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?