Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#431
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Sandra Oh represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 30 years in, and Sandra is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Sandra Oh appears in 26 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Sandra. The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas is the clearest case: a film rated 10.0 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for documentary, fantasy, family. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Daniel Kwan, Sam Levinson, Chris Miller and others, Sandra Oh helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas (2026) as Self · Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) as Virana (voice) · Turning Red (2022) as Ming (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #431 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
26
1997–2027
Career length
30 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
10.0
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
Average Nutevio score
6.1
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
10.0
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
Most frequent director
Daniel Kwan
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Daniel Kwan
Most common genre
Comedy
12 titles
Average runtime
1h 30m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
6.9
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.5
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1990s
6.8 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. The Red Violin, Bean — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
6.8
Across 2 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
6.9
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1990s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Red Violin, Bean.
Most productive era
2020s
13 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 7.01 film | 6.63 films | 6.61 film | — |
| Action | — | 6.52 films | — | 7.81 film |
| Thriller | 7.01 film | 6.72 films | — | — |
| Comedy | 6.61 film | 6.35 films | 5.92 films | 7.04 films |
| Crime | — | 6.41 film | — | — |
| Romance | 7.01 film | 7.01 film | — | — |
| Horror | — | — | — | 5.31 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1997Bean
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Bernice Schimmel.
First Nutevio masterpiece · Highest rated performance · Career peak
2026The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
The first film here to clear 9.0 on our scale — a threshold fewer than one film in ten reaches. 10.0 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2027Untitled Daniels Event Film
The current state of the argument.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
26 of 26 films
as Ming (voice)
Directed by Domee Shi
as Virana (voice)
Directed by Don Hall
as Olivia
Directed by Matthew Diamond
as Mistral (voice)
Directed by Unknown
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Self
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas (2026)
Performance score9.9
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Self gives Sandra Oh a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Ming (voice)
Turning Red (2022)
Performance score7.7
Turning Red asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Ming (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Virana (voice)
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Performance score7.6
Raya and the Last Dragon asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Virana (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Olivia
Twelfth Night (2025)
Performance score7.4
Twelfth Night asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Olivia is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Self
Start here. The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas is the clearest statement of what Sandra Oh does — accessible, 84 minutes, and rated 10.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Sandra at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
A deliberate change of key after The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Turning Red (2022)
Keeps the fantasy register of Raya and the Last Dragon but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Tiger's Apprentice (2024)
Keeps the fantasy register of Turning Red but asks for a colder reading of it.
Twelfth Night (2025)
A deliberate change of key after The Tiger's Apprentice — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Mel Smith
Director
1 film together
Notably Bean
François Girard
Director
1 film together
Notably The Red Violin
Garry Marshall
Director
1 film together
Notably The Princess Diaries
Shawn Levy
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Fat Liar
Lynne Southerland
Director
1 film together
Notably Mulan II
David Slade
Director
1 film together
Notably Hard Candy
Christopher Guest
Director
1 film together
Notably For Your Consideration
Fernando Meirelles
Director
1 film together
Notably Blindness
Peter Stebbings
Director
1 film together
Notably Defendor
Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Director
1 film together
Notably Ramona and Beezus
John Cameron Mitchell
Director
1 film together
Notably Rabbit Hole
Ben Falcone
Director
1 film together
Notably Tammy
Denise Chan
Director
1 film together
Notably Searching for Anna May Wong
Don Hall
Director
1 film together
Notably Raya and the Last Dragon
Domee Shi
Director
1 film together
Notably Turning Red
Jessica Yu
Director
1 film together
Notably Quiz Lady
Matthew Diamond
Director
1 film together
Notably Twelfth Night
Aziz Ansari
Director
1 film together
Notably Good Fortune
Chris Miller
Director
1 film together
Notably Smurfs
Sam Levinson
Director
1 film together
Notably Euphoria: A Look Back
Daniel Kwan
Director
1 film together
Notably Untitled Daniels Event Film
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Don Hall
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Raya and the Last DragonDomee Shi
Director
1 film together · 7.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Turning RedMatthew Diamond
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Twelfth NightGarry Marshall
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Princess DiariesFrançois Girard
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Red ViolinAziz Ansari
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Good FortuneDavid Slade
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hard CandyJessica Yu
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Quiz LadyJohn Cameron Mitchell
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Rabbit HoleElizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ramona and BeezusMel Smith
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BeanFernando Meirelles
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BlindnessLynne Southerland
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mulan IIPeter Stebbings
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DefendorShawn Levy
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big Fat LiarChris Miller
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SmurfsChristopher Guest
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
For Your ConsiderationBen Falcone
Director
1 film together · 5.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TammySam Levinson
Director
1 film together · 3.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Euphoria: A Look BackDaniel Kwan
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Denise Chan
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Searching for Anna May WongSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
as Self
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The Tiger's Apprentice
as Mistral (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
as Self
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
The Red Violin
as Madame Ming (Montréal)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
as Self
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Sandra Oh has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
30 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
12 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
as Self
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
as Self
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Smurfs
as Moxie Smurf (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Blindness
as Minister of Health
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas
as Self
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Raya and the Last Dragon
as Virana (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Defendor
as Dr. Park
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Bean
as Bernice Schimmel
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Have your say
Community
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Reference
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