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New York (AFP) – Sandra Oh, known for her acclaimed TV roles in “Grey's Anatomy” and “Killing Eve”, says she is “amazed” by the magic of the stage as she prepares for her operatic debut in New York on Friday.
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In Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera Daughter of the Regiment, the Canadian-American actress plays the Duchess of Crackenthorpe, who reluctantly gives her son in marriage. In this role they speak rather than sing, and in French.
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“She's very strict and very angry, and it's very, very difficult for me to keep that expression when the most beautiful music is playing right in front of me,” Oh says with a laugh during an interview with AFP after Tuesday's dress rehearsal.
Her first appearance on the Metropolitan Opera stage was the result of a happy accident: the legendary institution's general director offered her the role after she saw Shakespeare's Twelfth Night performed at the open-air theater in Central Park this summer.
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“To go on such a grand stage and reach the pinnacle of what opera is, and actually rehearse with the greatest artists… it's very, very rare,” she reflects.
“I wanted to try this experience. And that's what I try to do in my life and in my career, just try new things, things that scare me the most,” the 54-year-old added.
What surprised her most was the “crazy” pace of the production, which belied the audience's “slow or gentle” reception of opera: “You have sets that are always moving, you have people who are just arriving, and you have people who are always telling you exactly where to be. And although it's divine, it's just bananas,” she said.
– “I’m in the comedy stage” –
There is no doubt that the presence of a bona fide small-screen star at the Met will attract a larger audience than usual – a boon for an institution struggling financially in the wake of the Covid pandemic and looking to modernize its programming.
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Sandra Oh's appearance on stage – wearing a purple dress, feathered hair and waving a fan – drew applause and cheers from the New York schoolchildren invited to the dress rehearsal.
The winner of two Golden Globes, among other awards for her roles as a talented surgeon in “Grey's Anatomy” and an intelligence agent obsessed with an assassin in “Killing Eve,” is excited about the prospect of these young people and her fans “seeing opera and experiencing what storytelling is on a grand scale, what music is, and seeing the best artists in the world.”
On the wide stage the actress herself more than holds her own. Far from the subtlety required in front of the camera, her powerful voice and exaggerated gestures fill the space and cause bursts of laughter.
“On such a big stage, you need to be very careful about all your gestures,” she summarizes, noting that on screen the lens captures the quality of the actor’s facial expression. “As an actor, you have to be able to do it all.”
Oh, by the way, will also appear in US theaters starting Friday alongside Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer in the comedy Luck.
“I'm in the comedy stage and everything: it feels good, it's comedy. And, you know, it brings a little joy,” she concludes.
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