Before a single award was given out, actress Sandra Oh had already made history on January 6th at the 76th Annual Golden Globes. As the first Asian woman to host the awards show, Oh was the headline of every major media outlet leading up to the big night. During her monologue, Oh told the audience that she decided to host the show despite her fear because she knew it would represent change.
“In all honesty, I said yes to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted to be here,” Oh said, “To look out into this audience and witness this moment of change.”
However, Oh had no idea just how much change she was about to be a part of.
That night, Sandra Oh’s name would become one for the history books. Oh won the award for Best Actress in a Television Drama for her role as the star of the BBC series Killing Eve. This was the first time since 2014 that a woman hosted the Golden Globes and won an award during the same night. Thanks to her win in 2006 for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film, Oh became the first Asian-American woman to receive two Golden Globes in these categories. She’s also the second Asian woman to ever win the award for Best Actress in a TV Drama, following Yoko Shimada who won the award in 1980.
Upon receiving the honor, Oh gave a heartwarming speech. She gave a special shout out to her parents and the rest of her family in Korean; speaking in another language is rarely done during entertainment award shows.
“I’m so grateful,” Oh said. “I’m so grateful to my family. But mostly there are two people here tonight that I am so grateful that they are here with me. I’d like to thank my mother and my father. Thank you, everyone.”
You can watch Sandra Oh return to her award-winning role in season two of Killing Eve, which premiers on April 7th, 2019.
