Cristina Yang, MD, PhD, FACS, is a fictional character from the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which has aired for 22 seasons on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, and is portrayed by actress Sandra Oh. Introduced as a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, Yang worked her way up to resident level, eventually becoming a cardiothoracic surgical fellow, while her relationships with colleagues Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and George O'Malley (T. R. Knight) formed a focal point of the series. Earlier in the series, Yang got engaged to Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), in the past had a relationship with renowned surgeon and mentor Colin Marlow (Roger Rees), and married but later divorced Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd).
Oh originally auditioned for the role of Miranda Bailey, although Chandra Wilson was ultimately cast in the part. Oh received widespread critical acclaim for her portrayal, with Mark Perigard of the Boston Herald considering her friendship with Meredith to be "the secret-core of Grey's". Oh has also garnered numerous awards and nominations for her role as Yang, including Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award wins in 2006. She was additionally nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series each year, from 2005 to 2009. Characterizing the character, ABC noted her competitiveness, ambition, and intelligence as her main traits, and her aggressive and tactless attitude as her main weakness. In May 2012, E! Online reported that Oh had signed on for two more years, along with her fellow cast members. Oh left the show after season 10, and her character Cristina Yang was written out of the storyline as a main cast member.
Storylines and character Cristina Yang is introduced as a graduate from Stanford University and a fellow surgical intern to Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) and George O'Malley (T. R. Knight). They work under resident Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson). Yang is of Korean-American ancestry. She has dyslexia. She first desired to become a doctor after a childhood car accident which killed her biological father. Yang was raised in Beverly Hills, California by her mother and supportive Jewish stepfather. She used to be an atheist. She has a B.A. from Smith College, an M.D. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. While many view her as a cutthroat "robot", Cristina becomes close friends with Meredith, who shares her sense of humor and outlook on life.
During her internship, Cristina has an on-and-off relationship with the chief of cardiothoracic surgery Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) that leads to an accidental pregnancy. Yang secretly schedules an abortion but, before she can get it, suffers an ectopic pregnancy and a burst fallopian tube. Burke gets shot after a shooting at the hospital and is left with a hand tremor, so Yang performs surgeries on his behalf. She is confronted by Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), the chief of surgery, and confesses to doing this. Burke, feeling betrayed by her confession, breaks up with her temporarily but proposes marriage, which Yang accepts after eight days. On the wedding day, Burke leaves her because he was not sure if she was ready to commit. Yang goes on a honeymoon to Hawaii with Meredith to recover, returning to discover that Burke has transferred to a different hospital.
Burke is replaced by Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith), who dislikes Yang for her affairs with other surgeons. Eventually, Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) moves in with Yang, and Yang still tries to earn Hahn's approval. Hahn reveals that Yang reminds her of her younger self, hence her resentment of Yang; Hahn quits the hospital, leaving Seattle Grace's head of cardio position vacant. Yang becomes depressed when Seattle Grace falls to twelfth on a list of the best teaching hospitals, and Burke wins the Harper Avery award without mentioning her at all.
Yang meets Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), an army trauma surgeon, when he patches her up after an icicle stabs her in the abdomen outside the hospital. After his honorable discharge, Hunt is hired as Seattle Grace's chief of trauma surgery, and he and Yang begin a relationship. Hunt's PTSD, inflicted during his time in Iraq, causes him to attack and strangle her in his sleep. Yang, despite wanting to support Hunt, ends their relationship, as she is afraid of sleeping next to him. Yang is disciplined for failing to report the new interns' irresponsible behaviour; she loses her chance at becoming the first resident to perform a surgery alone, even though the attending surgeons chose her unanimously. Cristina chooses Alex to replace her. Yang and Grey argue about the scandal, but reconcile. Because of Yang's ability to remain emotionally distant, Izzie confides in her about her cancer diagnosis. Yang saves Izzie's life by coming up with a treatment plan and forcing Izzie to tell their friends of her diagnosis. Hunt begins seeing a therapist and rekindles his relationship with Yang, but frequently ignores or penalizes her to avoid the appearance of favoritism.
Hunt hires ex-colleague from the Army, Teddy Altman (Kim Raver), to become the chief of cardiothoracic surgery as a "gift" for Yang, after she breaks down over having no new head of cardio. Altman resigns after getting feelings for Hunt. Yang begs Altman to stay and teach her, offering Hunt to Altman in exchange. Hunt breaks up with Yang. After Derek is shot during a mass shooting at the hospital, Cristina, held at gunpoint, saves Derek's life. Grey operates on Hunt, who is also injured in the shooting. Afterward, Yang and Hunt impulsively marry; Yang, who developed PTSD after the shooting, wanted to marry Hunt because he understood her condition.
Yang, unable to work due to her PTSD, quits and gets a job as a bartender, but returns to work after helping a school shooting victim. Yang gets an abortion after becoming pregnant with Hunt's child. Though Hunt accompanies her, he is extremely angry with her decision. Yang then operates unknowingly on Henry Burton (Scott Foley), Altman's husband; he dies during the surgery. Yang is guilt-stricken upon learning of her patient's identity. Altman forgives Yang and forces her to realize that she did everything possible. Altman acts as a mentor to Yang, and, before her resignation, lets Yang create a wish list of surgeries she wants to fulfill.
Yang and Hunt distance themselves from each other over the abortion. Hunt has a one-night stand with a patient's friend. Yang leaves Hunt. Near the end of the fifth year of residency, the surgical residents prepare for their medical boards and for the different fellowships they plan on joining. After she passes her exams, Yang reconciles with Hunt. Yang, Meredith, Derek, Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh) and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) are involved in an aviation accident while on the way to Boise, Idaho to perform surgery on conjoined twins. Lexie dies, and Mark succumbs to his injuries after they are rescued. After the accident, Yang has brief reactive psychosis, which provokes violent outbursts and makes her unresponsive. Yang leaves Seattle to become a cardiothoracic surgical fellow and goes to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, but has difficulties adapting to her new workplace. Yang befriends a near-retirement cardio surgeon, Craig Thomas (William Daniels), and begins an affair with the head of surgery Dr. Darren Parker (Steven Culp). After Thomas dies from a heart attack, Yang returns to Seattle.
Cristina is re-hired and Owen asks for a divorce once Cristina wants to reconcile. Shocked, Cristina agrees, but later finds out that the potential conflict of interest regarding the plane crash lawsuit was a key motive behind Owen's request and confronts him. Owen tells her that he 'feels responsible' and was worried as he thought she was dead. They have a sexual relationship after divorcing. The hospital is sued and found guilty of negligence. The surviving doctors, including Yang, must receive $15 million of compensation each, which leads the hospital to a near-bankruptcy as the insurers refuse to pay. Yang, Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez), and the other surviving doctors buy the hospital with the help of the Harper-Avery Foundation to prevent it from closing, and each become members of the new directing board. After buying the hospital, Yang separates from Owen, because he wants children whereas she does not.
After breaking up with Owen, Cristina becomes the de facto chief of cardio. Cristina tells Meredith that becoming a mother has hurt Meredith's career and clinical judgment, damaging their friendship. Grey attempts to catch up professionally with a research trial, but the divide widens when Cristina's trial overshadows Grey's. When Dr. Shane Ross, a second-year resident, stands up to Meredith for her, Cristina begins sleeping with him and also becomes his mentor. Cristina's project succeeds, and she is told she may earn the Harper Avery award for 3-D printing a heart conduit. Grey and Yang reconcile when Grey acknowledges that Yang has surpassed her. Cristina is nominated for the Harper Avery award but is passed over because the Harper-Avery Foundation co-owns the Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. Cristina speaks at a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland; Burke offers Cristina his job as the head of the hospital so that he can spend more time with his family.
Cristina accepts the offer, transfers her hospital shares to Alex Karev and recommends he take over her seat on the board. At the end of Season 10, Cristina bids farewell to her colleagues and leaves for Zurich with Shane Ross, who will study under her at her new research hospital in Switzerland. She is last seen from behind at Derek's funeral in Season 11, sitting with Meredith. In Season 14, intern Sam Bello is sent to Zurich to study under Cristina so that she can escape ICE. In Season 16, Meredith gets text messages from Cristina saying she has given her a "gift": the new pediatric surgeon, Cormac Hayes (Richard Flood), affectionately called McWidow, who becomes Meredith's love interest.
Development
Casting & creation
On the creation of Yang, Shonda Rhimes said the character contained "a little bit of [her] personality". Speaking with talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Rhimes said: "Cristina was second, simply because she's the kind of woman I know really well, and I like her. There's something interesting about a person who is that driven, a little bit emotionally disconnected, but still a caring, sweet, and smart individual you could be friends with." Sandra Oh, initially auditioned for the character of Bailey, adding: "Thank God I did not get that part", explaining the show would not be the same without fellow cast member, Wilson. Discussing casting Oh as Yang, Rhimes said: "She brought this energy that felt very fresh. From the beginning, I've been shaping Cristina around Sandra a little bit. One of my favorite things to do is take as much of her dialogue out of a scene as possible because she does so much nonverbally. Then I just watch what she manages to do without having a word to say."
The character of Yang was not originally supposed to be of Asian descent. Oh said her character was "a pert little blonde and the thing is the woman who runs the show, Shonda Rhimes, is a black woman, which makes a big fucking difference." In 2009, when asked why Oh signed on for Grey's Anatomy, Oh said: