The Lost Star Who Almost Played Katherine Heigl's Grey's Anatomy Character, Izzie
Anyone who found themselves in a role on the hit mystery box series "Lost" would undoubtedly count that as a lucky break. The series became a massive success during its 1st season and maintained enough audience interest to continue until it concluded with its 6th season.
However, Yunjin Kim, who played Sun across all six seasons of "Lost," almost could have been part of another wildly successful series, "Grey's Anatomy." The actor explained how she was coming over from her successful career as a Korean performer and how ABC brought her to Los Angeles with the express purpose of trying to cast her in one of their shows.
"They actually paid me to bring me out in L.A. to wait around and audition for their shows; it was such a sweet deal," the actor told Entertainment Weekly. "'Lost' was one of my first auditions, but 'Grey's Anatomy' was my first. I did not audition for Sandra Oh's character; it was for Izzie. And I got a callback." Kim also revealed that she originally auditioned for the role of Kate on "Lost," which would go on to be filled by Evangeline Lilly.
The character Sun was created with Yunjin Kim in mind
Though J.J. Abrams, who was a notable part of "Lost" when it first began, didn't think that Yunjin Kim was the right actor to play Kate, Abrams and the other creators were obviously impressed with her, as the star revealed that they wrote Sun into the show just for her. "My character was written after my audition; Sun became Sun after my audition," Kim said. "They were like, 'You're so good, but you're not right for Kate.' I thought, 'Great, I had a great audition with J.J. Abrams; I'm happy with that,' and kind of closed the chapter on that."
As it turned out, Kim hadn't missed the plane on "Lost" after all, as she, of course, ended up playing the character of Sun. "I got a call a couple hours later from my agent, and they were super excited. They're like, 'They're going to write a role for you.' I had a phone call with J.J. for about 40 minutes [after that]," she concluded.
It might seem like missing out on a long-running show like "Grey's Anatomy" would be a disappointment. However, considering how huge "Lost" would go on to become, it looks like Kim had the luck and talent to have to choose between the two powerhouse series.
Yunjin Kim was pretty close to choosing Grey's Anatomy
Still, it was closer between "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost" than most fans of the latter series would likely suspect. Yunjin Kim even revealed that she almost went back for a second audition for the medical drama. "I was like, 'I'm going to go and do this callback,'" she recalled. "My agents were like, 'Why? You got cast on an amazing show. You should pack up and try to find a place in Hawaii.' I was like, 'I don't know, I might like "Grey's Anatomy" more.' I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket. What if this falls out, you know? I had no guarantee."
Eventually, however, Kim would decide that the mysterious island at the heart of "Lost" was the place for her after all. "I ended up not going back to the callback," Kim explained. The "Grey's Anatomy" role that Kim had tried out for, that of Izzie, would eventually go to Katherine Heigl.
Luckily for Kim, "Lost" became one of the biggest water cooler shows in television history, and while her character would eventually be killed off, she lasted all six seasons. With as many inhabitants of the island dying over the course of the series as eventually did, that's pretty high praise, especially when you consider that Sun wasn't even meant to be part of the show during its inception.