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Sandra Oh makes Golden Globes history with ‘Killing Eve’ win

Actress Sandra Oh pulled double duty Sunday night as a Golden Globes co-host and as an award recipient for her performance in BBC America’s “Killing Eve.”
(Micha Theiner / For The Times)
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Sunday night sure turned out golden for Sandra Oh.

The evening was already a glittering occasion for the actress, who was serving as co-host of the Golden Globes with “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Andy Samberg. Then she took her hostess with the mostess level up a notch by scoring a trophy for her performance as Eve Polastri, an indefatigable and quirky British intelligence agent, in BBC America’s “Killing Eve.”

And it was a win with several distinctions.

2019 Golden Globe Awards: Full coverage »

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It marks the second Golden Globe for the actress, who previously took home gold in 2005 for supporting actress in a series for her performance as Cristina Yang on “Grey’s Anatomy” — making Oh, who is Korean-Canadian, the first Asian actor to win multiple Golden Globes. Sunday’s achievement also gives Oh the distinction of being the second woman of Asian descent to ever win for a leading TV role; she joins Yoko Shimada, who won the category nearly four decades ago, in 1981, for NBC’s “Shōgun.”

The asterisks don’t stop there. The win also made her the second Golden Globes host to win an award while emceeing, joining Amy Poehler — who co-hosted and won for her role in “Parks and Recreation” in 2014 — in the glory. (Of course, it remains a small and elite club, partly because there haven’t been many hosts in Golden Globes’ 76-year history; just 11 of its ceremonies have had emcees.)

It’s a rich turnaround for those disappointed by Oh’s loss at last year’s Emmys. While nabbing her first lead actress in a drama nomination, she became the first person of Asian descent ever to be recognized in the category. A win would have been a one-two punch for the history books.

Safe to say, Sunday saw Oh regain control of the situation, much like her fictional alter ego, Eve, would have done.

yvonne.villarreal@latimes.com

Twitter: @villarrealy

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