Grey’s Anatomy star Sandra Oh had an honest conversation about how stardom affected her physical health for Variety’s Actors on Actors video series. Sandra debuted her role as Dr. Christina Yang on the medical drama in 2005, and discussed the toll it took on her with Squid Game star Jung Ho-yeon.
“My life changed very much. And it’s tricky to imagine, because this is almost 20 years ago, so the context is very different, the stress is the same — or the confusion is the same. And I think that’s why my question to you is, how are you taking care of yourself? Because I feel like, honestly, I got sick. I think my whole body was very, very sick. Even though you keep on working, right?” the Killing Eve actress disclosed when the two discussed how to remain healthy and balanced.
“It’s just like, “Oh, I can’t sleep. Oh, my back hurts. I don’t know what’s wrong with my skin.” I learned that I had to take care of my health first. But that’s not only your body, right? That is your soul. That is definitely your mind. You know what I mean? Because you can’t ultimately depend on anyone else. You have to somehow find it within yourself,” she insightfully added.
However, it appears that Sandra has managed to figure out how to prioritize self care in her life. “And now, as I’m deeper into my career, the more time I realize that I have to spend with my creative self: That could be sleeping, that could be walking in the woods, that could be meditating, that could be actually going to class, that could be all those things. Because I realize that part sustains all the — almost the immediacy, the ability to be present,” she told Jung in a reflective statement.
Sandra also told Sunday TODAY With Willie Guest about how loosing her privacy affected her mental health as well. “To be perfectly honest, it was traumatic,” she explained in a moment of vulnerability in August 2021. Despite this, it seems as if Sandra has developed some healthy coping strategies. “When one loses one’s anonymity, you have to build skills to still try and be real” she powerfully concluded.