The actress said her character’s storyline with Preston Burke inspired a fan to follow her career goals.

Sandra Oh recalls fan leaving a controlling relationship because of Grey’s Anatomy’s Cristina Yang

The actress said her character’s storyline with Preston Burke inspired a fan to follow her career goals.

By Leigh Blickley

July 28, 2026 12:32 p.m. ET

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Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang. Credit:

BOB D'AMICO/ABC

- Sandra Oh recalled a fan sharing how Cristina Yang inspired her to leave a toxic relationship.

- Oh played Cristina on *Grey’s Anatomy* for 10 seasons.

- The actress says having an impact on fans is a great privilege.

Sandra Oh is still moved by people’s love of her *Grey’s Anatomy** *character, Dr. Cristina Yang.

The actress sat down with Jesse Tyler Ferguson for the Tuesday episode of his podcast, *Dinner’s on Me**,* and recalled how she often experiences the “reverberations” of *Grey’s*, and Cristina, in her day-to-day life. “I did not have the quality or the depth of the gratitude while you’re going through it as I do now,” she told Ferguson.

She shared a touching story about a fan who told her Cristina’s storyline with Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) inspired her to leave a toxic relationship.

“Young people come up to me all the time,” Oh said, noting that during her run in the opera *La Fille du Régiment* at The Met last year, a woman expressed her gratitude for Cristina.

“She came up to me and she goes, ‘I have to tell you something.’ And it’s always that, ‘I have to tell you something.’ And you’re going, ‘Okay, tell me.’ And she was saying, ‘10 years ago, I was watching your show and I was going to get married to this guy, and he didn’t want me to work. He was like, ‘I’ll take care of you, blah blah blah.’”

Oh said the fan then began quoting a scene between Cristina and Burke from season 10 when he offers his ex an incredible opportunity in Switzerland to take over his position as the head of an advanced cardiothoracic facility. (Oh exited the series following Cristina’s acceptance of the job abroad.)

“She was saying how much this episode and, I think, the character affected her,” Oh went on, “and she goes, ‘I left him. I became a lawyer.’ And I was just like, ‘Good for you, good for you. Whatever was going on in your life, it was not enough. That guy who was saying that you are not going to be who you’re going to be, and to fail your destiny? Go become a lawyer, leave that. Yeah, leave him.’”

Sandra Oh in 2025.

Joe Scarnici/Getty

The *Killing Eve* star added that her goal with taking on any role is to make a real impact on viewers.

“You try your best to plant seeds all along the way, all the time,” Oh told Ferguson, who agreed. “I’m not just doing this because it feels good, paycheck, or whatever. I just feel it’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of time, especially now. You know what I mean? What we need to do is just plant seeds for things to grow that hopefully some young woman, when she’s like 25, decides, ‘F--- that s---, man. I’m gonna leave you, and I’m gonna become my own woman, and be in charge of my life, and not depend on you.’ And I don’t know, if you can be a part of helping someone’s growth, that’s it.”

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Oh exited *Grey’s* in 2014 after 10 seasons, and decided to part ways with Cristina on her own terms with the support of creator Shonda Rhimes and the writing team. Oh knew that, creatively, it was the right time to leave.

“I felt very much like I did my job. I really did my job,” Oh told Ferguson. “I feel like I created a whole character. I feel I grew the character 10 years time, where it’s a believable growth. Like, people do grow in 10 years, and I think [Cristina] really did grow. And the privilege was to actually plan an exit, and all the writers to be able to plan the exit to support that. And I know that it is extremely rare to have. So that was a real, real gift.”

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Oh said she is still so impressed that *Grey’s Anatomy* has continued to live on, thanks to new characters, storylines, and a loyal fanbase.

“I think it’s 22 years. It’s incredible,” she said.

*Grey’s Anatomy *will continue its streak as the longest-running primetime medical drama when it returns for season 23 in October 2026.

- Grey's Anatomy Fandom

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Source: “EW Grey”