She came, she saw, she charmed.

Grey's Anatomy star Sandra Oh visited the Magnetic North Theatre Festival ove the weekend in Vancouver, B.C., and in her hour spent with a few fans at Performance Works, it was clear why this beautiful Korean-Canadian actress is so popular.

Wit and wisdom were balanced by hard-nosed practicality as she spoke about a career that's less than 20 years old but already filled with a lifetime's worth of achievement.

Before she even finished school in 1993, Sandra Oh landed the coveted title role in the CBC TV film The Diary of Evelyn Lau.

"I had to leave and I missed the last production," Oh said. "My classmates were so supportive, and since I was too young to know you couldn't ask for stuff, I asked the CBC to rearrange the shooting schedule so I could fly back for grad."

The Diary of Evelyn Lau (and a Gemini nomination) was quickly followed up with Mina Shum's film Double Happiness (and a Genie award) and then the title role in the CBC bio-pic Adrienne Clarkson Presents.

Filled with confidence, Sandra Oh made the leap to Hollywood - and landed what would prove to be a seven-year gig on the HBO comedy Arli$$.

"It was kind of like HBO's bastard child," she said.

"They didn't give a sh!t about it, but it had a coveted spot between Sex and the City and The Sopranos. After the first year of Arli$$ it was back to acting class, because I thought I was dying. In a series, let's face it, you're selling soap, and you must figure out how to stay true to yourself. The business of it is challenging to the creative spirit."

Featured in indie hit films like Sideways and now headed for her 5th season as Cristina Yang on Grey's Anatomy, Oh was asked about racism in Hollywood.

"I'm proud of Grey's Anatomy," Sandra proclaimed, "with its multi-ethnicity, and co-lead characters that are not all white, and it's run by a 37-year-old African-American [creator and producer Shonda Rhimes]. But who we see on screens speaks to who is in power, and when I was judging American dramatic films at Sundance this year, I saw that the gay community has made big strides, which was noticeable and awesome, but there were not enough women and minorities."

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Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.