Saying Goodbye To Cristina Yang

Sandra Oh announcing her departure from Grey's Anatomy at the end of season 10 was rather big news in the world of pop culture last week. Sandra Oh and Grey's Anatomy were a trending topic on Twitter for hours after the news broke, and the news has inspired a slate of articles like these:

SLATE: How Cristina Yang Changed Television 

I want to take this occasion to celebrate Yang, one of TV’s most original and influential characters. Grey’s may be years removed from its buzzy, Emmy-winning start, but in Yang, the loveable, persnickety careerist, Rhimes and Oh have created a complex workaholic who has begat a whole generation of female protagonists, none quite as impressive as she is. - Read more

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The Daily Beast: Pull the Plug on 'Grey's Anatomy' 

A Grey’s Anatomy without Sandra Oh’s fan-favorite doc, Cristina Yang? Oh, my.

Without Cristina Yang, who’s going to call the bull? Who’s going to deliver witty one-liners? Who’s going to take a stand against the allure of the McMen? Most importantly, who’s going to inhale candy and hot dogs and do so elegantly? The answer is no one. - Read more

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Pajiba: Saying Goodbye to Cristina Yang, One of the Best B*tchfaces on Television

But I think that any complex, well-acted character deserves attention and Sandra Oh has done a fantastic job bringing Cristina Yang to life for ten years. I will miss the character, and will probably stop watching the show once she’s gone. The relationship between her and Meredith has been the backbone of the series since the first episode, and I don’t see how they can keep it going if she leaves. 

Goodbye, Dr.Yang, you were too good for the show you were in and I hope there are better things waiting for you in your future. That goes double for Sandra Oh. - Read more

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Sandra Oh in the latest digital edition of EW: 

 Scan credit: @lavender_indigo

Source: TV Guide: August 26 – Sept 8, 2013.
Scan credit: @lavender_indigo

Shonda Rhimes: "Writing For Sandra Is One Of The Best Things That's Ever Happened To Me"

Here is an en excerpt from an extended interview with Grey's Anatomy boss Shonda Rhimes regarding Sandra's decision to leave the show at the end of the season:

Shonda Rhimes and Sandra Oh at the NAACP Image Awards in 2006.

The Hollywood Reporter: What was your reaction when you heard Sandra Oh would not be returning? Were you surprised?

Shonda Rhimes: I know Sandra pretty well. It was one of those things where I so wished it wasn't true for many reasons. For me, as a human being, I love spending time with Sandra, and as a writer, writing for Sandra is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I would hope that it wouldn't be happening -- but I also know Sandra, and I know that it's time for her to have new challenges. I get to have new challenges all the time because I get to create other shows, but she doesn't get to do that, so I fully understood it.

THR: How soon in the season will Cristina's exit be addressed? Will it be a season-long story?

Rhimes: It won't be until the end of the season. The minute Sandra and I started talking about this, we have a story that we want to tell and we want to tell it really well, and that story isn't about her leaving the show as much as it is Cristina Yang's growth as a person and as a surgeon. Cristina Yang is not going to magically decide she wants babies, no.

THR: Do you know how Cristina's story ends? Will it be a happy or sad one?

Rhimes: I know how it ends, but I'm not going to say anything else.

THR: Is there a way that Cristina and Owen can end up together despite Sandra leaving and Kevin McKidd continuing on with the show?

Rhimes: No comment.

Full interview at THR

The Casting Of Sandra Oh As Cristina Yang

Grey's Anatomy boss, Shonda Rhimes, posted this tweet today on why she cast Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang:

Source: @shondarhimes

Originally though, Sandra Oh auditioned for the part of Miranda Bailey aka "The Nazi", while the character of Cristina was written as a "a pert little blonde".

Here's a video from PaleyFest in 2006, where Sandra herself explains how she eventually got the role as Cristina Yang:

Kevin McKidd Tweets Stuff: About Sandra Oh, Cristina/Owen & Grey's New Dynamic Duo

The always lovely Kevin McKidd was live tweeting last night during the Grey's Anatomy episode and  he was asked a lot of questions about working with Sandra Oh. This is what he said about that, Cristina/Owen and Cristina's new bestie:

Kevin McKidd On Working With Sandra Oh

@MabeZarkana: who's your bf on set? 

Kevin McKidd: sandra  

@Thaisbely: Describe Sandra Oh in one word. 

Kevin McKidd: true 

‏@PrisKent: Sandra is very funny on set, calm, or how she is when you guys work together? 

Kevin McKidd: everyone smiles when she is there. she is brilliant fun and passionate 

@PrisKent: How cool it is to work with Sandra Oh??? 

Kevin McKidd: it is the best ! 

@TSC_PLLgirl: favorite part about working with someone as amazing as Sandra Oh?

Kevin McKidd: we collaborate and talk about our characters all the time

@auzzigrey how difficult was it to direct your screen wife with uhmmm someone else?

Kevin McKidd: it was definitely weird and slightly awkward :) 

@jasmine92670618: do u like christnia as a coworker 

Kevin McKidd: yes! love it

@KimKardashian6: is Christina in real life really like this or just a little bit? 

Kevin McKidd: sandra is nothing like cristina

On Cristina's New Bestie, Dr. Thomas

Sandra Oh and William Daniels.

@LovemesomeOwen: I'm hoping Owen will get to meet Dr. Thomas one day. Even better if he hires him...LOL! Love the Cristina/Thomas friendship. 

‏Kevin McKidd: they are great together - i cast bill in the boards episode last season 

@evibloom: William Daniels & the Dr. Thomas/Cristina dynamic is delightful. Was his role in S9 planned back in S8? 

Kevin McKidd: funny , i cast Bill for my last ep of season 8 - he was so good - the writers wrote him in for season 9 

On Cristina/Owen

@MichelleAlexa24: Know you can't spoil and you're probably sick of Cris/Owen questions but...anything positive you could give to CO fans?

‏Kevin McKidd: there is positive for them , but complicated 

‏@Crush_on_Crowen: Owen still in love with Cristina? In your opinion? ty  

Kevin McKidd: 100%  

@COGreysLover: Do you think all the drama and angst is done for CO now? Now maybe some healing?  

Kevin McKidd: of course not ! 

@Fliss98: HEYYY, CHRISTINA IS CHEEATING ON YOU BTW, INCASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW. 

Kevin McKidd: they are on a break ! 

Source: @TheRealKMcKidd

Sarah Drew On Working With Sandra

Co-star Sarah Drew was live-tweeting last night as well, and here are her nice words about Ms. Sandra Oh:

@ShelbySnow1: what is it like working with Sandra Oh? 

Sarah Drew: It's like acting class. She's a genius

@LucillaTurrini: How is working with Sandra Oh? She also is reserved in real life? 

Sarah Drew: No! She is super friendly and fun!!

Source: @SarahDrewGreys

Isaiah Washington: 'Sandra Oh Is A Fantastic Actress'

Once upon a time on Grey's Anatomy, Cristina Yang and Dr. Preston Burke were the show's main angsty couple, and last night Sandra Oh's former co-star Isaiah Washington, was a guest on a Brazilian talk show where he was full of praise for Sandra Oh. Listen to what he had to say in the interview in the video below, and as you can see, the talk show host himself (Jô Soares) seemed to be quite taken by Sandra as well:

Starts at the 7:30 min mark.

Video via Grey's Anatomy BR

Transcript:

Jô Soares: How many years have you been on that show banging that wonderful…

Isaiah Washington: Banging? Woah! Sandra Oh?

Jô: Yes, she's fantastic as a matter of fact.

Isaiah: Yes, she is. She's fantastic. If I miss anything about that show is the experience of working with her. She's a class act. A super power, a talent. I think she's won every award in Canada, cause she's Canadian.

Jô: She's Canadian?

Isaiah: Yeah, she grew up in Canada. So I think that she has won everything except the Oscar in Canada. She's got a Golden Globe and Emmy-noms, so she's a fantastic actress.

Jô: I like, because she almost climbs on you and you had a lot of nice chemistry together.

Isaiah: There's mutual respect there.

Jô: Fantastic.

And this must be the 'climbing' the host is referring to, no?

Sandra Oh Trends On The Tweety Bird Again

Sandra Oh made quite an impression in last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy and showed off those amazing acting skills once again as Cristina confronted Owen about his infidelity. The twitterverse took notice and Sandra became a trending topic on the Tweety Bird last night again:

Here are a couple of scenes from last night's episode:

Read more »

Sandra Oh Trends On Twitter - Again

Despite minimal screen time on last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy, Sandra Oh's acting skills didn't go unnoticed and she was a trending topic on Twitter last night - again:

Screen cap via COGreysLover

The scene from last night's episode:

Next week Cristina and Owen go to couples therapy together, so expect more great acting from those two.

Sandra Oh And Kevin McKidd Will Make You Cry

Last Thursday, Sandra Oh impressed the Twitterverse with her acting skills, and Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes  says to expect more of that as both Sandra and her co-star Kevin McKidd have been turning in amazing performances in the upcoming episodes where Cristina and Owen will be dealing with their relationship issues.

Here's more on that from her interview with TV Guide:

[Spoiler-ish]

Following the death of Henry, it seems like Cristina and Owen (Kevin McKidd) are about to hit a rough patch. What can you tease? 

Rhimes: The explosion is coming. I think it's going to affect every corner of their lives. Some of the performances that Sandra and Kevin are turning in are, like, people are crying while watching the dailies. It's unbelievably good what they're doing. 

Fans are really invested in the Cristina-Owen relationship and would be, ahem, very outspoken should anything happen to them.

Rhimes: I think everyone's really dedicated to them as a couple. I'm not going to say whether or not they're going to break up or not because, honestly, that's kind of not the point in this. But I feel like they're two people who really want to be together, who are fighting to make it work. What that's going to mean is it's going to be fairly painful, even if they make it work. It's going to be a painful journey.

'Sandra Oh' : A Trending Topic On Twitter

If you thought that Sandra Oh did some great acting in this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy, then you're not alone.

The Twitterverse was impressed by her acting skills as well, and Sandra Oh was a trending topic on Twitter, while the new Grey's Anatomy episode aired on Thursday evening. See:

Screen Cap

Here is a collection of some of those tweets and the nice things people said about Sandra:

Read more »

Isaiah Washington Still Watches Grey's Because Of Sandra Oh

Sandra Oh's former Grey's Anatomy co-star Isaiah Washington - who played Cristina's teacher and almost husband Dr. Preston Burke  - appeared on CNN Newsroom today where he discussed his new book and the big controversy that he was involved in on Grey's Anatomy a few years ago which lead to his dismissal.

In the interview he says that he has been invited back to the show since he left and he briefly mentions that still "peeks in" to watch Grey's Anatomy because he adores Sandra Oh. You can watch the interview here

Sandra Oh has never commented on the controversy publicly other than leaving a cryptic remark in Marie Claire, but when asked in an interview if she was sad to see Isaiah Washington go, she said this:

Sandra Oh: How do I say this? For me, it’s been very difficult because I found our storyline very rich. I found it a complicated relationship and I'm sad to see that relationship storyline to have gone. It’s sad.

- Source 

Would you have liked to see Preston Burke back on Grey's Anatomy to stir things up?

Sandra Oh Honoured At Canada's Walk Of Fame Awards - Video

Sandra Oh was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame earlier this month and Sandra attended the awards ceremony which was broadcast earlier this evening, where she was presented with her award. Thanks to our awesome reader Lauren (aka COGreysLover) we have this video from the broadcast where Sandra gives her acceptance speech.

Sandra was also honoured by her current Grey's Anatomy co-stars Ellen Pompeo and Kevin McKidd, Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes, as well as her co-workers from her previous projects, including actor/director/friend Don McKellar. They all had some nice things to say about Sandra and her work, so check it all out in the video below:

Sandra Tidbits Courtesy Of Ellen Pompeo

Ellen Pompeo has been promoting Grey's Anatomy this week and mentioned Sandra Oh in some of the interviews. This is what she said:


On storylines: Sandra Oh vs. the writers:

In television, it's a writers' medium and you don't have a lot of control. I don't fight for many things. Sandra fights for a lot of things and I give her a lot of credit. She's an incredible actress. I fight for only what is super important.

- Ellen Pompeo, The View

If things don't work out between Meredith and McDreamy, Ellen can't see Meredith hooking up with any of the other guys on the show:

"But, maybe... I think Sandra Oh is really hot. You never know. You know that Shonda Rhimes loves a lesbian story."

- Ellen Pompeo, The Seven

Time To Get Sandra Oh On Glee

If you are a fan of Glee, you may want to read on...

We've told you before about actress Jenna Ushkowitz from Glee stating in an interview that she has campaigned to get Sandra Oh to guest star on Glee as her character's crazy aunt/mom.

A fan took note of that and created a Facebook page for everyone who'd like to see that happen:

Hey Ryan Murphy, Time to Get Sandra Oh to Play Tina's Mom on GLEE

And, Jenna officially endorses it:

(Jenna happens to be a fan of Sandra's and even dressed up as Cristina Yang for Halloween.)

FYI: Ryan Murphy, who is the creator of Glee, also created the TV show Popular where Sandra Oh played a humanities teacher for a few episodes.

Thanks to Maya for the heads up.

Sandra Oh And Kevin McKidd Have Theatre Plans

Recently Kevin McKidd did a Q&A with his fans over at Kevin McKidd Online where they had a few questions about Sandra. For those of you who've been wanting to see Sandra and Kevin in a project outside of Grey's, there's hope. This is what he said:

KEVIN ON SANDRA OH

Kevin was asked If Sandra enjoyed her visit to London

[Kevin] - she did love London - we hung out and introduced her to my friends and stuff

members express that Sandra Oh was amazing

[Kevin] - she is - i concur!

Kevin was asked if he and Sandra will ever work on a project together outside of Grey’s

[Kevin] - i hope so - we keep talking about doing a play some time...

To read the entire chat, visit Kevin McKidd Online.

Reasons To Love Grey's Anatomy Again

EW has listed 10 reasons to love Grey's Anatomy (again) and here are two of them:

CRISTINA'S STORY LINE

Cristina's been through hell on this show — actually, she's been through it about once a season. But now that she's settled down on the relationship front, her story arc of personal anguish in the wake of the shooting gets to take center stage. Sandra Oh's acting has always been one of the show's greatest assets, and she's getting some of the best material she's had in years.

CRISTINA AND MEREDITH'S FRIENDSHIP IS STRONGER THAN EVER

Romance, schmomance. The best relationship on this show is definitely Meredith and Cristina's, and this season it's been even more important. Both docs are dealing with some serious issues following the shooting — Meredith's miscarriage, Cristina performing emergency surgery — but they're helping each other cope. Who wouldn't feel better snuggling with Meredith and Derek?

Best Actor In TV Today

USA Today on tonight's episode of Grey's:

All the doctors get their share of airtime, and some get their share of surprises. But the episode's emotional center is shared by Bailey (Chandra Wilson) and Cristina (Sandra Oh), still haunted by an event in which one heroically succeeded in saving a life and the other, with a no-less-heroic effort, failed. This outing serves as a reminder, should anyone need one, that Wilson and Oh are two of the best actors in TV today.

The full review of the episode can be found here

Ellen Pompeo Praises Sandra Oh Some More

Here is another interview with Ellen Pompeo where she talks highly about working with Sandra Oh after seven seasons of Grey's:

Pompeo said they're filming the eighth of 24 episodes for the current season. The first 12 are "absolutely dedicated to everybody getting on the mend" in the aftermath of the mass shooting, she said.

"They'll probably transition out the last 12 episodes, but it'll be a gradual thing, but they'll eventually have to move on after everyone's healed."

Pompeo also had high praise for Canadian co-star Sandra Oh, who portrays Cristina, Meredith's BFF.

The 40-year-old said she and Oh always say that the real love story of the series is between their characters. Off-screen, Pompeo said she and the Nepean, Ont.-born actress have become quite close.

"The other day we showed up on set wearing similar outfits and we just looked at each other and said: `Seven seasons,'" she recalled, smiling. "We've morphed into each other."

Pompeo called Oh one of the "most compelling actresses there is, period" and said she considers herself lucky to work with her.

"I think my work is more interesting because I'm reacting to her and she's so compelling and dedicated to what she does. She cares very deeply about her craft," she said.

"She's a huge part of why the show is so engaging and compelling and why people are so hooked, because she draws you in. So I can't say enough about her, and we owe a great deal of our success to her."

Source

Ellen Pompeo: Season 7 To Be Remarkable Because Of Sandra Oh

Ellen Pompeo has being promoting a new charity campaign about diper need called Every little bottom and while doing so she's also been answering questions about Grey's Anatomy.

This morning she paid a visit to a morning talk show in Canada where she said all kinds of nice things about Sandra, so check out the transcribed interview below:

Ellen Pompeo and Sandra Oh

Q: Any sneak peeks into any plot lines this season?

Ellen Pompeo: Well, I've gotta say, the whole beginning of season 7, the basis of the story line runs around Sandra Oh's character Cristina Yang, who is dealing with PTSD from the shooting.

And I can't say enough about Sandra as an actress. As a person she's wonderful too and fellow Canadian. But she's so dedicated to her craft and it means so much to her. She puts so much into her work. Her story line this season is so compelling, she's doing a fantastic job and she's one of the most compelling actresses on TV today. Certainly one of the most compelling actresses anywhere in my opinion. And the first half of this season is going to be remarkable because of her.

Very cool! We love those two.

You can also watch the interview here

Oh Is The Best

Random quote of the day from the Orlando Sentinel TV critic, Hal Boedeker:

The clips suggest that “Grey’s Anatomy” will give Sandra Oh a dramatic workout as Cristina at 9 tonight on ABC. 

Smart move: Oh is one of the best things about the long-running medical drama. 

Jenna Ushkowitz Dreams Of Sandra Oh

You may have heard of a little TV-show called Glee which is all the hype at the moment. The stars of Glee were asked to pick their dream guest stars on the show and actress Jenna Ushkowitz - who plays the character Tina Cohen-Chang - picked Sandra Oh as her dream guest to play her mom on the show.

Excellent choice!

Source