Sandra Oh said she “couldn’t believe” how many Korean people were at the recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards and that being able to witness increasing onscreen representation was “extremely satisfying”.
The Killing Eve star said the victories for Squid Game cast members Jung Ho-Yeon and Lee Jung-Jae at the awards were important for better “global acceptance”.
The Korean actors won best female actor and best male actor in a drama series respectively at the 28th annual ceremony, which took place on Sunday night in Los Angeles.
Oh made the remarks to US media outlet Variety during the world premiere of Disney and Pixar’s new animated film Turning Red, alongside co stars Rosalie Chiang and Sherry Cola, and pop megastar Billie Eilish.
Oscar nominee Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell produced original songs for the film.
“It was so exciting, being at the SAG awards I couldn’t believe how many Korean people were there,” Oh said.
“I was like, there’s a Korean, there’s a Korean, there’s a Korean.
“I have to tell you, being at this game for a long time, and that wasn’t the case for a long time, so to be able to still be here and witnessing it is extremely satisfying.
“I feel like being recognised by your peers such as the SAG awards, is very important to a global acceptance of actors.”
“It’s a big family, it’s a tribe and that was really what the SAGs were about.”
Turning Red tells the story of Mei Lee, a confident 13 year old who, due to a quirk of family heritage, is turned into a giant red panda whenever she gets over-excited.
Oh’s co-star Sherry Cola said Asian people were “behind” when it came to representation in Hollywood, but the film would help to move the industry in the right direction.
“This film is going to make history, I think there’s a lot more work to do absolutely,” she told the PA news agency.
“We’re seeing some changes but we have to keep doing the work and movies like this absolutely move us in that direction.
“Asians, we definitely are behind when it comes to representation in Hollywood, I just feel lucky to be part of the shift.
“Growing up we hardly saw movies like this. We hardly saw faces like mine on a red carpet and to be a part of it means a lot.
“It just means we can’t give up, we have to keep pushing.”
The Turning Red premiere, which took place at the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday, was Disney’s first major in person red carpet event of 2022.
The film will stream exclusively on Disney+ from March 11.
