I've watched 'General Hospital' for 35 years. I grew up with it. It holds such a place in my heart.
— Chandra Wilson
My mom said I was not going to be an idle child, so I had things to do every day after school.
I don't have to be a star - I don't have to be famous.
This is the weirdest industry. When you have a job, you can't fall into the pitfalls of thinking you're secure. If it's not a firing, it's a strike.
I have quite a few gay couples and gay couples with children in my life.
I started in musical theater as a little girl in Houston.
You're not going to find a more committed performer than Sandra Oh - to every single word, action, history that informs the future. Every little thing.
While I was at NYU, I did a play at The Public called 'The Forbidden City,' where I went in as an understudy and got my Equity card.
The only thing that I know is that, growing up, I came across stumbling blocks, and I always said to myself, 'If I ever get into a position to do something about this, I would like to, so that somebody does not deal with what I went through.'
My first show was 'The King and I' when I was five.
Starting at age four, my mom decided that she was not going to have an idle child in the house. So I started taking dance lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then I was in acting classes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and I was also modeling on Saturdays. And that was my childhood.
I'm fortunate enough to have learned not to waste time getting frustrated with my kids, or co-workers, or friends and family for not doing everything I wish they would. If someone doesn't respond to me the way I want them to, I understand that it doesn't have anything to do with me.
Our happiness is certainly mixed in with the tragedies of life. You have to find the lemonade. You have to find the silver lining in the middle of everything that happens in life.
Shonda and 'Grey's' have given me the opportunity to become a director, and that's something that I hadn't really envisioned for myself, other than directing for theater. Now I've got this resume of television credits that I can carry forward into the next opportunity.
I just don't take stuff too seriously.
We could be much more empathic as a society.
Patrick Dempsey will forever be known as 'Grey's Anatomy''s McDreamy.
I'm a one-uniform kind of person; I like to establish the look of a character and just stick with that - like a cartoon.
When you are the parent of someone who is a chronic pain sufferer, you end up creating these binders for all of the hospital stays so you can keep track of every visit and any new thing that comes out.
'Grey's' is one of those shows... that's been able to ride so many waves.
I was in a theater company in Houston, Theatre Under the Stars, and I was involved in about 10 of their productions.
When the time came for me to go to college, there was only one scholarship that my high school offered at the time and I didn't win that one, but that didn't stop me. I went on to college anyway. I worked my way through it and paid my student loans for 11 years.
I cannot get into cottage cheese, and I've tried a lot. Yogurt is hard for me to eat, too. I have to hold my nose to get it down. There's something wrong with that.
Before 'Grey's Anatomy,' I was doing musicals, plays, commercials, you name it.
I wanted a good relationship with my mother, and I realized I had a choice: Either I could spend all my time angry that she didn't give me the hugs I thought I needed, or I could understand that she hugs differently. It's not a spread-open-the-arms, 'come here' hug. She hugs by sheltering me from her worries.
I made the decision to go on to college and major in drama and see where it would take me.
I like to play the comic relief or parts that aren't necessarily comedic but that I can find the comedy in.
I'm trying to learn things behind the camera and what a producer does and shadowing the directors.
When someone new takes over a role, the company doesn't change anything from the script, but they do lay it all out there and let people take from it what they take from it.
Directing is its own monster with its own set of muscles and exercises.
It's very difficult to advocate for yourself while you're in excruciating pain.
I worked at Deutsche Bank for about eight years on their overnight shift. I was working consistently in the theater. I just wanted to know that my rent was going to be paid on time!
I keep getting amazing things to bring to life. There's always something to discover with 'Dr. Bailey,' something that brings her home to the audience, something that makes people say, 'I know that woman. I work with that woman.' It's incredibly flattering and I'm still finding new things with her all the time.
I'm excited to flex my Broadway muscles - it keeps you alive as an actor.
I'm a big cook and prefer to make meals at home when I can. I'm either cooking, or we're going to a drive-through somewhere. I'm really proud of my homemade sweet potato pie. At Thanksgiving I make five of them because they go quick.
If I want to know how I'm doing at work, I don't wait for a pat on the back; I ask the people who will give me a clear, objective opinion. When I need a real, arms-wrapped-around-me hug, I go to someone who does that. I stopped getting disappointed by my expectations from non-huggers.
I was an only child for 16 years. I didn't realize it at the time, but that experience definitely turned me into a people pleaser. I always tried to do what was expected of me, and I constantly sought reassurance from the adults around me that I was doing a good job.
