If you watched any of the early episodes of Grey's Anatomy, you know that Cristina Yang, played by Sandra Oh, was arguably the best character. For 10 seasons, the Canadian actress gave it her all every episode, convincing all of us that if need be, she could perform open-heart surgery with a crazed gunman in the room (yes, that actually happened on the show.)
Oh's character was something we didn't get to see too often on television. She played a strong, career-driven woman who knew exactly what she wanted in life. When her husband tried to convince her to have kids, despite him knowing she very explicitly didn't want them, she called it off. Yang was not about to compromise her wants for that of someone else.
Yang was a fan favorite, and a favorite of critics, too. In 2006, Oh won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. It seemed like she would be with the show until the end, but in 2014, it was time for her to move on.
When Oh left Grey's, she noted that there weren't any regrets during her time on the long-running show.
"There wasn't so much regret as in 'done differently,'" she said. "But I would wish for certain things. I wish I was able to get more sleep (laughs). I remember talking to our script supervisor about the tough years "” basically two to six "” where a lot of us don't remember what happened, honestly, because we were so exhausted. I cannot express to you the profundity of this exhaustion, but what I feel now, being able to zoom out and have a bit more space, was in the state of exhaustion, I feel like I was more reactive than I wish I would have been."
Since she left, Oh has gone on to great things. The actress just recently hosted Saturday Night Live, and won another Golden Globe, this time for her role on Killing Eve. Despite her success outside of the medical drama, people can't stop wondering if she'll ever return to Grey's Anatomy. In an interview with Extra, Oh talked about a potential return.
"You know, I gotta tell you, you guys keep on asking me that question," she laughed. "No. Creatively, you have moved on and while I know, and I deeply appreciate, because I can feel it from the fans, how much they love Cristina and how the show keeps Cristina alive, for me, [Killing Eve] is my home now... this is where I am... I am Eve and that's where I plan to stay as long as the show will have me, and that's really where I want to be."
Despite her hard no about returning, Oh wasn't so adamant about staying away in the past. When she originally left the show, she mentioned speaking with Grey's creator Shonda Rimes about Yang returning for the series finale, whenever that may be.
"We talked about that when I told her I was going to leave but we haven't talked about it again," Oh mentioned. "There are certain things that Shonda and I talk about once and then we leave it because we want things to happen without pressure. I told her, 'If you guys want to finish it out however you want to finish it out, I'd be more than happy to come back. And if it doesn't fit in that way, I totally understand. I just want you to know that I'm available.' Who knows! I might be doing something fabulous and it might not work out but I did say, 'Yes, of course I would.'"
While I'm sad that we won't be getting a Cristina Yang scene any time soon, I'm so thrilled for Oh that she's loving where she's at and succeeding with everything she does.
