--- title: Meet TIME 100 Honoree Sandra Oh's Acting Coach and Mentor description: 2019 TIME 100 honoree Sandra Oh is a Golden Globe-winning actor. Meer her acting coach, Kim Gillingham, who is instrumental to her success. canonical: https://time.com/5582067/sandra-oh-acting-coach-interview/ author: Rachel E. Greenspan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-07T14:12:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-21T07:14:58.184Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Meet TIME 100 Honoree Sandra Oh's Acting Coach and Mentor, Kim Gillingham og:description: See how she relies on dreams to bring an artist's energy to life og:url: https://time.com/5582067/sandra-oh-acting-coach-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta664d90249b92581/6989495d97cdff47236b7c2f/sandra-oh-acting-coach.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Meet TIME 100 Honoree Sandra Oh's Acting Coach and Mentor og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet TIME 100 Honoree Sandra Oh's Acting Coach and Mentor, Kim Gillingham twitter:description: See how she relies on dreams to bring an artist's energy to life twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta664d90249b92581/6989495d97cdff47236b7c2f/sandra-oh-acting-coach.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet TIME 100 Honoree Sandra Oh's Inspirational Acting Coach and Mentor, Kim Gillingham > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan May 7, 2019 2:12 PM UTC  Host and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Drama 'for Killing Eve' winner Sandra Oh poses in the press room during the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 6, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. Host and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Drama 'for Killing Eve' winner Sandra Oh poses in the press room during the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 6, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.Kevin Winter—Getty Images by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan May 7, 2019 2:12 PM UTC For Kim Gillingham, [2019 TIME 100 honoree Sandra Oh’s](http://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/5567697/sandra-oh/) acting coach, dreams reveal where your “energy wants to go.” “See if you can feel what wants to come up and through you,” she tells a group of actors during a class in L.A., with Oh among the students. These movement-centric acting exercises — which you can watch for yourself in the video above — are really something to see. Gillingham first learned the technique of acting through your dreams by using your own subconscious to inform your character with legendary acting coach Sandra Seacat. “I felt like the roof came off of me,” she tells TIME about learning the dream analysis technique. Since Oh began studying with Gillingham more than a decade ago, the method has informed her acting, through ten seasons as Christina Yang on [_Grey’s Anatomy_](http://time.com/5106134/ellen-pompeo-on-negotiation/) to her titular role in the BBC’s [_Killing Eve_](http://time.com/5564684/killing-eve-season-2-review/)_:_ both of which earned her [Golden Globe awards](http://time.com/5495089/golden-globes-best-jokes-2019/). The latter role also made her the [first Asian woman](http://time.com/5336867/sandra-oh-emmy-nomination/) nominated for a Best Actress Emmy award. Oh paid tribute to her acting coach during her [Screen Actors Guild award acceptance speech](http://time.com/5495094/golden-globes-emma-stone-sandra-oh/) for _Killing Eve_ in January. “I’d like to thank my mentor Kim Gillingham and all of the fellow creative dreamers,” she said. “I am not the actor I am without the work that we share.” The art Oh creates is more than just a job, she explains during her [TIME 100 cover shoot](http://time.com/5566942/time-100-2019-covers/). It’s her “religion.” Thinking of her work in this way has taught her that it’s not something you can start and stop with the flip of a switch. “That’s how I’ve learned to also open up creativity in a way where it’s a constant peeling of the onion,” she says.  Photograph by Pari Dukovic for TIME “It’s incredibly exciting,” Gillingham says of watching Oh’s work in action. “Each time I see it, I feel like we’re making a little breath, a dent in the idea of what it has to be, and bringing through the humanity.” But this is hard work, Oh says. It’s people like Gillingham who make her the actor she is. “Anyone who is a professional artist, you know how much work it takes,” she says. “It doesn’t just come. You need to find support and inspiration.” The coach says society needs the hard work of creatives like Oh. “The fate of the world rests in our leaders and the artists that will make the material that will inform the culture,” she says. During her [toast at the 2019 TIME 100 Gala](http://time.com/5574440/time-100-2019-sandra-oh-toast-2/), Oh echoed this sentiment, saying that art can bring people closer to each other. “I truly believe art evolves our hearts and our minds, because it allows us to experience and understand another sorrow,” she told the room of honorees. “It reminds us of universal truths. It connects us.” Meet TIME 100 Honoree Sandra Oh's Acting Coach and Mentor ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5582067/sandra-oh-acting-coach-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5582067/sandra-oh-acting-coach-interview/"},"headline":"Meet TIME 100 Honoree Sandra Oh's Inspirational Acting Coach and Mentor, Kim Gillingham","datePublished":"2019-05-07T14:12:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:14:58.184Z","description":"Oh met Gillingham more than a decade ago. 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