Amanda Peet Enlisted Sarah Paulson’s Help and ‘Stalked’ Sandra Oh to Get the ‘Grey’s’ Alum on ‘The Chair’

Credit: Shutterstock (3)

Amanda Peet Enlisted Sarah Paulson’s Help and ‘Stalked’ Sandra Oh to Get the ‘Grey’s’ Alum on ‘The Chair’

A joint effort! Sandra Oh is a hot commodity in Hollywood — so much so that Amanda Peet asked the actresses’ mutual friend Sarah Paulson to help land the Grey’s Anatomy alum for The Chair. The 49-year-old Dirty John alum is the creator, writer, executive producer and showrunner of the upcoming Netflix limited series, which follows the 50-year-old Killing Eve star’s character, Ji-Yoon Kim, the first female chair of the English department at a fictional university. Peet wrote Ji-Yoon with Oh in mind for the role, and she got creative when it came time to cast the lead, asking Paulson, 46, to pass the pilot script along for the Canada native to read. “I stalked her,” the A Lot Like Love star told emmy magazine in Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek of the August 2021 cover story. The American Crime alum, who is also an executive producer on the project, responded to the material instantly. “I have felt that a few times in my career — and I think my sense of that is getting honed — where I’ll get a piece of material and I will immediately understand the writer’s voice,” she explained. “And I absolutely found that with Amanda’s. Particularly the humor and the world that she was trying to build. And that she gave a lot of space for Ji-Yoon and me to create a really fully fleshed character.” [jwplayer itdON7rA-l3ahXupL] Oh is known for her dramatic roles, so one reason why she gravitated toward The Chair is because of its levity. However, she was in for a surprise. “I don’t know at what point I turned to Amanda, like, ‘You fooled me. This is a drama, you know,’” she recalled. “And she was like, ‘Yeah. I know. And it’s a comedy.’” The collaborators filmed the series during the coronavirus pandemic, making for a peculiar environment on the set. “I’m not kidding when I tell you I legit risked my life to make this piece of art,” Jay Duplass, who plays Oh’s love interest, said. “There’s no other way to say it, because I was in rooms, unmasked, with 100 unmasked 18- or 19-year-old extras who had been rapid-tested the morning of, and we all know about the efficacy of rapid testing. So I know I was in rooms with active COVID at times, and it was scary as s--t, and you know what? It was worth it because of Sandra Oh and Amanda Peet and the whole cast.” Scroll through to learn more about Oh’s upcoming role on The Chair.

Credit: Shutterstock (3)

Amanda Peet Enlisted Sarah Paulson’s Help and ‘Stalked’ Sandra Oh to Get the ‘Grey’s’ Alum on ‘The Chair’

A joint effort! Sandra Oh is a hot commodity in Hollywood — so much so that Amanda Peet asked the actresses’ mutual friend Sarah Paulson to help land the Grey’s Anatomy alum for The Chair. The 49-year-old Dirty John alum is the creator, writer, executive producer and showrunner of the upcoming Netflix limited series, which follows the 50-year-old Killing Eve star’s character, Ji-Yoon Kim, the first female chair of the English department at a fictional university. Peet wrote Ji-Yoon with Oh in mind for the role, and she got creative when it came time to cast the lead, asking Paulson, 46, to pass the pilot script along for the Canada native to read. “I stalked her,” the A Lot Like Love star told emmy magazine in Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek of the August 2021 cover story. The American Crime alum, who is also an executive producer on the project, responded to the material instantly. “I have felt that a few times in my career — and I think my sense of that is getting honed — where I’ll get a piece of material and I will immediately understand the writer’s voice,” she explained. “And I absolutely found that with Amanda’s. Particularly the humor and the world that she was trying to build. And that she gave a lot of space for Ji-Yoon and me to create a really fully fleshed character.” [jwplayer itdON7rA-l3ahXupL] Oh is known for her dramatic roles, so one reason why she gravitated toward The Chair is because of its levity. However, she was in for a surprise. “I don’t know at what point I turned to Amanda, like, ‘You fooled me. This is a drama, you know,’” she recalled. “And she was like, ‘Yeah. I know. And it’s a comedy.’” The collaborators filmed the series during the coronavirus pandemic, making for a peculiar environment on the set. “I’m not kidding when I tell you I legit risked my life to make this piece of art,” Jay Duplass, who plays Oh’s love interest, said. “There’s no other way to say it, because I was in rooms, unmasked, with 100 unmasked 18- or 19-year-old extras who had been rapid-tested the morning of, and we all know about the efficacy of rapid testing. So I know I was in rooms with active COVID at times, and it was scary as s--t, and you know what? It was worth it because of Sandra Oh and Amanda Peet and the whole cast.” Scroll through to learn more about Oh’s upcoming role on The Chair.

Credit: Zoe McConnell/Joon Creative

Force of Nature

Holland Taylor told emmy that she was nervous about starring alongside Oh. “I’ve known her for years, but I never worked with her,” the actress, 78, explained. “I mean, this is Sandra Oh, rather than the girl that I’m sitting next to at some awards show. Suddenly I felt oddly intimidated, which I needn’t have been, because she’s the easiest person in the world. She has a very light tough as a colleague.”  

Of the Legally Blonde star’s initial trepidation, the Golden Globe winner said, “That’s crazy. I refuse that.” 

Credit: Zoe McConnell/Joon Creative

Strange Circumstances

Peet applauded Oh and Duplass, 48, for creating a welcoming set in the midst of the pandemic. “It was hard because we couldn’t do the usual things like have a read-through, or meet up, have drinks — the things you really do need to create chemistry,” the Emmy nominee noted. “But it pushed everyone to lean forward and lean into, ‘I really need to connect with you right now.’”  

Credit: Zoe McConnell/Joon Creative

Producing Whiz

Oh made her mark as an executive producer, weighing in on several decisions, including the choice to incorporate a language barrier between some of the characters. “You just get that much more storytelling, because you get the reality of the dynamic within the family,” she shared. 

Credit: Zoe McConnell/Joon Creative

Complex Women

The Raya and the Last Dragon star enjoyed the dynamic between her character and the only other woman of color in her department, portrayed by Nana Mensah. “In some ways, when you have perspectives that are not white, they can be seen as a monolith,” she said. “The African-American experience is not the same as the Asian-American experience, and not the same as the Latinx experience, so when you finally see two characters of color coming at a subject from their different perspectives, it’s very thrilling, and very satisfying. This is the stuff that I’m interested in playing.”

Credit: Zoe McConnell/Joon Creative

Work Partners

“She’s profoundly poetic and she’s so frighteningly bright,” Oh raved of Peet. “It’s been a real joy to work with her. And it’s not all rainbows and cotton candy — it’s finding a good creative partner. You have to have the resilience for a little rough and tumble, for chaos. You have to be able to manage that stuff, but I very much adored working with her. I wish this for all actors, when it’s lovely like this — when someone presents you with a piece of material, it’s beautiful, you understand the voice, you go, ‘Let’s make it,’ and you make it — even through COVID!” 

The August 2021 issue of emmy magazine will be on stands Tuesday, August 17.  

The Chair premieres on Netflix Friday, August 20.