Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh has opened up on why she thinks the UK is behind on diversity.
The actress, who plays Eve Polastri in the Jodie Comer thriller series, opened up to Little Fires Everywhere star Kerry Washington as the pair chatted for a segment of Variety magazine’s Actors on Actors series.
“I’m so used to being the only Asian person, it’s a very familiar place for me,” she explained to the Scandal star.
“The UK, I’m not afraid to say, is behind,” continued the former Grey’s Anatomy actress. “I am not only the only Asian person on set – sometimes it changes, [it’s] very exciting when someone comes on set – but the development of people behind the camera is very slow in the UK.”
Sandra Oh and Kerry Washington talk #KillingEve, #LittleFiresEverywhere and Shondaland https://t.co/5KthMtMWgo
— Variety (@Variety) June 26, 2020
“I don’t know about the rest of Europe,” she went on. “Sometimes it would be me and 75 white people and I have not come from that in my film career which has been much more independent and mostly working with women and women of colour.
“And my relationship with television – and in the United States – hasn’t necessarily been all white… Being the sole Asian person is a very familiar place for me.”
Sandra has previously opened up on how she couldn’t imagine herself playing the leading Killing Eve role because her agent had warned her that her Korean heritage could be an obstacle when it comes to getting work.
Sandra stars in popular show Killing Eve alongside Jodie Comer (Credit: Getty)
“She [my agent] said, ‘Listen, I’m not going to lie’ – and that was, I think, what was so painful – ‘I’m going to tell you the truth’,” she told Marie Claire.
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“It was basically, ‘Go back home and get famous, and then try and make a transition because I already have an Asian actress on my roster, and she hasn’t auditioned in three months. I don’t know what I could do for you.'”
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The star admitted that it devastated her, revealing, “It’s like a shard in my heart because we work really hard, love what we do and understand how important it is to be visible and to see ourselves, right?
“But to catch myself in a moment where I’m not [doubting myself] is still really difficult.”
