‘I did my job’: Sandra Oh’s ideas on leaving Grey’s Anatomy
Sandra Oh has shared further insight into her crushing exit from Grey’s Anatomy more than 10 years ago.
Oh, 55, starred as the brilliant, cut-throat Dr. Cristina Yang on Shonda Rhimes’s long-running medical drama, from 2005 to 2014.
Her departure at the end of season 10 devastated fans, who continue to plead for her return. The Canadian actor has repeatedly shut down those requests, delivering a final answer last year. “I think to really be true to the people who enjoy your work, you have to be true to yourself,” Oh told The Interview in June 2025. “So at this point, I don’t think so.”
Speaking to Jesse Tyler Ferguson on a new episode of his Dinner’s On Me podcast, the Emmy-nominated Killing Eve star once again addressed her decision to leave the hit show.
“When it came to the end of season eight, or nine, [creator Shonda Rhimes] took me aside because we were all renegotiating and she goes, ‘What do you want to do?’” Oh recalled. “I said, ‘Let me think about it.’ And I really, really thought about it.”
She explained that she felt “very much like I did my job. I really did my job.”
“I feel like I created a full character. I feel I grew the character [in] 10 years time, where it’s a believable growth,” Oh added. “People grow in 10 years, and I think she really did grow.”
Earlier on the podcast, Oh revealed that she had originally auditioned for Chandra Wilson’s tough yet compassionate surgical resident, Dr. Miranda Bailey.
However, once she learned about the character of Cristina, she immediately knew that was the part she wanted.
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“I was like, ‘That’s it. That’s the antagonist,’” Oh noted. “Clearly Meredith [Ellen Pompeo] is the protagonist. That’s the antagonist, at least in the pilot. And I’m like, ‘I wanna do that.’”
The Princess Diaries actor admitted that the audition process for Cristina was not exactly a smooth ride, as her manager insisted she walk out of the audition.
“Marsha said, ‘Leave. Leave. We can’t close your deal,’” Oh remembered. “And I was just like, ‘Oh, okay. I guess I’m supposed to leave. Bye-bye.’ And then so I left, and I did not audition for the network.”
But it was thanks to an earlier “work session” that helped get rid of her “jitters” and prove to Rhimes and the other producers that she was the right choice for Cristina.
“It’s because I had that work session,” Oh said. “So they could see what I could do. And that’s all that mattered was that Shonda, Betsy [Beers] and Peter [Horton] could see what I was and see what I could do.”
Throughout her time on the series, which follows a group of doctors and surgical interns at a fictional Seattle-based hospital, Cristina evolved from a caustic, ruthless intern to a world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon.
Her final appearance on the show saw her leave for Switzerland to head up the cutting-edge hospital founded by her former fiancé, Preston Burk (Isaiah Washington).
Following the Grey’s Anatomy season 22 finale earlier this year, the show was renewed for a 23rd season.
