Sandra Oh has spent years shutting down questions about returning to Grey’s Anatomy.
Now, the actress is revealing why she walked away–and why she’s no longer ruling out a comeback completely.
Looking back on her exit during Dinner’s On Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Oh recalled the conversation that changed everything when creator Shonda Rhimes asked about her future.
“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?’” she said. “I said, ‘Let me think about it.’ And I really, really thought about it.”
After a decade as Cristina Yang, Oh felt her story had reached its natural conclusion.
“I felt very much like I did my job. I really did my job. I feel like I created a full character.” She added, “The privilege was to actually plan an exit… That was a real, real gift.”
But fans hoping for a surprise return finally have a reason to stay optimistic. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, oh admitted her long-standing rejection of a comeback has softened.
“For the longest time, it has always been a hard no. And it’s just…. I don’t know. I just don’t know,” she confessed.
While she still is not promising a return, she said she understands why fans can’t let Cristina go.
“I don’t feel the need to revisit, but I also profoundly understand the audience’s love for this character.”
And she’s perfectly happy the show continues to keep Cristina alive through off-screen updates: “The character should still be there to service the story— and so, yay!”
