Sandra Oh made a rare comment about her decision to exit Grey’s Anatomy amid salary renegotiations.
“At the end of season 8, [creator Shonda Rhimes] took me aside because we were all renegotiating and she goes, ‘What do you want to do?'” Oh, 55, said on the Tuesday, July 28, episode of the “Dinner’s on Me” podcast. “I said, ‘Let me think about it.'”
Oh, who played Cristina Yang since season 1, took the time to consider her future.
“The creative being will dictate and you have to follow it,” she noted. “You’ve gotta ask, ‘What do you want to do? What should I do?”
The actress ultimately returned for one more season, adding, “I felt very much like I did my job. I feel like I created a whole character. I grew the character in 10 years time — where it’s a believable growth. People do grow in 10 years and I think she really did grow.”
Oh concluded: “The privilege was to actually plan an exit and for all the writers to be able to support that. It’s extremely rare to have that. So that was a real, real gift.”
Before her exit, Oh starred on Grey’s Anatomy from its debut in 2005 until 2014. The actress received many nominations for her portrayal of Cristina and even won a Golden Globe for the role in 2005.
Oh has previously made it clear she has no plans to reprise the role.
“No,” she said about a possible return during The LA Times’ “Asian Enough” podcast in 2021. “I love it, though, and this is also why I really appreciate the show … that I still get asked this.”
Oh continued: “It’s very rare, I would say, to be able to see in such a way the impact of a character. In some ways, you do your work as a bubble and you let it go. I left that show, my God, seven years ago, almost. So in my mind, it’s gone. But for a lot of people, it’s still very much alive. And while I understand and I love it, I have moved on.”
Grey’s Anatomy has weathered a multitude of cast exits over the years including lead Ellen Pompeo. After hinting at a departure, Pompeo, 56, confirmed in September 2022 that she would have a reduced role for season 19.
Pompeo starred in eight episodes that season before exiting the show as a series regular in 2023.
Grey’s Anatomy recently reduced the minimum guarantees for its veteran cast members to 14 out of the show’s 18 episodes per season. Some fan favorites didn’t appear in as many as four episodes each while Caterina Scorsone’s absence was doubled after her character, Amelia Shepherd, chose to take a sabbatical.
Kim Raver and Kevin McKidd later exited the show, but it remains unclear whether there will be more characters who won’t return in season 23.
Despite the shakeups, ABC is still committed to the franchise, with the network ordering a spinoff to Grey’s Anatomy, which will be set in rural West Texas. The upcoming series will be cocreated, written and executive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Meg Marinis. Pompeo is also executive producing the new offshoot, which will premiere midseason 2027.
