If you ask Sandra Oh, Pixar鈥檚 spotlight on the emotional tumult of a Chinese-Canadian girl鈥檚 entry into puberty in 鈥淭urning Red鈥� is a turning point 鈥� not just for Hollywood and its growing platform for underrepresented stories, but for her own career.
鈥淚鈥檓 just so thrilled to be part of a Pixar family unit,鈥� a smiling Oh says in a recent video call from Toronto before attending the film鈥檚 Canadian premiere.
Part of her happiness, Oh says, is that 鈥淭urning Red鈥� is a sign of change, and that makes it a 鈥減oint of celebration.鈥�
She plays Ming, the incredibly loving but equally overprotective mother of 13-year-old Mei.
For the Ottawa-born actress, it was imperative that Ming be culturally accurate, minus any whiff of stereotype. She was keen to veer away from the controlling Asian 鈥渢iger mom鈥� persona.
鈥淢ing is a full-fledged character,鈥� says Oh. 鈥淢y experience with my mother is not so much like Ming, who can be seen as overprotective and embarrasses her daughter really intensely. My mother was an extremely demanding person in other ways.
鈥淏ut for me, as I always have tried to my entire career, to bring a full humanity to each character, it鈥檚 the truth, the authenticity and the feeling behind a character that will resonate with the audience no matter what the situation is. That鈥檚 what will always matter most.鈥�
The film鈥檚 Toronto-bred director Domee Shi says that commitment to authenticity is why she believes 鈥渘o one else could have played Ming,鈥� dubbing Oh 鈥渢he queen鈥� of the set.
鈥淲e knew we needed an actress who had a huge range, who could play a character who is sharp and fierce, also funny, warm, loving, a little kooky and crazy,鈥� says Shi.
鈥淏ut also who could ground all of that in a way that really makes the audience empathize with her and that could have only been Sandra. She added so much depth.鈥�
Oh admits to only recently recognizing her own dexterity with such complex roles, not to mention the fact Hollywood had taken note as well. When she was offered a part in the BBC/Bravo series 鈥淜illing Eve,鈥� she says she couldn鈥檛 deduce which character they wanted her for.
That was well after spending nearly a decade playing Dr. Cristina Yang in ABC/CTV鈥檚 鈥淕rey鈥檚 Anatomy,鈥� and earning five Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe. After which, Oh made it known, few job offers came her way.
So when it came to 鈥淜illing Eve,鈥� Oh automatically assumed she was not being considered for the headstrong lead 鈥� a role that would bring her a second Golden Globe Award 鈥� citing an internal bias she鈥檚 had to work hard to undo.
鈥淚t鈥檚 complex,鈥� Oh explains. 鈥淭hat moment of internalized racism, I鈥檓 not holding that all the time. What I think is important about the past two years, as a lot of people have come to the forefront with the demand for racial justice and racial reckoning, is you have to take a look at what鈥檚 going on inside yourself.鈥�
Even after considerable onscreen success, Oh says those issues were not easy to confront.
鈥淔or me, it was how unconscious that thinking was, even though I spent most of my career trying to unhook myself from it. That鈥檚 how deep it goes.鈥�
As the final season of 鈥淜illing Eve鈥� comes to a close in April, Oh continues to take the lead: in 2021鈥檚 Netflix series 鈥淭he Chair,鈥� she stars as the first woman of colour to head a university English department, and in the upcoming Sam Raimi-produced horror movie 鈥淯mma,鈥� she plays a Korean-American mother afraid her own mother has begun to haunt her.
鈥淚鈥檝e always felt that I was a lead, (but) we need to hold all these things at the same time 鈥� I can鈥檛 see myself because of internalized racism, patriarchy and all the things that we are all under the spell of,鈥� she says.
鈥淲hat I鈥檓 happy about is that I鈥檓 now able to really experience a career鈥檚 worth of work being put out into the world. I鈥檝e only started to really be gratified about that.鈥�
It helps, too, that Oh has been instrumental in shaping her characters鈥� stories and lending them her own Korean background, as an executive producer on 鈥淜illing Eve,鈥� 鈥淭he Chair鈥� and 鈥淯mma.鈥�
Even with the latter, a psychological thriller, Oh was thrilled to see her own heritage and all its cultural complexities granted a big-budget platform.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pity, because here鈥檚 a Pixar film where I play a hypervigilant, loving mom doing her best, and then 鈥楿mma鈥� is a horror movie about a mother who maybe is not trying her best,鈥� says Oh with a laugh.
But, she adds, 鈥淭hey have a similarity. You鈥檙e talking about intergenerational trauma, the trauma of immigration; those were the things that we were trying to explore and that鈥檚 rare.鈥�
It all hearkens back to the 2018 Emmy Awards when Oh was the first Asian woman to be nominated for lead actress. Although she didn鈥檛 win, she made a statement that evening that would become splashed across T-shirts: 鈥淚t鈥檚 an honour just to be Asian.鈥�
Although the Toronto-set 鈥淭urning Red鈥� manages to knit together multiple cultural touchpoints for Oh, she rejects the notion she鈥檚 come full circle.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 use the metaphor of circle because it closes,鈥� she says, forming a wave with her hands.
鈥淚 feel like my career is more of a wavy line. And hopefully it鈥檒l just continue moving upwards and outwards.鈥�
鈥擲adaf Ahsan, The Canadian Press
