Sandra Oh may have played a doctor on Grey’s Anatomy but off-screen, the job was creating some serious health issues for the actress.
During a recent Variety “Actors on Actors” conversation, presented by Apple TV+, Oh reflected on the physical toll of being thrust into the spotlight amid the success of the ABC medical drama.
“Honestly, I got sick,” she shared with Squid Game actress Jung Ho-yeon. “I think my whole body was very, very sick. Even though you keep on working, but it’s just like, ‘Oh, I can’t sleep. Oh, my back hurts, I don’t know what’s wrong with my skin.”
While she didn’t have to deal with social media pressures the way today’s stars like Ho-yeon do, Sandra said her “life changed very much” when Grey’s Anatomy premiered in 2005.
“It’s tricky to imagine, because this is almost 20 years ago,” she continued. “So the context is very different, but the stress is the same, or the confusion is the same, When people are in extremely amazing, privileged, heavy responsibility positions like this—your personal health is, I think I realized, came first.”