Sandra Oh’s Emmy nomination makes history
SANDRA Oh, best known for her role in Grey’s Anatomy, has made history with her nomination for an Emmy award.
Emmy Awards
Don't miss out on the headlines from Emmy Awards. Followed categories will be added to My News.
CANADIAN actress Sandra Oh, best known for her role as Cristina Yang in Grey’s Anatomy, has made Emmys history by becoming the first nominee of Asian descent in the leading actress in a drama series.
Oh was nominated for her role in the BBC America series Killing Eve as a spy hunting a female assassin.
EMMYS 2018: Full list of nominations
The 46-year-old Canadian-born actress has five previous drama supporting actress nominations from 2005-2009 for Grey’s Anatomy.
A study of the 2015-16 season released last year concluded that characters of Asian or Pacific Islander descent remain under-represented on television, even on shows set in major cities — which is why Oh’s nomination is so momentous.
MORE: The Aussie getting major Emmy buzz
Speaking abut her historic nomination to The Hollywood Reporter, Oh said she is struggling to find the words to describe how important it is.
“I’m struggling to find the right words for it. I feel quite serious about it. What’s a blend of the words ‘seriousness’ and ‘joyous’? I’m absolutely thrilled,” she said.
“I feel my community at all times; I am my community at all times. I have joy not only for the show and myself and family, but also for my community. Hopefully my community can feel like they have representation as well.”
But while she is celebrating the historic achievement, Oh said she hopes the momentum doesn’t slow.
“It cannot rest. I don’t want to rest on the fact that a handful of us have had the opportunity and that it stops there. I want the movement to keep on going. I want the ripple to turn into a wave,” she said, also referencing Riz Ahmed’s leading actor in a drama series win for HBO’s The Night Of, in which he became the first man of Asian descent to win an acting Emmy.
On top of her nomination being a huge win for underrespresented cultures on television, Oh said the show she has been nominated for is a win for female roles on television.
“It is focusing on female psychology and the female psyche and is doing that unabashedly in a thriller. I don’t think that we’ve seen that before,” she said.
In addition to Oh’s very well-deserved nomination, globetrotting food chronicler Anthony Bourdain has received several posthumous Emmy nominations.
Bourdain’s CNN series, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown got six nods, including two personally for Bourdain as executive producer, host and writer.
A seventh nod went to his Explore Parts Unknown on cnn.com.
Bourdain tragically took his life in early June in eastern France, where he was working on an episode of his show. He was 61.
If you are experiencing mental health issues or suicidal feelings contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or BeyondBlue on 1300 224 636. If it is an emergency please call 000.
Originally published as Sandra Oh’s Emmy nomination makes history