Sandra Oh Says Saying Yes To ‘Killing Eve’ Was Like ‘Falling In Love’

Viewership has been steadily climbing for BBC America’s new hit assassin drama, Killing Eve, but the network isn’t the only ones celebrating the show’s success. Actress Sandra Oh, who had previously starred in Grey’s Anatomy for nearly a decade of her career, recently detailed how saying yes to the series was like “falling in love.”

During an Emmy Roundtable discussion for The Hollywood Reporter, Oh explained how she underwent a four-year period of “active waiting” before boarding a new major project, and Killing Eve seemed like a no-brainer for her.

Brought to you by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the female-led crime thriller centers around two main characters; one a notorious assassin named Villanelle (played by Jodie Comer), and the other, the show’s hero and protagonist, an MI5 officer named Eve Polastri (Oh). The show’s “good vs. evil” power struggle is the driving force behind some of the most engaging modern television we’ve seen as of late.

During the discussion, Oh talked about how important it was for her to choose the right project at this point in her career. “I think it takes a while to eventually get to a point in your career where you can actually make a choice and after a decade of my life on a show, I had enough economic power to be able to say no,” she stated. “Those four years were like active waiting. I was not not working really in here [motions to gut] to be able to figure out what the right thing is and what it is to say no and what it is to say yes.”

The actress further detailed how she may not have had the luxury of choice earlier in her career and that young entertainers all experience the same choices. She added, “I think we’ve all had to along the way make our decisions of, ‘Well this crappy but I got to eat’.”

As for deciding to come aboard Killing Eve, Oh described learning about the role in a romantic context. “It’s like falling in love. Now, what I realize is I have a bit more awareness, a little more consciousness, I want this out of a relationship and I’m just going to wait until they show up because I feel like they’ll show up.” She further added that “It was the character and Phoebe’s voice that I thought, ‘This is the right thing for me. This feels right to say yes.’”

In an effort to empower the up-and-comers to find particular roles that are right for them, she declared: “If you still want to work as an actor and be creative and empowered as an actor, I swear you can still do it.”

Killing Eve premiered in April on BBC America. You can watch THR‘s full Emmy Roundtables clip below.

Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor

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