While the cast of Grey’s Anatomy is filled with talent, there’s one actor who impressed everyone in every single scene and who fans still wish was on the ABC drama. I’m not the only one who thought she would win an Emmy award for her emotional portrayal of a doctor torn between her career dreams and her personal life. Well, she did win an Emmy… but for something else!
Sandra Oh won a Creative Arts Emmy on September 8th, 2024 for being a producer on the Hulu movie Quiz Lady. As Deadline reported, she’s been nominated for 14 previous Emmys, which speaks to her incredible talent… and makes me angry that she hasn’t won before.
Between 2005 and 2009, Oh was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Grey’s Anatomy, and received three Emmy noms for Outstanding Actress for the incredible thriller Killing Eve. Of course, the hardest part of awards shows is how many talented people won’t go home with a shiny prize to put on their mantel… or maybe in a separate room since that might be more likely. Sure, Toni Collette is always impressive and it’s awesome that she won the 2009 Emmy for The United States of Tara. And Zendaya’s 2020 Euphoria Emmy was also well-deserved. But it’s hard not to find it odd that Oh didn’t win any of these.
While of course Oh should win all the Emmys all the time, I can’t help but be surprised that it took Quiz Lady for this to happen! After watching Oh portray her strong and brilliant Grey’s and Killing Eve characters Cristina Yang and Eve Polastri, it’s hard not to be totally shocked that her work wasn’t recognized before.
If you’ve seen Quiz Lady, you know it’s a sweet story about sisters Jenny (Oh) and Anne Yum (Awkwafina) who go on a game show so they can make money since their gambling mom has gotten into financial trouble. There’s no question Oh deserved her Creative Arts Emmy. But when I think of Oh, I think of her awe-inspiring performance as Cristina Yang, whether she is dealing with the complex feelings of her season 8 abortion or picking up the pieces after her painful yet necessary divorce from Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd).
As a fan since day one, I love Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), but Cristina’s character arc is just as compelling, if not even more. If Oh can’t win an Emmy for playing a character who deals with the often (and frustratingly) taboo topic of abortion in such a nuanced and complex way, well, it’s enough to make me want to stop watching TV forever (okay, I won’t go that far).
It’s also a shame that Oh didn’t win any of her three Emmy noms for Killing Eve. She was the first Asian woman to receive an Emmy nom for Lead Actress, and she told Entertainment Weekly that she wants to tell kids who are watching her, “‘You can do this, you can be a part of culture in this way.'”
So, until Oh gets cast in another great TV drama and hopefully wins an Emmy for what is sure to be another amazing performance, I’ll be over here wishing she would return to Grey’s Anatomy for just one scene… especially considering how juicy season 21 is shaping up to be.