Sandra Oh is reflecting on the life-changing lessons she learned during her time on Grey’s Anatomy, revealing how her decade-long role as Cristina Yang shaped not just her career, but also her personal growth, and that too not the easy way.
Speaking to Dartmouth College’s graduating class during their June 15 commencement ceremony, the Emmy-winning actress opened up about how playing the sharp, driven surgeon came with its own set of challenges—ones that pushed her to grow in unexpected ways.
“When I started Grey’s, I was in my early 30s, so I had an idea of who I was and what the work entailed, but I had no idea what was coming,” Oh said during her heartfelt address.
She called the 10 seasons she spent on the ABC drama “one of the most challenging decades” of her life, despite the fame, financial stability, and privilege the role brought.
She recalled how deeply she cared for her character, explaining, “I demanded a lot from myself and from the writers. If something bothered me in a script, I would fight for what I believed what was right for the character of Cristina because I felt responsible for her.”
That passion, while instrumental in building such a memorable character, didn’t always come easy. “My desire to make the dialogue fit and my belief that I knew what was best for the character also caused grief for the writers and for me.”
Oh even noted there was a staffer on the show whose job was to navigate those tough conversations with her. Things reached a boiling point in season six, when she disagreed with a particular line of dialogue and found herself at odds with the writers.
That disagreement led to a pivotal phone call with Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes.
“I’ll never forget, she said to me, ‘Sandra, we have been here before. You got to trust me. Something will come through if you just say the damn words,’” Oh recalled.
It was a turning point in how she dealt with discomfort and creative friction.
“The discomfort didn’t go away, but my relationship to it began to change,” she shared.
“When I stopped trying to bend things to my will and stayed open to my discomfort, a new thing came through—something that wasn’t just mine or just the writers, but something richer that gave me a deeper understanding of myself as the character, as an actor and as a collaborator.”
To the graduates, Oh passed along a powerful message about facing life’s uncertainties head-on.
“Nothing has taught me more than being with discomfort,” she said.
“It can be our greatest learning opportunity, and it is also inevitable. If you can train yourself not to turn away but to learn how to be with your discomfort and trust that it might be telling you something you don’t yet know, it can help you develop an inner strength that will enable you to face the challenges life presents you without losing your values or your sense of self along the way.”
Closing her speech on a warm and familiar note, she referenced one of Cristina Yang’s most beloved lines.
“When the world gets hard, or when it’s good—especially when it’s good like today—by yourself, with people you love, with strangers, always take the time to dance it out,” she said.
