Sandra Oh

The daughter of Korean immigrants, Sandra Miju Oh began her career as a ballet dancer, eventually going on to study drama at the National Theatre School in Montreal. In 2003, she married writer-director Alexander Payne and their first film together was the Oscar-winning Sideways (2004).

The Canadian born actress is best known for her role as truth-telling Cristina Yang on the ABC medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy. Not only did she co-host the 2019 Golden Globe Awards with Andy Samberg, she also won the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Drama Series category for her standout role in 2018’s female-driven thriller series Killing Eve as the title character. Both achievements were groundbreaking.

Many have spoken about the positive effects of having Sandra showcase her natural hair in all of its magnificently voluminous and unruly glory as the character Eve Polastri. Knowing traditional beauty ideals define Asian hair as jet black, silky smooth and straight, this has not only helped women accept their curls, it has also become the catalyst for why many have fallen in love with their own.

Sandra’s hair became a reoccurring motif throughout Killing Eve for its distinctiveness. In fact, when her character released her cascade of curls toward the end of the first episode, Villanelle took note: ‘Wear it down’. Later on, the texture of Eve’s hair is revisited when a session with a therapist reveals Villanelle’s obsession with a head of curls. At one point Villanelle even says about Eve, “was it an Asian woman with amazing hair?”

In 2019, Sandra is heading to the NBC institution Saturday Night Live for her first solo hosting gig.