Sandra Oh wants to focus on roles about race 'because I can,' she says

Sandra Oh wants to tackle race "because I can.'

ASAM NEWS

Sandra Oh is looking to take on new roles that embrace her Asian heritage.
Oh is well known for her starring roles in Grey’s Anatomy and Killing Eve. Her performance in Killing Eve won her a nomination for the 2018 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She became the first actress of Asian decent to be nominated for an Emmy.

However, many of her notable roles do not explore the character’s racial identity.

In an interview for Elle Canada‘s June 2020 cover story, Oh said she is “specifically interested in roles that explore a character’s race.”

“But I’m in a place in my career now where I am specifically interested in roles that explore a character’s race,” Oh said. “Because I can — and because I want our conversations to eventually move to a place that recognizes that it’s important. Let’s say it’s a show about a fashion magazine and the editor’s Black. You can’t just write this character without having the background of who she is. But that has been the primary storytelling for as long as we’ve been around.”

Over the past few years, Oh has pushed for greater diversity in Hollywood. While hosting the Golden Globes in 2019, Oh took a moment to praise “the faces of change” present at the awards show, according.

“I said 'yes' to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted… to look out onto this audience and witness this moment of change,” Oh said in her opening monologue.

Oh told Elle Canada that portrayals of Asians on screen often make Asian Americans uncomfortable because they aren’t written properly.

“Asian Americans, particularly from my generation, almost recoil if we hear an accent (onscreen) because of how laden in racism and misunderstanding (it is) and (how it’s a result of) not being in charge of the story,” she says.

Oh added in the interview that she is excited to see younger generations embrace their Asian identities by “carrying” their accents into their characters.

“If you are Korean American and from Los Angeles, you have an accent, but they aren’t trying to flatten their accent, like I have,” she says. “They are just carrying that into the character of, say, a doctor. That’s how we get the shift. We don’t want to just have a person of color acting the way a white person would act. Because they’re not!”

Being Filipino: Hailee Steinfeld is waiting for a script where she can portray a Filipina.

'In the right light,' you can see the Filipino side of Hailee Steinfeld.

Poor Hailee Steinfeld, of mixed racial heritage, the movie star is almost always cast as a white character. She's hoping to find a script that will allow her to play a Filipina.

Many people are surprised to learn that the Oscar-nominated actress (True Grit) is part-Filipino. Just look at her. Without makeup, in the right light and right angle, you can see the Filipino in her; plain as day. Put her in the Philippine sun for a day and it becomes so obvious.

Her grandfather, Ricardo Domasin, was half-Filipino so she can claim to be one-eighth Filipino. So don't hate her because she doesn't look like what most people think Filipinos should look like because then you'd have to hate Darren Criss, Enrique Iglesias, Jordan Clarkson, Tamlyn Tomita and Sharon Leal, among others.

Hate takes so much negative energy. Instead, revel in the fact that these people are proud to be who and what they are.

If the young singer/actress, whose Dickinson series streaming on Apple TV+, was nominated for a Peabody award Friday, doesn't talk a whole lot about being part-Filipino it is not her fault. Interviewers just aren't asking the right questions. They are more interested in asking about her latest album or newest movie than they are to ask about her race.

We were lucky to find this interview on the Kelley Clarkson show aired in February of this year in which she proudly proclaims her Filipino roots. It's not the first time she's pointed to her Filipino roots. Last year while promoting Bumblebee, she told the interviewer:

"I have not [come across a story where there's a Filipino character, but if I did, I absolutely would love to," she said. "It's something I am very proud of ... So yeah, if there was ever a part, I would love to play it."

If you're a scriptwriter, please, write a screenplay for Steinfeld so she can play a character more like herself. With her star power, you can be sure it will be green-lit.

Darren Criss writes about his love for his late father

Darren Criss, center, with his parents.

The father of actor Darren Criss passed away last Sunday. The  award-winning actor announced the death of his father, Charles William "Bill" Criss, on his Instagram account the following day, showing pictures of his family. In a moving tribute to his late father, he wrote:

"Bill Criss has left the building. After many years of coping with a rare heart condition - which, true to his form, very few would have even been aware of - he finally checked out peacefully yesterday morning, surrounded by his loved ones.

"Dad lived an extraordinary life. Anyone who ever met Bill Criss adored him instantly. He could talk to anyone about anything. Well-read and well-traveled, he made the world a better place wherever he went. (sic)"

The actor, 33, praised his dad for being an "outstanding father" and a "true gentleman through and through".

Darren added: "He was as deliriously charming as he was relentlessly selfless; always putting other people first, making anybody who ever got into a conversation with him genuinely feel like they were the most incredible person in the room.

"And although he would have been the first to gracefully protest it, the simple truth is that he was in fact, every inch the exemplary man: a devoted husband, an outstanding father, a loving grandparent.

"He lived his days the same way he loved his friends and family - with an unwavering sense of composure, compassion, generosity, and humility.

"He was a true gentleman through and through, and was a constant source of joy and inspiration for me.

"I've spent most of my life trying to be like him, wanting to see and do all the incredible things he did — and I'm so grateful he was around to see me actually pull a few off," Criss wrote. "He was there for the greatest moments of my life, which of course, he always dressed up for. His kind blue eyes, big laugh, and infamous warm smile could not have been a better representation of who he was to his core."

"I cherished him every day, and will forever."

Darren Criss' latest project, Hollywood, is now streaming on Netflix. In the 7-part reimagining of Hollywood's Golden Age after WWII, Criss plays to type, a Filipino American of mixed heritage.

In 2018, Darren Criss won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his chilling portrayal of killer Andrew Cunanan, another Filipino American real-life character, in the American Crime Story dramatic series, The Assassination of Gianni Versace."

Charles William Criss Jr. leaves behind his wife Cerina Bru, his sons Darren and Chuck Criss, and his grandchildren.