Sandra Oh On Finding Good Film Roles And Working On Grey's Anatomy

Last fall Sandra Oh did some interviews to promote Rabbit Hole and now we have one that was published on a Polish website in April earlier this year.

In this interview she talks about her role in Rabbit Hole, the difficulty of finding good roles in films and working on Grey's Anatomy after seven years.

As the interview was published in Polish, we've used Google Translate for the translation and tried to  clean it up a bit. The translation is rough, but you'll get the gist.

Sandra Oh, the star of TV series Grey's Anatomy, on the big screen is connected mainly with independent cinema, has created a very interesting supporting character in the film Rabbit Hole, alongside Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. In an interview just for wp.pl actress talks about her choice of professional engineering work and indignant to undervalue the television production.

Magdalena Lankosz: In the play Rabbit Hole, which served as the basis for the screenplay Rabbit Hole is not as Gabby, that you play. Do you know how she found the film and how she was the lady?

Sandra Oh: Scenario I got mail and I opened it on my BlackBerry just to see how it began. In the middle of the text I found myself still sitting bent over the small screen on my cell and I could not tear myself away. It does not happen often. If you watch a lot of movies, you know well how difficult it is to find a good role these days, especially a good supporting role. I learned that, although the filmmakers involved in the project are in New York, the audition for the film was to be on the West Coast where I live and I knew I had to try everything to get "Rabbit Hole." I made myself with my trial kilak drama teacher, and then forced an actor friend [Kevin McKidd] to go with me to Santa Monica, at 5 PM on Friday.

No! That kind of request qualifies as a crime in Los Angeles!

SO: You live here so you understand that I was desperate, but for all readers who don't know Los Angeles, I must explain that this is one of the worst things that one can ask a man. Traffic on the highway is so busy that it qualifies for the Guinness Book of Records. But I meant it to come off best, and at auditions you often read the dialogue with a completely random person. I did not want a 20-year-old secretary reading the role of 40-year old man. I wanted to present a true actor.

How do you Nicole Kidman, who played a major role in the film?

SO: And produced this film. Extremely impressed with my people, who despite the great fame and big money deals for bending over young, not lucrative projects like this, because I believe that cinema should continue to talk about important things.

How did you prepare for the role of Gabby - a person whose child had died a decade ago, and she still goes to therapy for people in similar situations, still life only the start.

SO: I'm not an actress who would go to such therapies and try to learn the role of the people who actually met such a tragedy. It is for me too aggressive intervention in a very personal experience of others. If the actor does not play a role, where does affection, which allows him to play. What matters is that he feels something. The film's director has gone through a similar tragedy - he lost a brother and it probably helped him more fully immersed in the story told in "Rabbit Hole". I can recall the loss of work or a friend or a beloved dog. As long as I do it convincingly nobody cares what I thought playing.

You specialized in great supporting roles, but not in the limelight. Do you have an appetite for more, can be an accomplished professional actor with a career in the background?

It depends on what kind of person you are. There are those who would give their life to have a starring role, even if they have to deliver the world's dumbest dialogue. I'd rather have a smaller role, with dialogue which I'm proud of, as in the case of the Sideways or Rabbit Hole.

Do you have time to search for these delectable actor roles, working non-stop in Grey's Anatomy?

I still have two years left in my contract and I enjoy the time I spend in the series. Over the past year and a half working on it for me was more rewarding than ever stirred the seven years since I am working on Grey's Anatomy. I believe that the work is as an actor on a  TV series is undervalued.

Let's be honest: not everyone can play on television. Almost every actor will play three days here, a month there, not everyone knows how to work the character for years. For this you need talent and a great deck of spiritual and physical resilience. Television writers scenarios have years to fondle a scenario - they are the brightest people in the film business who can respond within a few hours walking continuously on a minefield in the form of all the bosses and TV producers.

Anyway, I do not think I'm losing so much not being in a movie. Things that interest me: emotionally intense roles, the story of loss, alienation, sadness are becoming increasingly rare in contemporary cinema.

It's surprising what you say. Most of the actors admit that they treat TV more as a state of transition in their careers.

I also had such moments. At a certain stage in the production of Grey's Anatomy the pressure was so great, overwork so it gave me a hard time that I became ill very hard and my had only thought was: "I've got to stop." The second and third season to remember it as hell. I think a lot of people involved in the series felt similarly. What saved us was the writers' strike - we all rested and returned to work as  completely different people.

Interview by Magdalena Lankosz-Michalsk

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If there are any Polish-speaking peeps out who'd like to make a correction to the translation, we'd love to hear from you. You can write in the comments or send us an e-mail (see contact details.)

Rabbit Hole: DVD Release

Rabbit Hole was released on DVD/Blu-Ray today, so those of you who haven't had a chance to see it earlier can finally check it out. Sandra Oh has a small, but interesting part in the movie.

This is the extraordinary story of Becca and Howie. Eight months ago, they had a picture-perfect life with their young son. Now, they are posing as normal in the wake of an enormous loss; blindly looking for footing in a sea of new emotions. This is the remarkably moving journey of a couple finding their way back to love.

Special features:

• Audio Commentary with the Director, Writer, and Director of Photography

• Deleted Scenes

• Theatrical Trailer

Have You Seen "Rabbit Hole"?

Sandra Oh and Aaron Eckhart in Rabbit Hole.

Rabbit Hole opened nation wide in the US this weekend and we want to know if any of you have had a chance to see it yet? What did you think?

Post your thoughts in the comments below.

Cheers!

It's All About The Directors

Hey peeps!

The holidays are over, so that means more frequent updates from now on.

Here is a new interview with Sandra Oh where she talks about working with Rabbit Hole director John Cameron Mitchell and the various directors on Grey's Anatomy:

For She Is A Jolly Good Fellow...

Another new interview with Sandra Oh where she talks about Rabbit Hole:

Sandra Oh, persona wise, couldn’t be more different from her character in Rabbit Hole. In Rabbit Hole, Oh plays a nearly all internal and damaged character. She’s a minor character, but an important one. Similar to the main couple, her character has lost a child. Rabbit Hole may have a bleak story on a paper, but tonally, it’s quite funny at times and also hopeful. It is a a serious drama, the type that Oscar fat cats love to eat up, but the film is also hilarious at times, even with its mourning characters. This is a total 180-turn from John Cameron Mitchell’s previous films, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus.


Oh herself is incredibly jolly. Right when she got on the phone it was obvious she wasn’t a self-serious or moody type, but instead someone okay with lightening the mood. First, she joked about the site’s name. Second, she told me I was living in fear. It shouldn’t have been a total surprise, considering she did some very solid work on the excellent Arli$$. Although there was a lot of joking around, mostly on Oh’s part, she still managed to provide thoughtful insight into the film and John Cameron Mitchell’s direction.

One of the main things about Gaby is that she’s a very internal character. When reading the script, how does she read on page?

What’s interesting is that, I thought she was totally there on page. Yes, you’re right, she doesn’t have a lot to say and isn’t in a lot of scenes. For me, I felt I knew her so well. I felt so intensely drawn to. Really, it’s just such a brilliant screenplay. I felt her even in her punctuation, and that shows how specific and great the script is. You can tell who characters are through punctuation. If you went to Film School, you would now that. Just joking! There was just a rich and clear sign post there in the script to fill in everything else.

Is it also refreshing playing a character whose emotions aren’t spelled completely out?

Oh yeah, for sure. Although my character doesn’t really do this on Grey’s Anatomy, I’m not saying anything new that on television and on the show people do display their emotions. My character, Cristina, does and doesn’t do that. With this character, it’s very refreshing and wonderful to play different types, you know I mean? A lot of Gaby’s life happens off-screen and a lot of her storytelling happens as she’s looking at people.


Were you surprised Gaby wasn’t played in a seductive manner towards Howie?

[Pause] Are you saying you don’t find me seductive?

Uh, what I mean is [Laughs]…

I’m joking! Jesus, I’m joking. Let me tell you, that’s how I was playing her. I was playing her as a femme fatale… I’m joking! I mean, that would really be such a cliche. That’s just not what the film is. If you were doing a film about a comic-book, you’re dealing with archetypes there. With something like this, that’s just not the film. And also, that’s not what happens. The reason why Howie and Gaby lean in towards each other is because of a common experience. It’s not like, “Wow, that person is hot,” and the connection is much deeper than that. What I think what happens is when audiences are able to see themselves in a slightly clearer or less cliche representative way, it goes deeper.

The tone of the film is very subdued, it avoids melodrama. How detailed was John Cameron Mitchell when it came to finding that tone, or was that all in the script?

That’s a good question. I think, I don’t really know how to answer that question. I can say he let us play it as we wanted to and would just subtly adjust. For me, I’m sure differently for Aaron [Eckhart] and Nicole [Kidman], there was no real discussion for where it was going to happen tonally. Actually, that’s not true. We would talk about it in certain scenes, but I’m just trying to think of a specific scene. I think I may have to come back to that question.

Visually, he kind of reminded me of Alexander Payne. There’s just a subtle beauty and non-flashy feel to the film–

I did not come up with that connection, mostly because of the subject matter. I think, in that way, it’s totally about approach and what is at the forefront of the film. Is it the story? Is it the emotion? I think what you’re saying is that, the camerawork really supports what is going on in the film?

Exactly. How specific was he on set?

Being an actor himself, he was very free with us. It’s strange, he gives you a lot of space, but he’s also specific. Not specific to the point where he becomes controlling, though.

With the subject matter, it’s very surprising by how funny the film is at times. Was that all in the script?

I think David [Lindsay-Abaire] did an amazing job at keeping everything… I’m trying to find the right word, because it’s not really hopeful. I guess, keeping things alive. The humor was a surprise knowing what the play was about, but it was just deeply engaging. It’s ultimately about the characters and engaging with them.

[Spoilers Here On Out]

I would say whether or not there’s hope for Gaby is very much ambiguous. Can you talk about what was the approach to that final scene of finding that sense of openness?

What’s interesting is that, this didn’t end up in the final film, but as Howie leaves you see Gaby go back and walk down her porch steps. For me, it was a very rich moment. She understands what Howie does, and it’s not like she’s not hurt by it, but she understands where he is and that some people get together, and some people don’t. At the end, she’s alone. That just didn’t end up being in the film, but John and I talked about that a lot.


Why was that cut?

Probably because you wanna stay with your two main characters. Gaby’s film will come about another time [Laughs].

There’s also a pretty big parallel between Gaby’s marriage and Howie and Becca’s. They both could end up like Gaby and her husband, do you see it that way?

Oh yeah. I mean, you don’t know. That’s what I really like about the ending, it’s monumental to grab your partner’s hand. It means so much, but you know that it’s not the end. You just know it’s this moment. What I love about Gaby’s character as a counterpoint, you don’t know 8-years from now where you’re going to be. Maybe she went through the same thing, who knows? Again, it’s great to have a character that’s gone through that. Also, look at Diane Wiest‘s character. I love the fact she drinks a lot. Who knows what that’s about.

It doesn’t end tying everything up too.

There’s no ending to loss. Just like there’s no ending to life. Nothing stays still. Nothing finishes. I think that was a sense that they were trying to give. And, I mean, what’s happy about that? They still don’t have their child, you know what I mean?

Rabbit Hole is now in theaters.

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Eight Years Of Grief

Same, same but different. Sandra Oh on Rabbit Hole:

Sandra Oh co-stars in the film as a fellow grieving parent who’s revealed to be seeking counseling for over eight years, driving a wedge through her marriage. Her thoughts on loss and coping helped form the backbone of her characterization.

“Loss doesn’t go away, it just is. After the loss of anything, somehow people are supposed to get over it. And I don’t agree with that. As my character is further down the line, she represents where you can go. You set up certain needs - she needs this group. Perhaps this has caused a certain amount of stress with her husband, but that’s what she needs.

What I would like, I think it is scary when someone is grieving after eight years. I think that is scary, but I think you can manage.”

Source