystery that drives her sexually-charged scenes with co-star Jodie. 

Saying she had a ‘profound’ relationship with co-star Jodie she added that she felt the magic to their electric scenes together comes from a trust that’s built over three series of working together.  

Sandra told The Sun: ‘We really dive into the relationship. We both understand there’s a lot of mystery between Eve and Villanelle and we play it as such. 

‘Usually what happens is, story-wise, Eve and Villanelle are kept apart and at a certain point they crash into each other then have their storyline together.

‘Jodie and I have a profound relationship. At this point, having done three seasons, we trust each other when the magic is happening. That’s how we work it.’

In the Elle interview Sandra added that she and Jodie push each other to their limits on screen and trust the ‘space of alchemy’ between them.