Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Side Dish: More with Sandra Oh

Episode Date: July 30, 2026

More of my interview with Killing Eve and Grey’s Anatomy star Sandra Oh. Sandra recalls working with Peter Dinklage in Twelfth Night in Shakespeare in the Park and how his son inspired some iconic physical comedy. Plus, she reflects on growing up the child of Korean immigrants in Ottowa, Canada, and how she ended up doing opera at the Met. This episode was recorded at Dorian in Notting Hill, London. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This summer, I'm in London performing in Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium. I'm playing King Herod, which is a role I have never imagined. I'd ever get to say I was playing, but here we are. I'm having a lot of fun. What's interesting about being away for longer stretches of time is that after the excitement of the trip wears off, you start thinking about home, not in a homesick way, just, you know, in a practical way. You realize your home is sitting there empty while you're off having this incredible experience

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For lunchtime inspiration, visit boarshead.com slash back to school. They've got lots of kid favorite ideas to make packing lunches a little easier. And for Boershead, head to your local deli counter. Hey, it's Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Here's a little side dish from this week's episode of Dinners on Me. We had Sandra O'on, who you you know from Gray's Anatomy, Killing Eve, and she's currently in London, starring in the misanthrope at the National Theater. We discussed our time sharing the stage last summer in Shakespeare in the Park in 12th Night, and how growing up as the daughter of Korean immigrants shaped both her life and career. We're jumping into the conversation as Sandra reflects on the incredible

creative process of performing alongside Peter Dinklage in 12th Night. I mean, I was, I was, absolutely in awe of what you and Peter figured out and your scenes together specifically you and Peter Dinklage. Yeah. Because I watched you in rehearsal

and it was great then and then like by the time the last performance happened I was like, how did we get here? I know. I got to tell you Peter Dinklage is like that fucking dude man. He is

the most surprisingly physically expressive actor. Yes. You know, because it's like I think that we're used to like his gravitas, you know, him in a close-up, that kind

of thing, you know what I mean? But he's hilarious. So funny. And he's just so physically gifted. Like what he end up doing, finding his kind of physical language of her Malbodeo, it was just utterly

inspired. And it's amazing again, watching an actor it starts building when you're saying it's like, oh, there's something. Oh, he's found a walk. Oh, he's starting to do something with his hands. Right. Oh, now he's... The way he anxiously...

Backumed up the... Hoover's up the cocaine. Right, you know what I mean. And also, like, how he then... Yeah, he's interesting actor to watch because, like, he'll come in... I mean, honestly, I can talk about everybody, like, for days. Watching him layer, each time something will happen, and then you can see that he's layered something.

But he already has, like, an enormous amount of depth. But then you see the technical aspect and the skill of the actor just kind of, like, layering stuff. Great. It's great. Oh, and he's also, get out of the way. He's unabashedly, get out of the way. And so.

Yeah. What happens is that you've got to step up. You got to step up. It's like you're going to battle that out with Peter Dinklage on stage. So it's just like, I'm going to make you laugh. You're going to make me laugh. I'm going to push you further. Oh, he's going to make you better.

And you know, you want to make him better. It's like, oh, it's great to be able to have a partner like that. One of my favorite stories. And it's really his story to tell. But like, you know, he had this great run where he would run with his arms by his sides. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. And he, his kids came to see the show with his wife.

And his son was like, that run looks familiar. That's the run that I do when I want to be funny. And Peter was like, yeah, I'm borrowing it. I'm stealing. He's like, and his son, do you know the story? No. His son was like, you can pay me for that run. So he made Peter give him money to license the run.

License the run. I was like, well, good for your son. son. That's a smart. That's a smart move. Yeah, I was like, your son's smart. Sorry, smart move. So Peter Hutz, like, give him like $30, like, license, maybe even more, $50. That's good. That's good.

I think Erica, his wife was, like, negotiating up. She's like, ask for more. He can afford it. He gets residuals in Game of Thrones. He's fine. 100 bucks. 100 bucks. Every performance. That must also be fascinating. I'm so curious, you know, you know, when kids grow up and then...

Ooh, wonderful. Yes, we can hang on to that. Yeah, hang on to it, yeah. Thank you so much. Amazing and delicious. Thank you. When kids... Grow up and see their parents acting.

Yeah. I'm really glad that my kids have been coming to see me on stage. They came to see an invited dresser rehearsal of Jesus Christ Superstar. Oh. My 6-year-old, my Becca, who was at 5, last summer saw 12th night, had incredibly interesting questions. Very interesting questions.

Like understood things. He's like, why is everyone being so mean to Malvolio? I was like, I wish I had a better answer, but he's like, we don't really have a rational reason. Yeah, because in Shakespeare time, they like being really cruel. Yeah, yeah. Really cruel. So, you know, I love that they're seeing me on stage, but now they're starting to realize that people know me from something else called modern family. They're aware of that.

And so it'll be interesting to, like, figure out when I feel like it's the right time for letting him see that, you know? Because it was a huge chunk of my life. Like, I don't want to keep that from them. Of course not. Especially when people are talking about it. Strangers know me from that thing. Yeah. So.

I wonder what it was like for Peter's kid to go, hey, that's mine. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Sandra opens up about growing up as one of the only Korean kids in her. town in Ottawa, and why seeing Korean culture embraced around the world gives her so much hope. Okay, be right back. Support for today's episode comes from Square, the system that fixes one of the biggest

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today on Carvana. Pick up fees may apply. And we're back with more dinners on me. Your parents were immigrants, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm Korean. Korean. And when you were, was there a lot of, were there a lot of Koreans in your school? How did they introduce you to your culture? Well, you know, you're Korean, you're Korean. You know what I mean? It's, it's, it's, it's, But I find it interesting, and I'm sure that there has been sociologists who kind of track the first wave of Korean immigrants. Actually, not that first wave. I should say the wave that came in, because my parents came in actually after in, in like the late 60s. So in America, after the Civil Rights Act, right, the doors opened to a lot of students.

So my parents first came to the states, actually, and then to Canada through student visas. Okay. And then they settled in Ottawa. And it's so interesting and thrilling. You know what I mean? Whatever. Like 55 years later, it's like seeing how Korean culture has just gone kind of global. and when I grew up, we were the first four families in Ottawa,

Korean families, to kind of establish a church. So you're just, it's that classic thing. It's like you're establishing the community and you don't have a lot of other Koreans around you. I didn't grow up in Toronto or New York or L.A., right? Where there are, like, there were like a lot. And so I think that really, influenced a lot, a lot being a very visible other and a very visible minority. You know, there was very rarely a lot of people look of color around me. And so when I left Canada and then went to New York, changed my life.

Yeah, same. Mostly, actually, I would say New York, even more than L.A. Even though L.A. is filled with Koreans, it was actually because of the people that I met in theater in New York. And it was just like, and not only, you know, Asian people. It's just people. It's like my people. Yeah. You know what I mean? Where it opens you up.

But also it's so consolidated. Like, you have to walk the streets. You have to walk by all these different smells from different cuisines. And like, it's a melting pot and you're in the melting pot in a way that you just are not. so many other metropolis. So, I mean, I completely, I was the same. I mean, it opened up my mind in so many different ways. And, yeah, New York's so good for that.

Oh, no, but, like, I remember talking to, you know, Joncho. Yeah. So, like, kind of the feeling of, like, me, John Cho, Dan Kahn, Mingna, Tamlin Tamina. And we never spent time together because we were all individually just trying to make our way. And so it's been really nice in the past, whatever, I'd say 10 years, under 10, 7 years or so, maybe, yeah, around 10 years of really feeling this kind of community because the younger generation are all hanging. right there's no kind of separation we were separated because of just the nature of it

was never more than one Asian person on set you know what I mean so it's just like now that it's changing it's it's amazing it's amazing to experience and honestly this is also a little bit about I think of your question about what it is to kind of grow up

first generation immigrant you don't kind of really know or trust what's going to happen. Like, if you're going to, if you're going to experience it in your lifetime, where openness happens or acceptance happens, or your story happens. And, of course, you're always trying to open that up. But, you know, that I happen to have been at the Oscars because this film that I did.

My God, what is it called? Oh, Turning Red. Turning Red, the animation. Oh, my God. I loved it so much, Sandra. My kids love that film. It's a good one. Let's watch this one.

They love it. It's so good. It's so good. You played the mother. Yes, I did. So, Domitia, so it was nominated for an Oscar, but that was the same year that everything everywhere, everywhere all once was. Yeah.

So it's like, and I know a bunch of people. Yeah. And I, to witness that, it was like, it blew my mind in a way that, I don't know, it's not an individual thing, right? It's like, it just spreads down to all. And also, like, those two directors, the Daniels, it's like, oh, look, that's the new generation of masculine, right? A masculine that is coming from a different place. a coming from a different place. And I could just see it the way

that they were operating in their many acceptance speeches. What are you deciding to say? What kind of message are you trying to put out there? And so I was just, it just felt, it just really filled me with hope, actually. Yeah. I'm glad that you've got to be a part of that celebration in that room with them too.

It was amazing. Yeah, yeah. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Sandra tells me about making her Metropolitan Opera debut, the terrifying art of learning how to scream on one of the world's biggest stages, and why returning to old collaborators decades later, can be one of the most meaningful experiences of an actor's career. Okay, be right back.

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Tell me about because I missed it and I'm so sad working at the Metropolitan Opera. Oh. So you went from 12th night, which I think is a pretty fancy job, to then working at the Met in an opera. Yes, yes. That was amazing. That was amazing. That was amazing. I mean, the Met is just...

Never in a million years did you ever think. No, no, man. I don't... I mean, I wish I could sing, like you can sing, but I can't. But I can speak French. And I can be funny. So those were the only prerequisites. And so I was asked to do the part of the, like, the bad Duchess in La Filles du Regiment.

And it just fit into the schedule. in such a way where it's like, would you want to come and do an opera? And I'm like, are you kidding? Yes, I will... At the Met. At the Met. At the Met. Dude, 4,000. That sees 4,000? 4,000. Let me tell you, you want to practice space?

You, that's like, every, every... And I would only... I ask for it's like, can I please have 10 minutes on stage to warm up? That's it. Because everything is also so tight, meaning like, not regulated, but people are... The unions are very intense. Yes, yes. And they are making, they are making the stage as you're warming up.

They are making- Because don't they have, it works in rep kind of? Yes, it works in rep. They'll do like La Boe-M and then that set will like go away and they'll bring in something else. Yes. And they're like fly up in the Raptors, right? Yes, yes. Okay.

So let's just say either there's a matinee or a rehearsal of La Boe M. The full stage is on stage, right? And then they break it down for the evening show. and then they break that show down and put whatever's up for the next day. It's intense. Thousands of people are working there constantly. And it's a bespoke art form.

You can't not what, what, no, no, you need people to do that. And so it was really, it's one, the most beautiful space. And it's a holy space. Yeah. The greatest voices have been there. People have come and in awe listened to the greatest voices. That space has all that energy. And to be on that stage, it was amazing.

So talk about not being prepared. You can't. I was on stage four times, not four times before going on stage. No. Yes, and then just seven performances. So basically it's so high. And so long were you on stage for once, on stage?

Oh, I had a bit, I had like three little scenes. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. So it's actually in the terms of speaking parts for operas, it was a fairly good speaking part. Usually they kind of bring in, you know, an opera singer who's retired, who's familiar with it and come on and be a grand dame and all that stuff. But thank you, honey.

Do you remember? It's such. It was amazing. It was so amazing. When you're out of your elements, first of all, it's so exciting that we can, like, make ourselves nervous like that. I mean, I feel that way about Jesus Christ Superstar. Every night before I go out on stage, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm so nervous. Like, this is, I feel like I'm a little out of my element.

But I can't even imagine. You also felt that tenfold with the Met. You know, I chose to do this scream. Well, the Duchess kind of screams, right? But I was like, I was suddenly like, how do I scream? Yeah, in a healthy way. How do I scream in a healthy way? And then I'm like, I'm in the room.

I'm like, this is the most perfect room for someone to help teach me how to scream. And then, you know, people from the met, it's just like go through this whole breathing exercise. And then how you have to, like, you have to warm up this entire, because this head is all a resonant. And then you just send the thing up here. And so each night, it was just like, I want to just, like, that was like, that was like my high. note. It was just like, I need to hit that C. I need to hit that, that scream. And can we talk about like you and Jesus Christ Superstar for a second? Thank you for coming by the way. Oh my gosh. It was so exciting. It's like you come in. So Jesse plays Herod and has a show stopping number. And you just

come in and you do. You stop the show. It's just like you come in. It's like you just eat stage. Thank you. You're very kind to say that. I had seen you on stage the day before and you told me that you had physical therapy that you scheduled. I've scheduled therapy at the National Theater before. I know the doctors are right. They can't always get to you. Like when you schedule time, you got to keep that time.

You had scheduled physical therapy at 430. My show started at 2.30. I come in in the middle of the second act. I was like, I hope you can even stay to see me my performance. You stayed. Thank you. But thank you for coming, but also I looked at my watch before I went on stage. There's no way.

There's hilarious. Sanders making it to her physical therapy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, you're very kind to come. What theater? But I know, I know. What's that like? It's very high.

Yeah, the Hollywood Palletium. The London Palladium. It's old and huge. It's huge. It's two hundred seats. Wow. Huge. Can I just tell you?

Packed. Matinee. Packed. It's been sold out. It's been crazy. It's amazing. It's very cool. It's very cool.

But also, the fact I've got to see you three days in a row. That's amazing. Well, I didn't actually see you yesterday. I saw you. I saw you. I was in the presence of you. Wait, you sat in the balcony? Yeah.

Good seats. It was great seats. Everyone, Paul over there. Thank you, Paul. Yeah, Paul. It's great. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm so happy you came to see it. And it's always so good to see you. I think I told you when I met you. One of the first things I saw you in was that Diana Sunplay, Stop Kiss. Talk about moments on stage where, like, you were talking about Cherry Jones and the heiress. Like, there's just certain things that are embedded in that.

That play is very, I feel like it's at the tip of my memory. Like, I remember very, very, there's electricity around the memory of that play. And just like the allure of the public. theater, you know, at that time. Wait, I feel like, didn't we discuss, I think you were doing a show and I were doing, I was doing a show at the public near the very same time. Won't you on the town? I was doing on the town at the same time.

Yeah. So, like, that was a very exciting time for me because I was getting my equity card doing a show at the public theater and Stop Kiss was happening. So I felt like I was part of that family and that community. And it was just seeing someone, you know, that I already kind of admired up on stage. I was like, oh, I can't believe I'm like part of this same world. Yeah, it was very, very cool. You know, Gabby Wong, she is my cover here.

When I met her as the cast, she's my understudy for the misanthrope as the part of Alice. When I met her the first day, she said to me, when I was 16, I saw you on stage in New York City. And then I was like, what? She goes, I saw you in Stalk Kiss. can you believe this and however many years later, then we work together? Come together, yeah. That is really special. It is so special.

And Diana actually came to see the Diana's on the playwright. She came to see this. Yeah, yeah. What thing I will say about you, and I've noticed this, is you, and same with Indu, you develop relationships with people and you really carry them through your life in a way. I mean, obviously not everyone, but I feel like if you identify in someone that they're meaningful to you or you have an artistic vision that is in alignment with theirs. Like, you really do a great job of creating and finding moments with those people.

I mean, there's with that filmmaker that you did your, what's that great film that you did? It was like your second film that was such a big deal. You want an award for it. Double happiness? Double happiness. Wasn't that? I mean and Shum. Yes.

She's done several movies before. Like, he's done several things with her. Yes. Yeah, double happiness. And I just, I mean, it seems that way with Indy. I hope that it's that way with me. Yes, you know what? It is.

It's like you find collaborators. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, like you hear about, you know, the famous collaborators like, you know, Scorsese and De Niro or like, you know, people like that. And it took me a long time. to understand, it's like, oh, I'm always searching for that outside of what my experience is. Yeah.

Right? Somehow thinking that like a rich collaboration or whatever has to be with something that is out there. And then it's like if you just keep doing the work and loving the work and doing the work, suddenly 30 years go by. And the meaning that you have with someone that you've been collaborating with for 30 years is so, deep. Yeah. We did, oh my God, we did a third, fuck, we did a 30 year reunion read through for the public, for a fundraiser of Stop Kiss. No way. I guess a couple years ago and the entire original cast came back. Me, Jessica, Kevin Carroll, we all came back. We all came back and we did the read,

we read it three times. And it was incredible. incredible. It was incredible. Wow. Because one, many of us have known each other that whole time, and you see people go through their lives and kids and this and blah, blah, blah, and marriages and blah blah. And so you just have this richness, but you have this line that when you then come back to it, the experience is so rich. So then because your relationships are like that, the experience is rich, and then the audience

gets it. Yeah. The audience gets it. Yeah. That's so cool that you got to do that. Oh, that was amazing. Yeah, we did that with Spelling Bee. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We did a 10-year reunion.

And it was amazing, like, how much, you know, that's a musical. So we were, like, trying to recreate. We're like, maybe we'll recreate little pieces of the choreography. And then, like, oh, my God, we remember the whole thing. And it was just, like, wild. I guess. You know? Isn't it amazing how you remember those things?

Yeah. Yeah. Really special. That's wild. That would be, like, me. going back and trying to do on the town. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's so long ago.

Yeah, yeah. But it would be very interesting. I thought there, I thought in some ways there'd be so much that I would not be able to access because I'm not 26 anymore. Yeah. Right? But I found it not that way. I felt like suddenly, boom, like the entire base of who I am as a person was just so. so much larger, right?

So there was no way that I could find the depth of the play. Yeah. Because I was 26. Yeah, yeah. There was something else, obviously, because I was 26. And you have the youth and you have the unknownness of all of it. Right. But also it's interesting because it's like it lives in you, even though you're not,

it's like dormant within you, that experience and that character and like the work that you did on it. Like, I don't know, I like to think that those things still live artistically. and like within you in a dormant way and then you come, you revisit them and it's just like, you're more informed as an artist and as a person, as a human, as a civilian. And like, you know, it just fills you in a different way.

It resonates in a different way because you are a different vessel. Yeah, agree, agree. It's really, that's so cool that you got to do that. People will do a 12th night reunion. I can't remember a lick of dialogue. Let me tell you. Nope, not a lick.

Sir Toby Belch, how now Sir Toby Belch? How Now Sir Toby Belch. That's all I remember. Sir Toby Belch. How now Sir Toby Belch? That's all I remember. That was a little more from my conversation with Sandra O. If you haven't heard our full conversation yet,

make sure to check it out on Dinners on Me. This episode of Dinners On Me was recorded at Dorian in Notting Hill London. Next week on Dinners on Me, you know him from Netflix's Baby Reindeer and HBO's Halfman. It's Richard Gadd. We talk about the surprising downside of overnight success, the self-doubt that nearly kept him from making his new show, Halfman, and what kinds of stories he wants to tell next. Dinner is On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch.

Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Bear engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasni and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week. Hey y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair.

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