After Ten Years In The Waiting, Michael Ausiello's Interview With Sandra Oh

Television journalist Michael Ausiello has been covering Grey's Anatomy since the show went on the air, but he had yet to interview Sandra Oh. He has been waiting ten years to do that, and he finally got the chance when Sandra dropped by the TV Line offices for a chat yesterday.

In this interview, Sandra talks about her Grey's exit, the great character that is Cristina Yang, Cristina, Owen and her feelings on his new girl (Marguerite Moreau), Yang's new protégé Shane the intern (Gaius Charles), and her future after Grey's:

With 20 episodes of Grey's left to go, Sandra said that there are "lots of things coming up for the future" and that she hopes to explore different mediums.

Her upcoming projects include the play Death and the Maiden in Chicago next summer, and the comedy Tammy with Melissa McCarthy, Kathy Bates and Susan Sarandon which premieres in June next year.

Sandra Oh: "Fantastic, Exciting Stuff" Coming Up For Cristina And Meredith - Interview

On The Red Carpet was at the celebration of the 200th episode of Grey's last Saturday, where they talked to the cast of Grey's, and in this interview Sandra Oh talks about how she feels about leaving the show, what she wants to see for Cristina, teases about "fantastic stuff" coming up for a storyline involving Cristina and Meredith, and her favourite storylines involving other characters:

Click here for more interviews with the cast where they talk about Sandra's exit. 

So what else is happening for Cristina in the upcoming episodes? Here's an update from other sources:

Cristina and Owen: Letting go will be hard to do  

“Now there’s a resigned acceptance of the fact that they want different things,” says Oh. “[The next few episodes will] grow them through that in a mature way — even though they’re still hooking up.” But will Owen ever make a move to finding a life outside of Cristina? McKidd thinks that could be in the cards. “She keeps pushing him to move on, so I think he’s going to try to move on." - Entertainment Weekly

... 

Sandra Oh: "You'll see how certain things change and certain consequences for Cristina. In the 200th episode, she gets a glimpse of the impact of her decision (telling Owen they should date other people). She'll get a glimpse of what it is and have to continue holding fast to that decision and being supportive of each other." - THR

Cristina/Owen: We Let Them Keep Guessing 'Till They Figure Us Out

UPDATE: Tidbit from THR added.

It's all fun and games until somebody brings up the baby issue.

After a lot of drama, heartbreak and a divorce, Cristina and Owen are a couple again, but the fact still remains that she doesn't want kids and he does, and that is an issue that is yet to be resolved.

Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes discussed the looming baby drama in an interview with TV Line, revealing that we will see Cristina and Owen settle this issue once and for all:

[Spoiler alert]

TVLINE | When will Cristina and Owen’s lingering baby issue rear its ugly head again – because I know it’s coming.

It is going to come up. I’m so happy right now because they decided not to talk about it. Divorce has sort of freed them from feeling like they have to. It’s going to be complex. There's something very intense about the idea that Cristina is a woman who does not want children. She’s unapologetic about it. She does not want them. And there’s nothing wrong with not wanting children. 

I love babies. If you gave me 40 babies I’d be thrilled. But this idea that if you place a baby in a woman’s arms and she’s going to melt is not true for some people. 

I feel really strongly that we allow this character to be who she is, this woman that does not want children. She’s a surgeon and a scientist first before she is anything else, and Owen has to deal with the fact that he is in love with somebody who is a genius, versus being in love with somebody who wants to have a family. That is going to be a complex thing for them. 

And I’m enjoying watching them deal with not dealing with it at the moment. But yeah, they’re going to have to really talk talk about it and figure it out and struggle to figure out if they can be in love despite the fact that he wants kids and she doesn’t.

UPDATE: Excerpt from Shonda Rhimes' interview with THR where she confirmed that Cristina won't be changing her mind about having a baby and talked about Cristina and Owen moving back to the firehouse:

"I'm very determined that we need to have a character who is unapologetic about not wanting children, who isn't going to suddenly find herself with a baby and suddenly soften up and discover, 'Oh, I wanted babies all along.' For Cristina, having a child would possibly mean a life of depression."

[...] 

"I wouldn't say that there's hope for them returning to firehouse as a couple because I actually gave the word we could dismantle that set," showrunner Shonda Rhimes tells The Hollywood Reporter. "But they are genuinely happy and their happiness doesn't necessarily mean that they need to be in the firehouse. The firehouse is a place of their past; a lot of painful things happened there."

And as for what the future holds for the couple:

And just as Owen will struggle as chief to keep a handle on Seattle Grace -- with the crash survivors on one side and others, like the outspoken Bailey on the other -- he and Cristina will also continue to find their foothold as a couple, with the baby situation likely to come up again for the beleaguered couple.

"I've never been interested in telling story like a fairy tale," Rhimes warns. "We're not headed to any fairy tale moment. But I do think that this is a couple that is going to struggle to figure out ways to remain in love."

Read more at the source.

Sandra Oh and Kevin McKidd Discuss Cristina and Owen: "Divorce Is An Opportunity, Not An End"

If you think that Cristina and Owen are over after last week's episode, not so fast, because Sandra Oh has a thing or two to say about the matter.

Sandra and co-star Kevin McKidd were interviewed on the Grey's Anatomy set last week by THR and here is the interview where they both talk about Cristina and Owen, their relationship so far and what's to come next:

On ABC's Grey's Anatomy, Kevin McKidd said the one word that really could bring the end of Cristina and Owen's turbulent marriage: divorce. While his request was straight-forward, the motivation behind it was anything but as Seattle Grace's current chief was doing his part to ensure that the plane crash survivors -- including Cristina (Sandra Oh) -- received the financial settlement they deserved after their harrowing experience.

"He's in a corner and he can't get out of it," McKidd told The Hollywood Reporter during a recent visit to the Hollywood set of the ABC drama. "It's Owen being honorable and doing the hero thing falling on his own sword to save everybody else but I don't think [Cristina and Owen] are done at all. They've done a lot of damage to each other over the years but they don't want [to divorce]; they love each other."

"When he first asks for the divorce, obviously she doesn't know it's because of the lawsuit so she understands that he's asking for one," Oh tells THR, noting that it makes sense considering their icy relationship following his affair during season eight of the Shonda Rhimes drama. "You've seen the really angry abusive stuff, the emotional stuff and betrayal and after all that messiness, you get tired of fighting and just have to deal with the reality of the reality."

To that end, Oh says Cristina and Owen have moved on from that stage of trying to fight for each other and how their story line will play out will be realistic of a long-term relationship.

"What happens when all the fight is just drained out of them? I don't think either side is wondering why at this point, there's been so much s--- that's gone on between them that you can point to a billion things [that led to this]," Oh says. "There's nothing for her to really understand."

Their relationship, Oh notes, will come to a "crescendo" around Christmastime when Cristina reveals how she's coping with his divorce request and what Owen does. "I like to think of it as an exciting beginning," she says.

"They realize that maybe being divorced is an opportunity as opposed to an ending," McKidd says. "It almost feels like the notion that they get to re-look at their relationship with a very fresh outlook but divorce is a very final ting and it brings up a lot of emotions in people and it's tough for them to go there because they're kind of soul mates. It's a very mixed and very fraught period in their life."

For her part, Oh looks at Cristina and Owen's relationship through the eyes of famed feminist/author/poet/psychologist Marion Woodman in that couples could be married to their partners many times as their relationship evolves.

"The first phase is like projection, you spend so much time thinking the person is something they're not and because you fall in love with them and get to know them and then those projections have to fall off because they're not who you thought they were and I really feel like that is what's happening with Cristina and Owen," she says. "Then what happens is that people fight during that time and if you get through that first phase, there's a new one of individuals coming together but many people never get through that first phase."

"What's happening to Cristina and Owen is happening in somewhat real time so you have that same living, breathing relationship with them so to see people, when circumstances and personalities break people apart, to see how they could come back together and rewrite their own rules is really exciting," she adds.

"They really feel for each other," Oh says. "And honestly, there's no way Kevin and I are going to stop acting with each other. I'll put it in my contract!" 

And McKidd couldn't agree more. "They're very complicated and messed up but they're kind of made for each other," he says. "There's something about them that they can't stay away from each other for too long."

Kevin revealed in a recent twitter chat that he and Sandra collaborate and talk about their characters "all the time", and to read more what he said about working with Sandra, click here.

Grey's Anatomy: Episode 9.08 & 9.09 Tidbits

Here a few tidbits about the final two episodes of Grey's Anatomy this year which will air in December before the show goes on a winter hiatus for a few weeks:

Episode 9.08 Love Turns You Upside Down

The episode airing on Dec. 6 will be a special episode all about the five new interns on Seattle Grace and will be told from their point of view. Don't expect too much of Cristina/Sandra in this one, but here's a tidbit from TV Guide about what Cristina Yang will be involved:

Tessa Ferrer and Jerrika Hinton.

Intern Leah (Tessa Ferrer) will be pitted against intern Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton) - also dubbed as "Grumpy" by Cristina - when both are assigned to Cristina and must monitor a set of babies. "It gets out of control and puts our jobs in jeopardy," teases Ferrer. 

- TV Guide

(This is the episode when you switch over to NBC (9.30 PM) for some Parks & Recreation awesomness.)

Episode 9.09 Run, Baby, Run

The final episode before the winter hiatus airs on Dec. 13 and is a wedding episode because Miranda Baley is getting married. There will be hookups with interns and "romantic stuff", according to TV Guide. Getting Bailey down the aisle will be difficult, but Cristina and Callie will be there to give her a kick in the butt.

Cristina & Owen: Will they/won't they? - Spoiler

And in Cristina/Owen news - avert your eyes now if you don't want to be spoiled - this is what Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes tweeted last week:

Shonda Rhimes: There's gonna be some Cristina/Owen kissing. Actually there is gonna be MORE than kissing. We filmed it already.  And it made me cry with happiness to see it.

Cristina/Owen: One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong - Spoilers [Update]

UPDATE: Tidbit from TV Guide added.

Same, same but different? Latest Grey's spoilers from TV Line where Sandra Oh's co-star Kevin McKidd once again answers the season long question, is there hope for Cristina and Owen as couple:

UPDATE: TV Guide

What can you tell us about Cristina and Owen's journey this year? 

Kevin McKidd: It's hard to see just how they're going to fix things. They're pretty damaged and there have been wrongs done on both sides. They're both pretty strong-willed people, they love each other and they've got this deep connection that's undeniable. In the first couple of episodes, you don't really see them make much headway. Owen's trying to reach out to Cristina and she's not really able or willing to receive much from Owen yet. There's still that distance between them that hopefully will break down as they move forward. They're very much as separate as they've ever been even though they're married.

But is there hope for them? 

McKidd: I think there's hope. I just hope they can make it because I think they're a cool couple and I think they really are destined to be together, but how they do that is hard to tell at the moment. I think it's going to be Owen striving to win her back, but it's going to take a while.

Will Owen try to find someone new while Cristina is away, or does he feel too much guilt after cheating on her? 

McKidd: I think he's manning up to what happened. He's holding out for Christina. Whether that will be reciprocated, he doesn't know. But until he's explored every avenue to see if it's healable and fixable, then he's going to hold out for her because she's the love of his life. I think he still hopes that she feels the same way about him. 

- Read more 

It also looks like we've seen the last of the firehouse, because Kevin revealed that with Cristina off to Minnesota, Owen is moving out as well and moving into Derek's old trailer in the woods.

TV Line

Question: I’m a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan, and an even bigger Cristina/Owen fan. I know they are the “red-headed step children” of all of the couples on the show right now, but is there any hope for them? —Laura C

Ausiello: There’s more than hope. There’s confirmation from Shonda Rhimes that they will eventually find their way back to each other. But a familiar and daunting obstacle awaits – he still wants to have children. “That’s a fundamental thing,” concedes Kevin McKidd. “It’s in his DNA. He wants to be a dad. I don’t know how [they overcome that]… It’s going to be a tough road. I enjoyed last season watching their decline. But my hope as a fan is that they make it back to each other.”

Question: Please!! Dying!! Need Grey’s Anatomy scoop!! Please help!! Thanks!! —Tamar 

Ausiello: A new plane crash-related wrinkle will present itself in the coming weeks, and this one could have far-reaching implications for all the survivors.

After all is said, frankly, my dears, the answer seems to be no at the moment. What do you think?

Grey's Anatomy: Cristina/Owen In Season 9 - Spoiler

For everyone wondering if there's hope for Cristina/Owen as a couple this season, Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes basically gives it all away in this spoiler from TV Line:

[Spoiler warning, dear peeps...]

Question: Grey’s Anatomy fan here — any hope for Cristina/Owen? —Amanda 

Ausiello: Yes, but there will be darkness before the dawn. “Initially, it’s going to be very unsettling,” previews exec producer Shonda Rhimes of the couple’s Season 9 trajectory. “And then it’s going to get fairly romantic as we watch them find their way back to one another.” 

But Rhimes is quick to stress that their road to reconciliation will be paved with bumps both old and new. “There are the aftereffects of the plane crash,” she explains. “There’s still his cheating. Also, he still wants a family and she still doesn’t. That is a huge obstacle for a couple. I’d like to explore what happens when two people want fundamentally different things. I didn’t want them to just walk away from each other. I felt like a lot of couples would fight to be together and figure out how to do it.”

Cristina Yang: It’s Hard To Keep Track Of You Falling Through The Sky

UPDATE: Spoiler from TV Line added.

Here's an interesting spoiler from TV Guide regarding Cristina's situation post-plane crash and her relationship with Owen:

Update: Rhimes has dubbed Season 9 the Year of Romance, a theme she confirms will extend to Dere/Mer and, believe it or not, Cristina/Owen. "They're going to find their way back to one another, but it's going to be a long journey," she warns of the latter, fractured pair. "I want everyone to be clear on that." - TV Line

... 

Hey Natalie, what did you learn from your Grey's Anatomy set visit, specifically about Christina and Owen? 

NATALIE: Cristina will not handle the crash well, with Kevin McKidd calling her "deranged, crazy" and likening her to a "wild animal." "Owen's feeling very helpless and very out of control," he tells us. "It's going to be Owen striving to win her back... they're definitely the damaged couple, but they seem destined to be together."

For spoiler junkies, you can find more season 9 spoilers posted earlier in our Spoiler section

Grey's Anatomy: Love, Loss And A Guest Star Comeback

A few Grey's tidbits, not too spoiler-ish:

First up, and article from the latest issue of US Weekly where Grey's Anatomy exec producer Betsy Beers talks about the upcoming season, with a tidbit about Cristina and Owen:

Kevin McKidd is currently directing episode 9.04 of Grey's Anatomy and he tweeted yesterday that William Daniels, who played Cristina's proctor at the end of last season, is back guest starring on the show and working with Sandra Oh again:

@_haleyhenry_ it's going great ! Sandra and bill daniels are awesome today !
— Kevin McKidd (@TheRealKMcKidd) August 30, 2012

Did this just clear up the mystery of the older gent?

Grey's Anatomy: The Times They Are A-Changin' In Season 9 - Spoilers

Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes has recently been interviewed about what's coming up in the first few episodes of Grey's Anatomy in season 9, revealing some big changes for Cristina Yang and the show structure as a whole. We've posted the most relevant parts in the excerpts below, so spoiler warning ahead:

TV Guide

You left the doctors in the woods without rescue! Will there be a time jump next season or are you picking up right where you left off? 

Shonda Rhimes: We're doing something really interesting that we've never really done before. As you know, I try to reinvent every season. When we start the season, we're two to three months in the future and we're well settled into the year for these doctors. We're watching them do what they're going to do. They're located where they're going to be located, things are happening. You see the aftermath of what happened. You're left with some questions as to how this happened and "Why is this the way it is?" and "Why is that the way it is?" Then, in the second episode of the season, we start back in the woods. We go from there and you see what happens. Then ensuing episodes, you're back to regular time and we're back on our timeline.

What can you talk about in regards to the structure of this season? At the end of last season, the doctors planned to take jobs elsewhere, so are we seeing a show that's just set at Seattle Grace or are we seeing a show that is set at many hospitals? 

Rhimes: We're seeing a show set at Seattle Grace and someplace else. What's interesting to me is that I didn't want us to feel like you're coming back and magically everyone is back home. You understand why some people stayed and why some people left. There are some very clear reasons what happened. It's very challenging playing an entirely separate story line in another location.

Can you tell us where this location is? 

Rhimes: I don't want to say where the location is because that would be too spoilery. It's a hospital. When we come back at the beginning of the season, some of our doctors are in different locations, more than one of them, and some of our doctors are preparing to leave for different locations.

...

What can you tell us about Cristina's journey next season? Are she and Owen (Kevin McKidd) really over or are there attempts to reconcile? 

Rhimes: I've dubbed this the season of romance purposefully. I feel like one of the things we're going to be seeing this season is Cristina and Owen finding their way back to each other. It's not going to be easy and it's not going to be quick, but I think it's going to be really beautiful. I'm happy because I love them, so I'm excited.  

- TV Guide 

Click here to read more about where Cristina Yang ends up.

Entertainment Weekly

Shonda Rhimes: “When we start the season, we are ahead enough in time where we see the outcome of lots of things. And in the second episode of the season, there’s rewind — we go backwards — to where they’re still in the forest,” she shares. “So you see what happened and in the next episode, you see how we get there. That was a really great experiment for us, and we think it turned out really really well.” This approach, she says, allowed them to tackle the crash aftermath in a way that felt different from what fans saw after the equally traumatizing hospital shooting a few seasons ago. 

The third episode will resume the timeline seen in the premiere.  

- EW

The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter: How are you approaching this season? In the past, you've known what the finale was and worked backward but last season because of all the uncertainty, it was split in two. 

Shonda Rhimes: We know what the finale is and we're working backward from that. It's the usual way we work and we had a lot of fun last season but because we were unsure of a lot of things we were left with building a lot of things and it doesn't matter because we have a finale that's totally separate from what else is happening. 

Could we see a time jump in the premiere? 

Not a big one. We're doing something really interesting this year. Our first episode takes place two to three months after we left the finale, so you see the aftermath and where everyone ends up. The second episode jumps back and we're back in the woods, we start the episode back in the woods. To me, it's a very different way of telling the story and you have some questions about why people are the way they are and in the second episode you find out why things are the way they are. 

Will you continue to play with that format throughout the season? 

We're not. We don't have big plans to play with it back and forth. Even though we had a plane crash, this isn't Lost (laughs). We wanted to find a way to clearly and interestingly tell the story of who our character and why they are who they are.

Considering the way with the finale ended with Alex (Justin Chambers) and Jackson (Jesse Williams) both being accepted to other programs -- and Cristina, if she survives, could we see some of the season take place in other hospitals? 

Yes, we could absolutely see some of the season take place somewhere else; that was always in the cards for us -- the idea that somebody would be somewhere else and we would see things play out that way. When we start the season, there are some doctors who are not at Seattle Grace and we will come to understand what that means as time goes on. 

Might that be something that continues on for the length of the series?

I don't know that it's going to be the length of the series; we're going to do it for as long as it feels interesting to us for as long as we have story to tell in the way that we need to tell it. At the end of every season, I always say let's leave it on the table for next season and part of the reason for next season is what happens if a doctor is someplace else and what that means for our story and how that works. 

... 

What shape will Meredith, Cristina and Derek be in mentally and emotionally when the season picks up?

It's surprising. [...] Meredith and Cristina are coping in ways that are both expected and unexpected for those characters. 

It sounds like all three will survive the crash. 

I can confirm to you that Meredith, Cristina and Derek survive.  

.... 

What kind of Seattle Grace will the docs be returning to, clearly it will be a bit depleted with a few people moving on.

It's going to be a very interesting place. We've been calling this season the season of romance and talking about playing up the romance of surgery and the romance between characters and the romance of friendships and really mining that as much as we can so it's not going to be a dark season. 

- THR 

Full interviews at the source.

Sandra Oh Looks Back At Cristina's Journey In Season 8 - Interview

Sandra Oh has received five Emmy-nominations for her role as Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy, and in a recent interview published by THR, she said that she feels that this past season has provided her with some of her best material yet.

This has also been the season where we have seen some disappointment from the fans with some of the storylines on the show - articulated in the comments section on this site - particularly storylines involving Cristina and Owen, as well as Cristina and Meredith. 

So here's Sandra's interview with THR, who looks back on season 8 and talks about her favourite scenes, the season finale, departing cast members and cereal tossing on co-star Kevin McKidd:

The Hollywood Reporter: This season has been particularly grueling for Cristina: an abortion, a broken marriage and infidelity, all topped off by a plane crash. Which scene did you grapple with the most? 

Sandra Oh: It has been an extremely challenging year that has had a lot of ups and downs, both challenging and exhilarating. A lot of the scenes that Kevin McKidd and I did of Owen and Cristina arguing in their apartment was like its own story line. We would shoot all our scenes for a day or two straight, and that was extremely challenging because emotionally and physically it becomes really exhausting. Our finale was extremely challenging physically and emotionally. So, I'd say two things -- our finale and those apartment scenes where Cristina and Owen lock themselves in and just go at it. 

Cristina tosses a bowl of cereal on him, which isn't a reaction that Cristina is typically prone to. 

Wasn't that good? Kevin had to have cereal thrown on him eight, 10 times for that one because we did a bunch of angles. There is that one shot -- and we only did it once -- which was his close-up, which was also my best and most direct hit. He was a great sport about that. Mark Jackson directed that episode, so we had special effects make a soft bowl because I'm not actually throwing an actual ceramic bowl at him. But that was real milk and Grape Nuts. I really liked that scene because that's her first actual moment of connection with him after he tells her the truth. Even though it's physical and it's violent, it's also a connecting moment between them where she looks at him and connects again. 

Cristina rarely expresses so much emotion, which she did a lot of this season. It was a slow burn that started with the season premiere and carried throughout the season, which is different that the Grey's we've seen in the past. 

You see her express her emotions with only two people: her best friend Meredith and her husband Owen. To see someone being pulled apart so intensely, which honestly most everyone goes through in their life in some ways, if you're lucky you're completely pulled apart and then you have to pull yourself together, which hopefully will be the exploration within hopefully the next season. It's not like we played this in a couple of episodes; we've played this throughout the entire year, and the reality of the resentments building and things not being dealt with building and betrayals happening is closer to real time in the way that we played it. Being on a show for this long, you don't have to do things boom-boom-boom because you have eight years of history and developing the character. So you can take your time with things and let it soak in, in a different and deeper way. I'm super-proud of this year. Having been on a show eight years, for me to have the richest storyline now, I'm extremely grateful. 

Looking back on the season, is there one particular scene that you're most proud of? 

It's an earlier episode with Teddy (Kim Raver), and it was a very technically difficult scene: Telling Teddy that Henry (Scott Foley) had died was a difficult scene, but there was one episode after that where Teddy needs to hear what happened in the room over and over again. All Cristina does is tell her what has happened medically, and all my dialogue was completely medical; I would just spout this out over and over again because she would just need to hear it until finally at the end of the episode, something shifts for her and she accepts what happened. I remember getting that episode and reading it in the run-through, and all my dialogue was reams and reams of medical jargon. I knew I had to start memorizing it right away and asked them not to change it since it was very challenging. You saw a crystallized version of Cristina, where she does her job and she hangs on to what she has to do and delivers the information. It's vintage Cristina. Then everything with Owen is Cristina coming apart.

What was filming the finale like? You're on location in the mountains near Big Bear for more than a week after the plane crash, which adds a physical element to an already emotional episode. 

It was so hard. It was physically and emotionally challenging because you're constantly at extremely high stakes. The physicality for Cristina, she had to do a lot of things with one arm, and I had to do a lot of things with one shoe. You're running around the mountain with one shoe and one arm basically and doing things that way. And it's like we've had this cushy time on stages and in the hospital. But being out in the open on the side of a mountain was exhilarating; you cannot beat location work. I've done very little greenscreen work, but it's just a pooper. I don't care how much you blow that fan on my face, there's not a helicopter coming at me. It's really hard to manufacture the clear reality of what that is, but when you are on a mountain and you are freezing, you're freezing. 

What does getting out of the hospital set do for the cast? In addition to Big Bear, you were away from the set and on the Disney lot in Burbank for the hotel scenes for the boards. Could we potentially see more new locations next season as the residents begin heading elsewhere? 

It totally reinvigorates us. They had to build the hotel, the hotel rooms, and they built a bunch of other sets. It's reinvigorating for everyone, including the crew, who we've spent the last eight years on five stages. It's nice to go out; I'd love to see them in different places. We could possibly see them in other places, but again I have no idea what Shonda is going to do after this finale.

Filming the finale, in which Grey's said farewell to two castmembers -- Chyler Leigh's Lexie, who died, and Kim Raver's Teddy, who moved on -- what was that process like for you? 

The finale was such a great experience, everyone really got out of their comfort zone. Those were some really painful, devastating scenes. We saw one scene cut together, and I had to get my hair and makeup redone; I could not stop weeping -- and I wasn't in that scene. It was extremely difficult because people come in and out over eight years. It's rare to have certain people be around you for eight years or five years or even three years. There's a kind of carnival aspect of to it. A lot of times for plays or films you come in for six weeks, fall in love with people, and you leave. You become family members and have really deep ties with people even if you don't spend time outside of work with them. When you have to let go of some of those things, I found it extremely difficult and extremely sad. We've been down for almost a week now, and I'm just extremely depressed and recuperating, but it's not just the physical recuperation. This has happened to me before with certain projects that I have left that I feel really low, and I know we're coming back, but certain things and dynamics will have shifted, and there's a lot of that makes me very sad. 

Changing it up a bit, after so much heavy material this season, was there a scene that stands out when it was the hardest to keep a straight face? 

Justin Chambers is pretty funny and always makes us laugh during scenes in April's office. There's also an episode right before Cristina actually tells Teddy about Henry where Teddy wants to dance and have a good time and she's going like, "Woo-hoo, woo-hoo," and that was pretty funny. What I really like about our show is it's really a drama with a lot of really good comedy in it, and it's mostly comedy based on character. After some heavy stuff, I'm sure that they're going to give us some funny stuff to do. And Cristina's stuff with William Daniels when he's her proctor, I thought that was hilarious. I just thought how amazing is this if we're talking about medical shows past and present. I'd be so willing to do that in 25 years, to come on as a doctor to some other kid in a medical show.

What have been your favourite Cristina scenes this season? Tell us in the comments below.

Cristina/Owen: I'm Not Over You, Can I Get Back Under

EW published a lengthy interview last week with Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes, where she discusses the season finale and killing off one the major characters. (Cristina Yang is safe, as you may have heard.)

In the same interview she talks about having discussions with Sandra Oh and co-star Kevin McKidd about how to approach the Cristina/Owen storyline next. Here's what you can expect:

EW: Owen and Cristina is a different story, though. What can you preview about them?

Shonda Rhimes: I think it’s very complex. To me — Sandra [Oh], Kevin [McKidd] and I have talked about this a lot — it’s very simple to say a guy cheats on you and therefore, the relationship is over and everything is done. But it’s very childlike and naïve to be in that place where everything is black and white. 

And what I love about what’s happening with them is that it really is all these interesting shades of gray. We understand why he cheated and how he got there. We understand her outrage and her feelings about it completely. I feel compassion for Owen even though I think he did a horrible thing, and I feel compassion for Cristina even though she hasn’t handled her relationship in the best possible way all along. I feel like we’re watching them come to a better place.

Will that happen by the end of the season?

Sandra and I talked a lot and we were both very adamant that this journey needed to continue in a way that felt true to what was happening. So we’re not going to wrap everything up with a big happy bow at the end of the season. That’s just not where we’re headed with this couple. 

And the finale, I’ve said this before, if the finale works the way it should, that won’t be the thing you’re thinking about anyway. There’s so many more complex and dark things going on. And no matter what you see happen between the two of them in these last two episodes, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re finished or the story’s finished or everything’s happy or everything’s sad.

Giant happy bows aren’t your style anyway.

No, they really aren’t. They’re boring.

You can read the full interview here

Sandra Oh And Kevin McKidd On The Set

Random pic of the week:

A pic of a pic of Sandra Oh and co-star Kevin McKidd that somebody came across during a visit on the Grey's Anatomy set.

Source

Grey's Anatomy: Shonda Rhimes on the Deadly Finale

Same, same but different.

THR has published a new interview with Grey's showrunner, Shonda Rhimes were she talks about the death of one of the main characters on the show, the season finale, season 9 plans, Cristina potentially saying goodbye to her BFF Meredith, and Cristina and Owen. Here's the excerpt:

We've heard there's a big death in the finale. Could it be a character that affects the heart and soul of Seattle Grace? How big of a death is it?

It's a pretty big death. We're not talking [about] some guest star [who] is going to come in and die kind of thing; it's a big death and it's fairly shocking. It was hard, it was hard to write, it was hard to listen to at the table read. It is a difficult thing to do and not done lightly. When one of your main characters dies, it always affects the heart and soul of the hospital.

Compared to some of the previous finales that we've seen -- i.e. the hospital shooting -- where does this year's rank?

I don't know how to compare it. The shooting episode was done for a number of reasons; ultimately the point of it was to leave our entire group of people fresh, like naked babies in a weird way, in terms of being in an operating room and starting over. The intention of this episode is we're literally saying goodbye to people -- and possibly more than one person. In a weird way for me -- and I don't know if it will be this way for viewers -- it was much more painful than the shooting episode because there's something final about this, whereas the shooting episode felt like a journey that we were going through and then you came out the other side when it was over. You don't come out of the other side of this. Where we leave the end of the season is a little bit crazy. I kept saying to people, "This feels exactly like what should be happening, but it feels a little bit crazy." But it does feel like where we should be in that moment.

You mentioned saying goodbye to more than one person -- could we potentially see more than one death? 

As we leave our season, we will have already seen a death, and there will be some lives in jeopardy.

How will the remaining episodes walk the line between writing characters out while still leaving the door open for their return should contract talks work out?

We have a very clear plan for what is going to happen next season. I already know how next season is going to lay out. Part of that plan doesn't necessarily mean that just because the doctor decides not return to Seattle Grace, it does not necessarily mean the doctor is not going to be on the show anymore. 

Could we potentially see the show take place from two cities? 

I'm not even going to speculate.

....

THR: How will Owen and Cristina struggle with her potential departure?

Shonda Rhimes: We've been very clear that everybody wants Cristina Yang. It's always been my intention that we portray that character as being extraordinarily gifted as a surgeon, and this is her moment where she's being offered the world from a number of different places. We're going to see her make a decision and see her try to decide what to do. For me, the thing that was most emotional was the prospect of Meredith and Cristina being split up. Yes, I think Cristina and Owen being split up would be a very difficult thing. But the idea that Meredith and Cristina were going to be split up -- that the twisted sisters were no longer going to be in the same place -- that's a prospect that they're all facing as they are looking at all of these different jobs in all these different places.

Could we potentially see Cristina and Owen agree to move on from the events of this year -- his cheating, her abortion -- and stay together by the end of the season?

We are not heading them toward, "Everything is going to be happy," or, "Everything is going to be horrible." It's not the point of the story that we are telling. By the end of the season, you will understand that that becomes -- I don't want to say the least of their concerns -- but I think you get a different understanding for what's important when you're put in a difficult situation. That is something that is going to happen for our characters, something that we can see potentially that builds into next season.

Full interview here

Grey's Anatomy: The Floors Are Falling Out From Everybody I Know

Something big is going down in the season finale of Grey's Anatomy, and Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes is being a big tease about it in her recent interview with TV Guide.

Here's an excerpt from the interview where she talks about a major event that will occur in the finale, what's ahead for our graduating residents, the future of Cristina and Owen, and most importantly, how the finale may not give a clear resolution as to which cast member is leaving the show:

"There is a very complex thing that occurs for many of our characters that places a lot of them in a position to discover what they're made of," the ever-tight-lipped Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes teases of the major event that erupts in the season-ender. "I don't know that you could guess it," she says.

Rhimes' only clue: When we asked whether this incident is similar to the devastating ferry boat crash or the rampaging shooter from seasons past, she replied, "Yes. That's a yes to both!"

In a year where contract negotiations of key cast members are also still up in the air, Rhimes has appeared to create a perfect out should some of our favorite doctors not return. "People will take jobs at different hospitals," Rhimes says, noting that the docs will make their decisions in the penultimate episode.

"The plan is, at the end of the season, our doctors will do what residents all over the country do, which is to accept jobs at different hospitals," she says. Could some docs stick around Seattle Grace? "Not at the end of the season," Rhimes teases, noting that one of many possibilities is that some doctors will return in the potential ninth season, should ABC decide to renew the series.

...

"We're taking our characters on a journey they've never been on before," she adds. "To me, it's a very shocking thing that I chose to do and I was really stressed-out about doing it, and it took me a long time, so I kept taking the finale apart and putting it back together. It's also a very emotional episode. I always feel like when an episode really scares me, when I spend a lot of time with my head in my hands wondering how the fans are going to take it, and worry that they're going to, I don't know, stone me in the streets, I kind of know that it's good."

"This season, I feel like the theme of the episode is graduation, and there is a huge sense of nostalgia in this episode in terms of what you're looking at. This could very well be the last time these doctors are working together. This could very well be the last day for some of these doctors here."

Some of that darkness will surely come from the tumultuous marriage between Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Cristina, which has seen many gut-wrenching moments already. "I really do believe and love them together as a couple," she says. "When I say, 'Oh, I want them to stay together,' people think that means that they're going to hold hands and skip happily off into the sunset. We all know that's never going to happen or else we wouldn't have a television show. I do ultimately think that they belong together, but that road could be very long, or it could be short.

"I haven't gotten into next season yet," she continues. "I can't even think past how we're ending this season. And when we end the season, so many other things are happening that I'm not sure that you're going to spend time worrying about whether or not Cristina and Owen are going to be together. In the episode before the finale, you will feel like you know what's going to happen to them, but their journey really does continue."

With Rhimes confident that Grey's will return for a ninth season, will there still be a sense of finality should some of the doctors bid farewell? "There are some things that will feel like there's some closure and many things that won't."

Grey's Anatomy: Latest Update On The Residents' Future, Cristina/Owen & The Season Finale [Update]

With 5 episodes left to go this season, here are a few tidbits from various media outlets about what's coming up in the remaining episodes of Grey's Anatomy:

Cristina/Owen

Update (Apr 14): From TV Guide's William Keck about the season finale:

Source

Shonda Rhimes' interview with Wetpaint from the Shonda & Friends event last week:

Wetpaint: You recently tweeted that you intend to keep Cristina and Owen together.

That doesn't mean they're going to stay together. It just means that I want to keep them together. 

Are you trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel at this point?

I already know what the light at the end of the tunnel is. So for me, I feel like that journey is very clear to me. I think for the fans, it's just a little scarier because they don’t know where we're going.

But on the other hand, a tweet from last night (Apr 12):

@shondarhimes

The Season Finale

The season finale of Grey's has now been written, and TV Guide's William Keck tweeted a tidbit about what will be the opening scene of the super-secret finale, before all hell breaks loose:

Just interviewed @shondarhimes about #greysanatomy finale. Promised 2keep epic secrets a while longer but ep will begin w/very1st pilot scene - a replay of hospital scene with Richard giving residents their matching orders. Back to the beginning.

- @KecksExclusives 

The Residents' Future

Same, same but different... More from Shonda Rhimes' interview with Wetpaint:

Wetpaint Entertainment: You have mentioned that this season's Grey's Anatomy finale is particularly difficult to write? Why more so than the previous ones? 

Shonda Rhimes: Well, just because the interns are going to stop being residents after this season. They're going to become attendings. This is their last year in that world. And there's also that idea that we're not a hundred percent sure exactly who's coming back next year and who's not. And also, we've been doing this for seven seasons, that you want to top yourself every time, and you want to do better every time.

We’ve also seen some photos of airport scenes, with Meredith, Derek, Zola and Cristina. Are you able to tease them at all? 

People seem to be very obsessed with these airport scenes. I will say this. The residents are interviewing for jobs which is what happens when you're a resident. That's why they're traveling. No one's going to Africa. 

What are you able to say about the Boards episode coming up? 

Oh God. I think that it's going to have some very unexpected consequences for every last one of our residents. 

We hear the boards episode is also very funny. 

It's very funny. There's a lot of incredibly funny things that happen in this run up to the end of the season, things that we sort of found and we laughed about it in the writers room, the table reads. The kind of thing where we laughed and laughed and laughed. So yeah, it's been great.   

- Wetpaint

Kevin McKidd on what role Owen Hunt will play - in his position as the chief of surgery - when the residents start looking for new job opportunities:

“The residents are all at the point where they’re going to be doing their boards, so some [of them] may be thinking about going to different hospitals. He’s got an eye on that; he’s concerned about that,” he says. 

“He’s obviously going to have to make his recommendations as chief. So it’ll be interesting to see who he recommends for what, and what he recommends for which hospital. I don’t know what he’ll write on those recommendation sheets. They’ve all been very hard working.”

- EW

Grey's Anatomy: 8.19 'Support System' - Sneak Peeks [Updated]

UPDATE: Another sneak peek added.

New: Cristina/Owen

Cristina, Owen, 'The Other Woman':

"Support System" - A devastated Cristina presses Owen to confess the intimate details of his affair; Mark takes his new authority very seriously when he steps in as chief for the day and butts heads with Richard over a patient's liver transplant; and Callie deems Meredith ready for the boards, while the rest of the residents continue to stress about the exam. Meanwhile, Callie, Arizona and Bailey plan a much needed ladies night for Teddy, on "Grey's Anatomy," THURSDAY, APRIL 12 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET) on ABC.

More non-Cristina sneak peeks here.

Grey's Anatomy: 'Cause One Day When She Goes, She's Gone

Here's some more Grey's news, this time from TV Guide who interviewed Sandra Oh, Ellen Pompeo and Shonda Rhimes at the panel discussion last night about what's coming up for Cristina in the upcoming episodes.

Cristina and Meredith will be interviewing for job positions all over the country, and here's how that will be dealt with and how it may effect other characters:

On the other hand, leaving Seattle could mean separating the true power couple of Grey's — Meredith and Cristina (Sandra Oh). That very subject will be addressed in an upcoming episode. "There's definitely scenes that reflect ... the relationship between Cristina and Meredith," Pompeo says, noting that no one — aside from the powers that be — knows who will be staying or going.

For her part, Cristina will have the pick of the litter, as multiple hospitals will be wooing her. That will weigh heavily on both her mentor, Teddy (Kim Raver), and her husband, Owen (Kevin McKidd). "It's hard for both of them," Rhimes says. "Cristina is very gifted and a lot of people are going to want her. For both Teddy and Owen, there's going to be some struggle there in terms of letting go. Or if you can let go or if you should let go."

As far as Owen goes, letting go may not be his decision. Cristina and Owen have faced their toughest year yet following her choice to have an abortion and his reveal that he cheated on her. Oh said it may all come down to Cristina deciding between work and love. "Cristina will eventually have to decide what's going to happen in the relationship versus what she wants in her career," she says.

Grey's Scoop From The Panel Discussion With Sandra Oh - Recap

If you didn't get a chance to watch the panel discussion with Sandra Oh, Ellen Pompeo and Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes, here's a recap about what they talked about.

When it comes to Cristina Yang's professional life, Sandra Oh revealed that we're about to see some classic funny Cristina Yang in what she calls a "doctor-off" with an older doctor played by William Daniels.

Sandra also gave some interesting insight in what's going on with Cristina and Owen at the moment and why she likes this storyline:

Video credit: @courtneyminton

Here are some tidbits from E! Online & THR:

• Slow Burn: Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Cristina might be in the most difficult place of their, at times, rocky relationship but Sandra Oh said this has been building for a few seasons and might not be solved instantly: "If you can take a look and go back for years, you can see places where things were glossed over, decisions were made out of haste." She continues: "The question of where they are going, what I can say in a very general but truthful way, is that hopefully they are going to a place that is truthful for both characters, that is not am immediately solvable situation. So we're going to be in this storyline for a bit." It has to get worse before it can get better, right? - E! Online

• Don't expect to see Cristina and Owen's marriage woes wrap up anytime soon. After learning of Owen's affair, Oh says the story line will be drawn out in a fashion that's realistic to relationships and marriages. "It's a devastating and true and common situation that more than 50 percent of couples have to go through in some way or another," she told THR. "What I'm happiest is with is that they're taking their time. It's not going to be something that is resolved or ended quickly." - THR

• Meredith and Cristina are both exploring hospitals out of state. Cristina is being heavily recruited and has her eye on USC. - THR

• Graduating Class of 2012: Things are in flux at Grey's Anatomy and Shonda explains why that is, this little group of interns we met way back eight years ago are graduating. She elaborates: "They are going to become attendings, they have to take their boards, they have to interview for jobs all over the country. We don't know where people are going to end up in that sense. There's this very nostalgic sense that something is being lost for all of them." While we may what to cry at the idea of losing any of our favorite docs, Shonda promises some of the funniest moments are still to come this season, too. So...get ready to laugh-cry. Hard. - E! Online

The full webcast will be available here on April 5 so everyone will be able to watch it. In the meantime, here is a brief recap of some of the other things they discussed:

Screencap via @MaryPetrevic

- Sandra likes to know what will happen on the show in advance. If Shonda Rhimes doesn't tell her, she will go into her office and "stare her down".

- Ellen Pompeo and Sandra talked quite a bit about their working relationship. They have very different personalities and outlooks on life, so they "keep each other going".

- Ellen knew of Sandra before Grey's because she used to be a huge fan of HBO's Arliss, where Sandra Oh played the 'colourful' Rita Woo.

- Kadee Strickland from Private Practice remembers watching Sandra in Double Happiness when she was sick and she made her feel better.

- Sandra talked about how she got her first major role in The Diary of Evelyn Lau.

- The finale of Grey's has not yet been written, and Shonda Rhimes keeps changing her mind about it all the time.

That's all we can remember, so if anybody has anything else they want to add or want to make any corrections, please let us know in the comments.

Photo: @KristinDSantos

Latest Grey's Scoop From Sandra Oh

Wetpaint had a chat with Sandra Oh at the 33rd Annual College Television this Saturday, who shared a tidbit about the residents upcoming medical boards and what's in store for Cristina and Owen - which slightly differs from Shonda Rhimes' message in a recent tweet:

“Someone didn’t pass the boards.” Sandra Oh would not reveal which doc flunks, admitting “I’m gonna get in trouble”.

Speaking of trouble, it appears there aren’t happier days ahead for Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Cristina either, on the heels of his admission that he cheated on her. When Wetpaint inquired about light at the end of their marital tunnel, Sandra said that going into finale, there doesn’t seem to be any.

“I honestly have no idea,” she tells us. ”But if there is, a lot of time relationships go through a long dark period, so definitely that’s where they’re at right now.” 

We know that creator Shonda Rhimes spoiled that she has “no intention of splitting [Cristina and Owen] up,” so there will be a happy ending in store for this couple.