Jeff Yang is a frequent contributor to CNN Opinion, a featured writer for Quartz and other publications, and the co-host of the podcast "They Call Us Bruce." He co-wrote Jackie Chan's best-selling autobiography, "I Am Jackie Chan," and is the editor of three graphic novels: "Secret Identities," "Shattered" and the forthcoming "New Frontiers." The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) It's 2018, and Sandra Oh has just become the very first woman of Asian descent in the 69-year-history of the awards to be nominated for a lead-actress Emmy Award.

Oh deserves every laudatory word being thrown her way; her performance in "Killing Eve" is smart, luminous, nuanced and bold, displaying both her deft comic timing and her ability to bring complicated characters to vivid life.

But though Oh has been perhaps careful not to let it seep into her words, the triumph is bittersweet. As she said with refreshing candor to Vanity Fair in April , she has been a professional actor for 30 years, and for much of that time has been acknowledged as one of the very best in her trade. Yet over the past four years, she's found herself working, at best, sporadically: Small indie films like "Catfight," supporting roles in other people's shows, guest turns in ensemble series, a web series for Refinery 29, some voice acting work.

This dry stretch has come immediately after her decision to leave her 10-year run as Dr. Cristina Yang (no relation!) on the evergreen ABC hit "Grey's Anatomy" — a role that, in less capable hands, could have been framed as a driven and hypercompetitive Asian stereotype (albeit one that creator Shonda Rhimes, who is African-American, says she based on herself ). In collaboration with Rhimes, Oh turned the character into an endlessly compelling fan favorite, marked by barely veiled traumas and a dark sense of humor. Oh was nominated five times for Emmys for best supporting actress in a drama and won a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild awards for that portrayal.

Yet despite all this acclaim, for nearly half a decade this audience-beloved actor received not a single offer of a major TV or cinematic lead. She admitted to Vanity Fair that the lack of certain offers was "heartbreaking." It also, sadly, wasn't surprising.

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