Katee Sackhoff | From “Battlestar Galactica” to “Carrie” | Olympic Dreams to Mandalorian

00:00 Katee Sackhoff joins Story & Craft

00:00 Katee Sackhoff: Well, up till then we didn't know his name, so everybody just called him Baby Yoda. And then when Grogu showed up, you sort of had to call him Grogu. I still called him, like, Baby G, Baby Grogu, and never quite just called him Grogu.

00:15 Announcer: Welcome to Story and Craft. Now, here's your host, Marc Preston.

00:19 Marc Preston: Okay, here we go.

00:20 Marc Preston: Back again, another episode of Story and Craft. Welcome back. Good to have you. If this is your first time joining us, uh, thank you very much. Good to have you here. Uh, today, a conversation with someone who I've wanted to speak with for a while, the very talented Katee Sackhoff. Uh, she's an actor, voice talent, uh, done a lot of really cool projects.

00:43 Marc Preston: I mean, I kind of consider her to be, uh, sci-fi royalty. You know, she's done, uh, voiceover for a number of the Star Wars animated series. I know because my son grew up watching those and, uh, you know, that's how I was introduced to those. But I know Katee from, uh, back in the day, Battlestar Galactica, Longmire, uh, The Mandalorian.

01:03 Marc Preston: Been in a lot of cool projects, including the new one, which is the reboot of Carrie. It is coming out October 7th, Amazon Prime Video. Uh, you got Amber Midthunder in that one, of course, the great Matthew Lillard. I call him the great. I mean, we're Gen X. I got to give Gen X actors the, uh, proper props. We had a great conversation about Katee's career, what she's been up to, uh, what she's doing now.

01:26 Marc Preston: She's got a podcast even. So, uh, sit back, relax, and get ready for a great conversation with Katee. And, uh, do me a quick favor though. Whatever podcast app you use, make sure to follow Story and Craft. Of course, leave a star, a like, a leave a comment. Helps people to find the show. And everything you could possibly want to know about Story and Craft, it is all at storyandcraftpod.com.

01:49 Marc Preston: So head there also if you want to sign up for the, uh, newsletter as well. Okay, so let's go ahead and get on into it because today is Katee Sackhoff Day right now on Story and Craft. Where are you at today?

02:04 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. Um, we live just outside Portland, Oregon.

02:07 Marc Preston: Is that, is that originally where you're from? Is that, is that home base for you?

02:11 Katee Sackhoff: It, it is. It, it's, um... I was born and raised outside, a little bit outside Portland as well. Um, moved to Los Angeles, um, uh, permanently when I was 18, right after I graduated from high school. Um, and hadn't really come back all that much, to be honest. Really? Really. Until, um... I mean, I, holidays here and there, you know.

02:36 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and then, uh, when our daughter was born and our son was sort of on the way, we made a decision to, to move to Portland.

02:46 Marc Preston: Well, that's nice. We're in the era of, uh, you know, you can work from anywhere. I mean, yeah, I- Exactly ... you know. Even when you're auditioning, it's always self-tape. You're not really going in anymore.

02:55 Marc Preston: I know. The, the last time I saw you was at the, um, I think it was 2019. It was literally right as COVID was making an entrance. You were, it was the Voice Arts Awards. And I think- Yes ... if I remember right, we were talking, uh, you had just gotten done remodeling your house. Or you were in the process of remodeling, I think.

03:12 Marc Preston: You were working on something.

03:13 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. We were, um, we had just finished remodeling that house, um, in, uh, Los Angeles, and then decided to move.

03:24 Marc Preston: So what was it like to look at this house going, "We spent all this time, this effort, blood, sweat, and tears. Now we're, eh, we're moving"?

03:30 Katee Sackhoff: You know, it was weird. You know, I, I grew up, my dad's a builder.

03:33 Building a dream home in Los Angeles, then deciding it was time to leave for Portland

03:33 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and he's a developer up in Portland, so you know, I, I grew up around- Um, construction. So it's never been too daunting to me, um, at least in theory. Um, and, you know, uh, uh, Los Angeles, I built my dream home. Like, it was everything that I wanted. It was in Venice. It was in the area I wanted to be in. It was everything.

03:56 Katee Sackhoff: Um, unfortunately, dreams change, you know?

03:59 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

03:59 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and, uh, technology even changed the dream in the sense that, you know, I lived in an area that there wasn't a ton of traffic, and then Waze made it a through street. And, you know, we had people driving down our street, uh, residential street, going 60 miles an hour.

04:17 Katee Sackhoff: Like, it was-

04:18 Marc Preston: Really?

04:18 Katee Sackhoff: Okay ... you know, when you have little kids, it's something you have to think about. And, um, you know, so that changed. COVID really changed the area. Um, and it just didn't... Our house was broken into twice. Um, and it just didn't seem like a place that I wanted to raise children anymore, unfortunately.

04:37 Marc Preston: That awards show was, like, December, I think December, 2019. And I remember that was right about people were starting to talk about this thing that was going on. And, uh, fast-forward, and you- we went through a wormhole of like, "Okay, we're at home now," and you know.

04:50 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, yeah. My husband, um, he was one of the...

04:54 Katee Sackhoff: It wasn't a confirmed case of COVID, but we're 99% positive that that's what it was, and it was before. Um, because the world shut down, like, in March, right?

05:05 Marc Preston: Uh, yeah, I think it was right about then. Yeah, 'cause remember spring- March ... by spring it was all over, yeah.

05:09 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. So in January, we'd gone on, like, a big trip to Mexico, a big fishing trip, and he came back with a cough that wouldn't go away, and he couldn't breathe, like, for- Like, three weeks.

05:25 Katee Sackhoff: Long time. Um, and then it was like, you know, a few, few weeks after that people were like, "Yeah, there's this thing, COVID." And then, you know, the world shut down.

05:35 Marc Preston: For somebody who does voiceover like you do, did it kind of shift the gears on, like, what kind of work you were wanting to, or what kind of work you were going after at the time?

05:43 Marc Preston: Were you like, "Hey, you know, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna s- sit in my little studio set up," or-

05:47 Katee Sackhoff: Stay. No. It was... So I was in the... I was, uh, two weeks into production on, um, on my show Another Life that was on Netflix. So we did two weeks and then shut down. Um, and I was incredibly lucky. Netflix was, um, absolutely phenomenal through that entire process, and they kept the entire crew employed- Really?

06:12 Katee Sackhoff: even though we weren't at work. So they paid us all, um, throughout the entire COVID, like, on the pay schedule that we were on. Um, and then ultimately when we went back to work, we, we weren't being paid. Wow. So it was like, you know, we, we had front pay, basically. At least some people did, but the, the st- I don't know how everybody's structure was, was on that.

06:33 Katee Sackhoff: But, um, it was really great. We, we all stayed employed, which was really weird. Um, and we were, I believe, one of the first shows, if not the first show, to get back up and running, um, in Vancouver, um, because we were already in production. Like I said, we were, like, a couple weeks into production when we shut down.

06:53 Marc Preston: If I remember right, you're in space but you were alone or something. You... Am, am I, am I m- imagining this? I'm trying to remember the first episode.

07:02 Katee Sackhoff: Um, so I've done two projects that are, uh, me in space-

07:06 Marc Preston: Yeah ...

07:06 Katee Sackhoff: um, ultimately alone. Um, uh, one was a film that I did called Origin Unknown where I was alone in space.

07:13 Katee Sackhoff: And, and this one- That,

07:14 Marc Preston: okay, yeah

07:14 Katee Sackhoff: Um-

07:15 Marc Preston: That's, that's... Okay. Yeah. That, that I remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

07:17 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. And then this one, no, it was me with a team up in space, but a small crew. And it was really... It was wonderful. I, I executive produced the thing. I loved it. I loved, um, going to work with that crew. We had a really, a really great team and, and, um, we were just sort of working the kinks out, and then, you know, unfortunately Netflix canceled us, so.

07:39 Marc Preston: You're always in outer space, so you know, there's always something you're doing in sp- yeah. I mentioned I was talking with you and my son like, "Oh, yeah, from Mandalorian." I'm like, "That, that's a generational thing." I'm like, I'm like, "Okay, I'm more Battlestar Galactica," but yeah, it's okay.

07:51 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, exactly.

07:52 Katee Sackhoff: Exactly.

07:52 Marc Preston: In, in fact, I was remembering the, uh, you'd gotten a w- an award. I forgot exactly what the award was at this, at this, uh, thing in L- A, the, uh, Voice Arts thing. Yeah. And then Edward James Olmos was there. Yeah. And he's just a cool dude. Kind of the backstage area and, and we're just talking. I was like, "Oh, yeah, I, um, you know, do voiceover.

08:08 Marc Preston: And actually I did the Battlestar Galactica back-" Ha- I'm tr- I can't even remember what year it was, but they had a, a website. And the website, I think, rolled out before the show. It was kind of a teaser. Mm. I was the voice of the website. He was like, "Yeah, you have a nice voice, yeah." Everything he says just has a layer of cool on top of it.

08:24 Marc Preston: I don't know. He...

08:25 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, he's a, he's a wonderful human being. We, um, I consider the last, uh, almost 30 years of my life to be pretty lucky to have him in it, so he's wonderful.

08:35 Marc Preston: Wait, when did Battlestar Galactica come out?

08:37 Katee Sackhoff: 2003. I got the role in 2001.

08:41 Marc Preston: Yeah, I'm gonna pretend like I'm not any older. Um, but like I say, time is just weird stuff.

08:45 Marc Preston: So, uh, the, the new project, Carrie, so it's a reboot or remake, or is it a reimagining of the, uh, the original Carrie? Um-

08:52 Katee Sackhoff: Well, I think that, I think that, um, you know, everything could be considered a reimagining- Mm ... um, when it's e- a reboot of a project, um, if all the same people are not involved. Um, and you know, Mike Flanagan is, is very well trusted by Stephen King to, uh, translate his works.

09:13 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and, um, it, this is just a really phenomenal modern telling of Carrie. Um, I, I feel so incredibly grateful to be a part of it and to be part of, you know, Mike's, uh, ensemble of actors that he's put together and, and, um, it's the second time I've worked with him and, and, um, I, I love every minute of it.

09:38 Katee Sackhoff: He's a, he is one of the most positive, inspiring, uh, directors to work with. Um, and he's really, um, truly special. So it's, it's nice to, to be there again.

09:53 Marc Preston: Now, without giving anything away, where, how do you factor into the storyline?

09:58 Katee Sackhoff: That's giving things

09:59 Marc Preston: away. Okay, okay, well then don't tell me. I, you know, I can't stand when people say, "I don't wanna give anything away, but..."

10:03 Marc Preston: Everything that follows but is giving something away. Uh, but

10:06 Katee Sackhoff: I said- Yeah, no, it's, uh, it is w- definitely one of those things I can tell you I'm in it, and beyond that, I can't tell you much.

10:13 Marc Preston: Going, kinda origin story, going back to Portland, what were you up to when you were, when you were growing up? Was the theatrical thing part of the ecosystem when you were first kinda getting rolling, or were you an athletic kid?

10:24 Marc Preston: Were you a, a studious kid? What, what was up when you were, when you were coming up in Portland?

10:27 Katee Sackhoff: I, I was a child that always leaned into imaginary play. Um, I think most children do to s- to a certain extent, and, and then we start to lose that as we, as we enter into school and, um, just, uh, get a little older and find different interests.

10:45 Katee Sackhoff: And, um, I did, um, my true love was always sports. Um, still is. Um, I absolutely love, um, competition and, um, I love pushing my body to a level that I don't think is, is possible and attainable and, um, I love that. Um- Throughout that entire time, I was also participating in, in theater, and I had a love of film with my dad, and my dad introduced me to some pretty, pretty fantastic stuff at a very young age.

11:22 Katee Sackhoff: Mm-hmm. Lot of it science fiction, lot of it inappropriate for children. Um- Yeah, I think

11:25 Marc Preston: we're sort of of an era where we were watching plenty of inappropriate stuff for children back in the day.

11:29 Katee Sackhoff: I think so. I think so,

11:31 Marc Preston: yeah. A lot of things that were PG back then would not fly as PG now, I don't think.

11:34 Katee Sackhoff: You know?

11:35 Katee Sackhoff: Agreed, yeah. I don't even really think G existed, you know? G existed for animation- Yeah ... and that was it. Um, um, but yeah. So then w- um, when I, I got hurt as an athlete and sort of really didn't know what to do with my life and, um, kind of saw my dreams- But what, what were you, what were you playing

11:54 Marc Preston: back then?

11:55 Marc Preston: What was your sport of

11:55 Katee Sackhoff: choi- sports-

11:56 Marc Preston: I was a swimmer. A

11:57 Katee Sackhoff: swimmer, okay. I was a swimmer, and my, you know, I had aspirations, Olympic aspirations and, and, um, whether or not those were foolhardy or not, um, but probably would've ended up swimming collegiately, um, at a pretty high level. Um, and when I got hurt, it sort of shifted that plan at, you know, 15, 16.

12:20 The newspaper ad for a body double that changed everything

12:20 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and then my mom, uh, found an ad in the paper to, uh, be Kirsten Dunst's body double in a movie here in Portland. Really? And was like, "You should go try," and, "You've always wanted to do this," and she, I think she was just trying to get me out of the house 'cause I was so depressed after swimming. Do you remember what the movie was, or?

12:39 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, it was called Fifteen and Pregnant. Um, it was a Lifetime movie with Parker Posey and Kirsten Dunst. Um, and I went down to be her body double and, and she and I just don't match physically. I'm taller than she is and bigger than she is. Um, and but there was a role that they were gonna cast out of Portland, and they gave me the sides, and I needed to go find an agency, so I drove and found an agency.

13:02 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and then got an agent-

13:04 Marc Preston: Wow ...

13:05 Katee Sackhoff: auditioned the next day.

13:06 Marc Preston: That's, that's kind of a cool backdoor way in.

13:07 Katee Sackhoff: Got the part. Got Taft-Hartley'd into the union. Um, the director of that, gentleman named Sam Pillsbury, who's wonderful man, um, convinced my mom to fly me down to California. Um, I had two scenes in the movie, that's it.

13:22 Katee Sackhoff: Convinced my mom to fly me to California. He and his wife drove my mom and I around, introduced me to my manager and my agent and my lawyer and-

13:30 Marc Preston: Wait, was, was this the director, you say?

13:32 Katee Sackhoff: Uh-huh.

13:32 Marc Preston: Wow. That's, that's a- Living in California ... that's a story you don't really hear about is a d- you know, somebody really kind of-

13:36 Katee Sackhoff: No, yeah

13:37 Marc Preston: wow.

13:37 Katee Sackhoff: It was a, it was a massive, uh- massive, uh, door opening. In, in fact, it, it wasn't even a door opening, it was the entire entrance of the house on one side was unlocked and all the windows were open by Sam Pilger. How were your

13:56 Marc Preston: parents processing this? Were they like, "Oh my gosh. Our daughter is a, a phenom now.

14:00 Marc Preston: She's ..." You know? Or what, what... How were they, uh, how were they embracing this?

14:04 Katee Sackhoff: Um, you know, uh, my parents were always of the mind of you can do anything you put your mind to. Um, whether or not you're successful at it or not is, is a whole 'nother variable. Um, they knew that if they didn't support me moving down to California, that I was gonna go without their help.

14:23 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and so they wanted to support me as much as possible because they felt that that was the only way they could keep me safe. Mm-hmm. Um, um, and I think that with Sam and his wife, um, at least being the entrance point for me, um, they felt that I at least knew somebody there that if I needed help I could call them.

14:42 Katee Sackhoff: Um, um, I don't know if my parents thought that I was actually gonna be successful as an actor. Um, I think that they thought that, um, I was probably following a dream-

14:55 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm ...

14:55 Katee Sackhoff: um, but that I would probably come home within a year or two.

14:59 Marc Preston: Um- Wait, how, how old were you again when, when you went down there?

15:01 Katee Sackhoff: I was 18.

15:01 Marc Preston: 18, okay. Okay.

15:02 Katee Sackhoff: When I moved. So I was 18. I had graduated from high school. I did the movie, um, I did Fifteen and Pregnant at the end of 16, so I turned 17 by the time that movie came out.

15:11 Marc Preston: Um- Well, what was it like for you, I'm curious, in a situation like that where you were sort of like, "Oh, let's try it out.

15:15 Marc Preston: Maybe I'll be a body double or..." But, and next thing you know, you're actually on a set, you're needing to know lines. I mean, h- how were you processing that? Was it kinda like euphoric, like, "Wow, this is awesome," or was it, were you nervous, were you comfortable? What was the feeling like?

15:28 Katee Sackhoff: Um, you know, it, it's- I'd always wanted to be an actor, um, but I never thought that it was possible.

15:36 Teaching herself to cry on camera in front of a mirror

15:36 Katee Sackhoff: I mean, I grew up in a small town. Um, and it, it... So it was, it was something that I had prepared for in the sense that I'd already been me- memorizing monologues. I would write down entire monologues of movies and go perform them in the mirror- Really? ... as a kid and try and figure out if I could make my face do what the actor's face did.

15:55 Katee Sackhoff: I taught myself how to cry on camera by looking in the mirror and watching myself cry, and taught myself how to be an actor. So, um, for me to sort of end up on set, um, not classically trained, it felt very comfortable because I felt like I'd already done it. Um, and I, I learned very young, um, and I don't know how I learned this, but, but I think something my mom always said in, in regard to sports was that, you know, you work as hard as you can, and you practice as much as you can, and then when you get there, you have to throw the rest up to you've done the work, and now just let the chips fall where they're gonna fall.

16:36 Marc Preston: Um- Well, it sounds like back then you were doing that thing, uh, you know, like athletes do, is kind of that visualization. You know, you just imagine yourself- Yeah ... in that moment, and it sounds like you were kind of doing that with acting. You know, you were kind of visualizing. I was. You know?

16:47 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. Yeah. Um, and that's how I ta- That's how I did scenes.

16:51 Katee Sackhoff: I would imagine what a, what the scene would look like in my head. I would daydream about it, and then I would go to work and try to do that. Um, now that was before I knew how to actually put myself into a character. Mm-hmm. You know, up 'til that point I was just acting. I was just reciting lines and convincingly doing so, pretending to be somebody else.

17:14 Katee Sackhoff: I wasn't actually putting myself in the character and becoming a character. Um, that came later. That, that came, um, you know, um, uh, I'd say, like, in the very beginning of Battlestar- ... when I sort of figured out how to, like, walk a mile in the other person's shoes.

17:38 Marc Preston: Were you an only kid growing up, or did you have brothers, sisters, or...?

17:41 Katee Sackhoff: No, I had a, I had a brother and a sister. Um, both older. Uh, my sister didn't grow up with us. She was 10 years older.

17:48 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

17:48 Katee Sackhoff: Um, but my brother and I, you know, um... Yeah, I was the youngest. I just sort of, you know, was left to my own devices quite a bit.

17:57 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and, uh, didn't get in much trouble. I was a good kid. Well, I think

18:02 Marc Preston: that's kind of the genesis of a lot of actors, being left to your own devices, being in your own head, you know, kinda- Yeah ... as you said, daydreaming. You know, I think, uh, I remember George Carlin used to say that it should be mandatory half-hour mandatory daydream time in schools.

18:15 Marc Preston: You know? Every-

18:16 Katee Sackhoff: Agree ...

18:16 Marc Preston: you know. Um,

18:18 Katee Sackhoff: so- Yeah. Boredom is a beautiful thing.

18:19 Marc Preston: Yeah. I was listening to a comedian the other day. He's like... Uh, it was Derek Stroup. He said, "Kids don't know how to be bored anymore." You know, they've always- No ... gotta be... And I think there's something that comes from that. It's not necessarily the boredom.

18:30 Marc Preston: It's like you have to manifest a moment for yourself, I, you know, I guess you could say. Yeah. So-

18:34 Katee Sackhoff: We say that to our kids all the time. Like, they're... You know, my daughter, every time she tells me, "I'm bored," I say to her, "Well, what are you gonna do about it? Like, you're four. I can look around the room and find 100 things that would entertain me right now."

18:47 Marc Preston: Yeah. "

18:47 Katee Sackhoff: It's not my job to figure out, you know, what's gonna entertain you. What do you wanna do right now?"

18:52 Marc Preston: Yeah. When I was a kid- Um ... I went the opposite direction. I was like, "Okay, I'm in the mood for a pillow fort," and I'd basically redesign the entire living room, of which my family would be like, "Oh, shit.

18:59 Marc Preston: Okay. Um, let's contain it to your room now," you know? Um- So you mentioned Battlestar. Uh, it was... By the way, it's so funny, last night I saw... It was a long day yesterday, and I was just kind of... I was laying there in bed. I was like, "Oh, emails I gotta take care of." It's like, and you... And then I said, "Let me go check the Instagrams."

19:15 Marc Preston: Uh, I think it was Instagram, and you came up. You had some, uh, Battlestar merch. And this is how tired and out of it. I, I was, "It's a BSG shirt. What's a BSG shirt?" And I know I was tired, 'cause it took me a good, I'm not joking, 10 minutes to figure out, "What's BS- Oh, Battlestar Galactica. Okay." And it's one of those things, like, I need to go to sleep.

19:33 Marc Preston: You know those deals like you've been up, been up too long. Yeah. You know? Yeah. But how did Battlestar come to you? Because that was, that's, that was a very unique reboot for, uh, for me being a Gen X kid. Had all the Battlestar toys when I was a kid. Uh, you know, it was- Yeah ... it was a big show. And then- Yeah

19:47 Marc Preston: rebooting it, I loved the tone. You know, it was not the original vibe. It wasn't as... I don't wanna say it wasn't family-friendly, but it was dis- it had very ad- adult, and, and it was really story-driven and... But I, I loved it. I wanna know how you came into that and what your initial impression was of what it would be and to start with.

20:06 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, for sure. So it came to me the, the way everything does in, in that, you know, the breakdown went out. My agency submitted me for, um, the role of Starbuck. Um, casting said, "Sure," like, "We'll give her a chance." Um, and then, you know, the audition process started. Um- This was not a time where they were withholding scripts 'cause the internet didn't exist, not really.

20:36 Katee Sackhoff: Mm-hmm. So no one was concerned that someone was gonna print this entire script and put it out in a print magazine.

20:41 Announcer: Oh, yeah.

20:42 Reading the Starbuck script and knowing it could change how people saw her

20:42 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. So you got the whole script if you wanted it. Um, and I remember reading the script, it was like Christmas of 2021, I think, or t- or 2001. And I remember thinking to myself If I can book this, it's gonna change the trajectory of my career.

21:04 Katee Sackhoff: Because up until that point, I had been playing very stereotypical teenage blonde roles.

21:13 Announcer: Mm-hmm.

21:13 Katee Sackhoff: Um, I was playing stupid, I was playing angsty, I was playing annoying or ditzy or slutty or, like, everything that you could, like, you know, label that you could put on someone that was blonde and, you know, 18 that also played 14.

21:32 Katee Sackhoff: Um, that's who I played. Um, and I hated it. I was so bored by it. It was just so stupid. It was so I just, I absolutely, you know, despised it. I, I slowly started to work-

21:45 Marc Preston: Which is rough 'cause if you're getting work, you're, you know, you're going, "A lot of people would love to be working," but it's, it's kind of that dichotomy.

21:49 Marc Preston: It's like, "Yeah, it's work, but it's not what I want," you know, necessarily. So did you see the role and go, "This is it. This is, this is, this is my-"

21:58 Katee Sackhoff: No.

21:59 Marc Preston: Oh, really?

21:59 Katee Sackhoff: No. I, I, I, I s- what I did see was a, I saw a character that I knew I could play because she was, she was me. Um, um, I'd finally seen women in combat represented, like, on paper.

22:19 Katee Sackhoff: That had never happened before. You know, I was... Or that I had seen. You know, I grew up idolizing Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver- Yeah ... and Lucy Lawless and, like, all of these people, and those roles were very, very hard to come by, especially for a 20-year-old kid. Um, and so when I saw that, I was like, "This will change the way people see me."

22:42 Katee Sackhoff: I didn't think it would be successful. I just knew that I would get to run around with a gun. And, you know, people may go, "Oh, she's not the chubby girl in The Richard Dreyfuss Show," which is how people described me in that moment of my career. So I was trying to get people to look at me differently, um, and so I fought for that role.

23:08 Cutting her hair and walking away from bigger offers to fight for one role

23:08 Katee Sackhoff: I, I, I, I cut my hair off and I, I wanted, you know, I wore jeans and, like, fatig- Like, I just tried to be her as much as possible, um, for the auditions, whilst still wearing heels and being myself, of course. Um, but I just knew that it would make people see me differently for that reason. So I, I walked away from a lot of bigger opportunities and bigger auditions at that time, test deals, to, to sort of focus on At hopefully getting Battlestar

23:44 Marc Preston: It was a real toss-up because whenever you reboot a show, uh, it could be just like, "All right, they tried it, done."

23:49 Marc Preston: You know? Mm-hmm. And it's just, it just fizzles out, whatever have you. But- Yeah ... this really kind of, it took off. Am I imagining, did they actually... They didn't start the series, like, with a, with a pilot. They had, like, a movie. Didn't they do... Like, a, it was, like, two-hour-

24:02 Katee Sackhoff: We did, yeah. It was, yeah. We did a m- the miniseries.

24:05 Marc Preston: Yeah

24:05 Katee Sackhoff: Um, which was a three-hour television event. Um, and it was a backdoor pilot.

24:12 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm.

24:13 Katee Sackhoff: So if it did really well, we would get picked up into series. Um, and so from the miniseries to getting picked up to the show w- was a, quite a while. It was a, it was a big amount of downtime from what I remember correctly.

24:28 Katee Sackhoff: Um, but I think my team at the time was a little frustrated because, you know, the opportunities that I was getting were... I had just come off this show with Richard Dreyfuss, and all of the opportunities were for series regulars on TV shows with 22 episodes.

24:43 Marc Preston: Right.

24:43 Katee Sackhoff: So they were like, "Well, why would you walk away from 22 episodes on NBC to do three hours of a TV movie?

24:50 Katee Sackhoff: Like, that doesn't make sense." And I was like, "Right. But the 22 episode shows are exactly what I've been doing, just in a different show. This is different. This is different. If it doesn't get picked up, it doesn't get picked up. There's... It, it doesn't matter. I'm 22 years old at this point, or 21. Like, I'll just go back and keep trying to book another show.

25:12 Katee Sackhoff: Like, it's not the end of the world." Um, and so I, I really fought for it.

25:18 Marc Preston: You mentioned, like, Sigourney Weaver and, uh, Linda Hamilton. To my knowledge, you, the character of Starbuck was kind of... You were kind of in your own universe. You were not... You know, you were tough, you were physical, you were, you know, mouthy and all.

25:30 Marc Preston: You know, which was... I don't think any- anybody else on TV was doing that at that time, you know? So you really kind of- Mm-hmm ... you did enter into that club, you know? But what... Do you find that people, when they see you on the street or w- wherever, do they still... For you, this is 20 years ago, whatever have you, or a little bit more.

25:46 Marc Preston: But is it odd to have some- a project you did that long that people still have such a connection to? There... A lot of people in the arc of 20 years do a bazillion projects. But is, like, do you enjoy still being connected to that? Or is it like, "Okay, that's back then. I wanna focus on what's right now"?

26:02 Katee Sackhoff: I think if I haven't, if I hadn't worked since then, I think I would feel a little bit m- like a high school quarterback.

26:08 Marc Preston: Yeah.

26:08 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. Um, um, but the difference is, is- The work holds up. It- The project holds up. It does. The writing holds up. The special effects hold up. The, the... Everything in that show, and I know this because we're doing the rewatch right now, my husband and I, called Battlestar Reactica, 'cause I've never seen Battlestar Galactica.

26:31 Watching "Battlestar Galactica" for the first time, 25 years later, with her husband

26:31 Katee Sackhoff: So we're wa- Wait,

26:32 Marc Preston: wait. You never watched the series?

26:33 Katee Sackhoff: I had never seen it, no.

26:35 Marc Preston: Re- okay.

26:35 Katee Sackhoff: I, I'd never seen it. Yeah, I, I'd, I'd seen pieces of it, um, not in finished product, but, like, I'd, I'd seen pieces of it, like, um, uncut, um, and completely out of order with no special effects or anything, no sound editing, no color correction, the whole deal.

26:51 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and I'd seen the miniseries. Um, um, and I thought, you know, it's 25 years later. It's, it's time to watch this thing, 'cause fans have been asking me to watch it. My husband hadn't seen it either. And so the project holds up. Everything is more relevant now in Battlestar Galactica than it was then-

27:11 Marc Preston: God, isn't that-

27:12 Marc Preston: because of AI ... isn't that something? But I've heard that before, uh, for actors, they just don't really like watching themselves or is it-

27:18 Katee Sackhoff: Mm-hmm ...

27:19 Marc Preston: is there, like what was the reasoning just for not watching it?

27:22 Katee Sackhoff: I was just busy. I

27:23 Marc Preston: was just- Well, that's a good answer.

27:23 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, I mean, it was airing on TV while we were working, so unless I could get home and record it on the VHS and like g- or like the DVR and like...

27:34 Katee Sackhoff: I was just busy. I just didn't... It just never I just never had the time to sit down and watch it. Um, and then right after Battlestar I, I went on to 24 and, and so I just kept working. And then, and then it just didn't seem necessary. It seemed like a huge undertaking to go watch 78 hours of something.

27:55 Announcer: Yeah.

27:56 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and so, or more than that, I think. Um, so I, I just didn't do it. Um, and then it, it sort of felt weird to watch it. And then, and then I got far enough away from it where, you know, now I could be her mom. Um- And so now it's easy to watch. It's very easy to watch. I don't see myself.

28:16 Marc Preston: That's another thing. You went from a show which had a big following to 24.

28:21 Marc Preston: The season you went to 24, I think it was, they were a few seasons in by that point in time, so it had its mass- It was, uh, in New York, I think. It was your season, right? It was a sh- Yeah. Okay. I did the last season. Do you enjoy the physical stuff? Do you enjoy actually, you know...?

28:34 Katee Sackhoff: I do. Yeah. It's, it's, um...

28:37 Katee Sackhoff: Bringing physicality to my characters, um, grounds them, um, even when it's, even when it's, you know, a comedy or, you know, I did a dark comedy where I, I... A lot of the, they call it girl flu, and it was very funny subject matter, but, like, my character was physical in that. Like, I, I like to make them, I like to make that the, my physical body and how I move part of the character and figure out, you know, how they walk and how they move and how they sit and, you know, what they do with their hands and how their face moves and all of that stuff.

29:16 Katee Sackhoff: It, it's all part of it, um, that I really enjoy. I really enjoy it.

29:20 Marc Preston: Well, when you got to LA at you're 18 and just kind of looking at the timeline, were you getting into some acting classes? Were you trying to do more formal training, or was it a lot of on-the-job training for you, more or less?

29:31 Katee Sackhoff: It was all on-the-job training.

29:33 Walking out of an acting class and never going back

29:33 Katee Sackhoff: Um, I, um, I went... I, I kind of immediately started working, which was wonderful. Um, smaller jobs. Um, and then I went to, to audit a class, um, and I watched a teacher break down a student, um, and it was disgusting, and I didn't feel the need or the, the I didn't have a desire to sit in a, in a class structure like that and watch a teacher sort of break somebody down to build them back up in their image.

30:10 Katee Sackhoff: It always felt really cruel to me to do in a public setting. And so I never went back to any formal training. Um, because it, it, it was like if that's, if that's acting... And unfortunately I ended up in a really bad spot and I'm, and I, I do know there are some phenomenal coaches and phenomenal places to go study.

30:31 Katee Sackhoff: And, um, unfortunately for me, the first time I went to a place was, was a place that, that was just not for me- Yeah, yeah ... at all. Um, and- Well, it's

30:40 Marc Preston: a buyer beware thing. Sometimes you land in an amazing situation- Yeah ... sometimes it's like, "Oh my God, where am I at?"

30:45 Katee Sackhoff: Um- Yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure.

30:54 Marc Preston: And the voiceover thing, which you seem to really embrace that, I mean, you, you, pretty prolifically, you know. How did that come into the- Mm-hmm ... in your world? Uh, was it something that grabbed you, you were interested in? Or did somebody recommend, "Hey, why don't you go try this thing out? Why don't, why don't you, you know, do some animation kind of stuff"?

31:10 Katee Sackhoff: I think it's a little bit of that. I think it was, you know, you've got some downtime. Um, you're not allowed contractually to go do other things. At that time, when I first started, um, movie actors and TV actors didn't really overlap. Mm-hmm. You know, we sort of stayed in our, our, our portion of the sandbox, if you will.

31:28 Announcer: Yeah.

31:28 Katee Sackhoff: Um, so I, I would have time off and, you know, sometimes a lot of the, the time, the only thing that I was contractually able to do would be... The, the opportunities were small and a lot of it would be animation. And so I'd be like, "Well, great," like, "Let's try that." Um, and I'm so happy that I did, and I'm so happy that I, that I sort of fell into animation because it taught me a completely different skill to then on-camera acting.

31:58 Katee Sackhoff: Right. To be able to use my voice to convey, um, any emotion I want with my face doing something completely separate, um, was i- it's, it's just another tool in the toolbox that I, I had never really, because I was not formally trained, I had never really, um, flexed and, and utilized. Um, and, and, and I, I love voiceover work.

32:27 Katee Sackhoff: I find it to be so fun.

32:29 Marc Preston: For you, is it a fu- Is it, I don't wanna say less work. But let's say somebody said, "Okay, you have a day on set now," or, "You have a day in a studio," which for you is a little easier for you? You know, a little, you know- Hmm ... le- less... What's less fatiguing for you, let's say?

32:44 Katee Sackhoff: Oh, gosh. Um, both of them in different, in different light.

32:48 Katee Sackhoff: Um, I think that, um- Depending on what the, the, the voiceover job is, it could be very, very, um, quick and hard and fast and, and take a lot of energy and, um, and be quite exhausting w- even just an hour. Um, um, because I do move around a lot. Yeah. Um, and a lot of the characters I play are larger than life, um, as well.

33:17 Katee Sackhoff: Um, i- i- the, the physical commitment and the exhaustion of being on set for, you know, 12 to 18 hours a day, um, and having to stay engaged, um, and, and, you know, be exhausted but not be exhausted, be going through things in your own life and not be able to have them show up.

33:41 Marc Preston: Yeah. I,

33:42 Katee Sackhoff: um- That's exhausting. Yeah.

33:43 Katee Sackhoff: You know? I mean, I have, I have been through every, uh, painful, traumatic, happy, horrible thing you can possibly imagine in life And I've had to be at work.

33:57 Marc Preston: Well, you know, the thing is- And, uh- ... I, I always looked at it, like years ago when I worked in radio, I always thought, "Okay, when I walk in that studio, the world stays outside and I'm in the studio.

34:05 Marc Preston: And I... That's my little reprieve." But as an actor, you need to access emotions. You need to have them be real. Mm-hmm. So- Mm-hmm ... it's sort of like you're still tapping into the same well where there's some stuff going on, and it's- Yeah ... you know. I just look at voiceover, at least there's not a, a lot of waiting around.

34:22 Marc Preston: There's like, "Okay, we shot one minute." Yeah. "Now go back to your trailer for an hour." You know, that kind of a thing. Yeah. You're in there, you do your thing, you

34:27 Katee Sackhoff: leave. Yeah, absolutely.

34:28 Marc Preston: Now, you've got two- Yeah ... two little ones. Your daughter's four, and how old's your son?

34:32 Katee Sackhoff: My son's two, yeah.

34:33 Marc Preston: Oh, I remember the diaper days.

34:35 Marc Preston: Uh, yeah, those were, you know-

34:36 Katee Sackhoff: He's actually, he is potty trained.

34:39 Marc Preston: Really?

34:40 Katee Sackhoff: Okay. We have, uh, we have potty trained both of our kids very early. I don't know how we did it. Um, our daughter wanted to be potty trained, and she started potty training herself at nine months old. It was insane. I, I don't even... But we learned watching her do it.

34:55 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and our s- our son was a- ... a little bit more difficult, 'cause I, from what I understand, boys are a little bit more difficult when it comes to that. Um, uh, it just took a tiny bit longer. But we luckily are out of diapers, thank God.

35:09 Marc Preston: Yeah. W- I'm not gonna name which kid, because their friends listen to the show, so I'm not gonna s- One of them was just a little more obstinate.

35:16 Marc Preston: They're like, "This is very convenient. I can do my thing and you just change my diaper and..." Mm-hmm. You know, it's like the other ones were, like, done, you know? Yeah. Um, but I have to ask, you know, for... My son Zachary will kill me if I don't ask, but how did Mandalorian come your way? Was the same thing, same audition?

35:30 Marc Preston: Or was it more of a situation where somebody's like, "This is a role that is meant for you." How, how did it come to you?

35:36 How a "Robot Chicken" recommendation led to Bo-Katan

35:36 Katee Sackhoff: So it started as a voiceover job, you know. Um, uh, Dave Filoni, who created Clone Wars, um, was friends, uh, with Matt and Seth over at Robot Chicken. Um, he had the role of Bo-Katan that he was working on in animation.

35:52 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and he asked them how I was to work with, um, from what I understand. And thankfully- Oh, so

35:59 Marc Preston: you started off with the Robot Chicken. Okay. Okay.

36:01 Katee Sackhoff: I did. So thankfully, uh, that was one of my, one of my first voiceover jobs, um, 20 years ago or something. Um- And those guys gave me a glowing recommendation, thankfully.

36:15 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and that's how I ended up playing Bo-Katan in animation for, like, eight years. Um- Now

36:20 Marc Preston: I know it's, uh- And- I know Seth, but who's, who's the Matt of the Matt and Seth? Who's he?

36:24 Katee Sackhoff: Matt Senreich is, uh, one of M- Seth's partners. Oh, okay. Okay. He's the other creator of, of Robot Chicken.

36:29 Marc Preston: That's such a sneaky funny show.

36:31 Marc Preston: It's just, just randomness, you know? But it, it is, uh- Yeah ... it, it's a st- a st- what do you call, stop animation, stop, uh, f- Mm-hmm ... well, I forgot what we call animation, but-

36:39 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, stop, motion capture? Yeah, m- They do, like, claymation and stuff too. Like, they do m- motion capture and stop caption or c- or whatever it's called.

36:47 Katee Sackhoff: It's, it's a, it's a very interesting type of animation.

36:50 Marc Preston: Well, in the era of AI, that kind of stuff, that kind of, that is, like, practical, authentic kind of, uh, you kind of... I don't know, uh, my generation- Yes ... I kind of crave that, you know? But so they gave you that glowing recommendation, said, "Yeah, Katee's a rock star," and he's-

37:04 Katee Sackhoff: Um, they gave me the, the recommendation and, and then I ended up playing, uh, Bo-Katan for, for, like, eight years.

37:12 Katee Sackhoff: Um, um, and, uh, and then in 2018, I think it was, I was at Star Wars Celebration for the last season of Clone Wars. Um, we came back for an eighth season. Um, and, um, I had heard of Mandalorian at that point. Um, no one had seen Mandalorian, but I'd heard of it.

37:35 Announcer: Mm-hmm.

37:36 Katee Sackhoff: And, um, I said, I cornered Dave Filoni, um, and I sort of was like, "Hey, man Bo-Katan's still alive.

37:45 Katee Sackhoff: What are, what are we doing with her? Is she gonna show up in Clone- in, uh, Mandalorian or what? And I was just joking. You know, Dave and I are very friendly. We sort of have always had this, like, very fun, jokey friendship. And so I was just sort of, like, taking the piss. Uh, you know, I, I think it was very soon after that, um, I got a phone call that Jon Favreau wanted to sit down with me and meet me, um, to potentially play the role of Bo-Katan in live action.

38:13 Marc Preston: I gotta know, did you call him Baby Yoda or Grogu on the set? Well, I always... What were they, what were they calling Grogu on set?

38:21 Katee Sackhoff: Uh, yeah, I, I think that, um, well, up till then we didn't know his name, so everybody just called him Baby Yoda. Um, so we didn't know his name from the very beginning. Um, and then when Grogu showed up, you sort of had to call him, uh, Grogu.

38:37 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. Um, I called him, I still called him, like, Baby G and- ... Baby Grogu, and yeah, never, never quite just called him Grogu.

38:46 Bringing the dad who showed her sci-fi as a kid onto a "Star Wars" set

38:46 Marc Preston: Now, your dad, you said you watched sci-fi with your dad. Of course, Star Wars is just the pinnacle. Um, w- w- what, what was your dad's reaction when you were now in a Star Wars live action?

38:57 Katee Sackhoff: It was amazing. I, I think that, you know, my dad was never really a fan of Battlestar Galactica- Mm-hmm ... the original. Um, uh, I mean, it was really only on for, like, a season as well, so it, you know, unless you were a fan of it, it really came and went pretty quickly. Um, and, you know, he, he liked Longmire, but, you know, wasn't his cup of tea, but they, he did, he did like it.

39:21 Katee Sackhoff: But he'd never really, I'd never really done a project, uh, of a huge, um, a, a, a huge, uh, with a huge fandom like Star Wars before, and, and something that he, he showed me as a kid. So it was really cool to, to tell him that I was gonna do it, and he was, like, blown away and, and really excited by it. And then I got to bring him to set and- That was-

39:47 Katee Sackhoff: sign a huge NDA and- ... um, and sorry, there's li- literally sawing going on right now in our

39:53 Marc Preston: room. You're, you're totally, you're totally fine. You're totally fine.

39:56 Katee Sackhoff: It's, uh... Let me close this door and see if it'll get better. That's a little bit better.

40:01 Marc Preston: Jon Favreau, what, what was his input to you conceptually on your character?

40:06 Marc Preston: Did he, did he say take it and run, or did he, did he have a real concept for kind of how you would enter into the scene?

40:12 Katee Sackhoff: Um, yeah. I mean, he, he did have a concept for sure. You know, because the character was canon and, and she came from animation, and there was, uh, you know, a tremendous amount of, of backstory on her that I had, um, um, it was, it was really a team effort.

40:32 Katee Sackhoff: It was, you know, wanting to figure out who this person was. And, you know, we knew so much about her in animation and how she moved in animation. We didn't know how she moved in live action. We didn't know, um, how my face moved. We didn't know any of that stuff. So that was really a team effort with Jon and Dave and Bryce Dallas Howard and myself, and really trying to pinpoint who she was.

40:57 Marc Preston: You know, the goal was- Oh yeah, 'cause

40:58 Katee Sackhoff: she was

40:58 Marc Preston: directing, wasn't she? Wasn't she directing some of the episodes?

41:01 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, mm-hmm. Okay. Yeah. Um, i- the goal for me was always that she, she, she feel familiar to fans of Clone Wars and Rebels, um, but not be distracting for, for people who didn't know who she was.

41:17 Marc Preston: Yeah, 'cause that's my son's generation, I think, that grew up there, uh, with you doing the animation.

41:21 Marc Preston: That's how my son really got introduced to Star Wars, was through the animation- Yeah ... and through the Legos- Yeah ... and all th- It wasn't like going and watching the original, you know, uh... I have to ask him, 'cause I've lost track sort of, you know. I said, "We gotta sit down sometime and go watch from Episode I all the way through," you know?

41:39 Marc Preston: And, and the t-

41:40 Katee Sackhoff: Oh, I know. We've talked about doing that, too.

41:42 Marc Preston: I was gonna ask you, of all the prequels, sequels, and everything, which, uh, besides the original three, what were your, what is your favorite film that, that came out? Which was the one that grabs you as being the, uh, just... I'm not saying it's the best.

41:57 Marc Preston: It's just the one you enjoy the most, let's say.

42:00 Katee Sackhoff: Um, oh gosh. I don't know. I don't have a favorite.

42:05 Marc Preston: I've, I have a soft spot- I really don't ... for Rogue One. My, that's kind of my,

42:08 Katee Sackhoff: uh- A, a lot of people do. I liked Solo. You know, um, f- I still think Phantom Menace is a great jo- a great movie. Um, I don't know. I, I, I like them all.

42:19 Katee Sackhoff: You know, I, I think that, um, um, we've, we've really seen some fantastic, um, Star Wars in streaming lately, and I think that's where we're really getting spoiled-

42:34 Marc Preston: Mm-hmm ...

42:34 Katee Sackhoff: um, is in, um, um, some of the animatio- or some of the, the, the, uh, streaming stuff right now.

42:41 Marc Preston: Did I see somewhere you're doing a podcast right now.

42:43 Marc Preston: Are you?

42:44 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. Yeah, no, I've been doing, um, The Sackhoff Show now for- Four years. Um, and it's, uh, you know, had a, had a working YouTube channel for a long time, um, since I think 2013 In 2018, started creating long-form content. Um, just, like, fun things to, to do while I was waiting between, uh, seasons of, uh, one and two of Another Life.

43:14 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and then it turned into an interview show, and I did over 100 interviews, and I really enjoyed that. Um, and now it's turned into the Battlestar reaction show, um, Battlestar Reactica, that I do with my husband. Um-

43:29 Marc Preston: Battlestar Reactica. That is-

43:31 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, it's super fun. It's, you know, we watch every episode and we react to it.

43:36 Katee Sackhoff: And, um, you know, we have a Patreon where people can watch the entire thing, 'cause obviously we can't show the entire thing on YouTube. Um, and so, so that's sort of really fun right now, and, and I have cast and, um, the directors on and the writers on, and we watch the episodes together and, and, um, it's been really fun.

43:59 Marc Preston: You know, it's funny, I was watching this film, uh, came out on Netflix maybe two years ago called Who Is Erin Carter? Uh, it was a great... It takes place in Spain, but anyway, but Jamie Bamber's in it. I had no idea he was from, uh, the UK. He started talking, I was like, "Wait a-" Yeah, he's

44:13 Katee Sackhoff: British.

44:13 Marc Preston: Yeah, I had no idea.

44:14 Marc Preston: They're sneaky with, uh, you know, covering up that, you know,au- Australians and the p- folks in the UK can do-

44:20 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah ...

44:20 Marc Preston: the American dialect, but in reverse. They can. They can. It's, it's so much harder to do the Australian, though.

44:25 Katee Sackhoff: It's very hard. We're also really forgiving, you know? I mean, I can hear most people's accents when, when they're doing an American accent, just 'cause I also know that they're not American.

44:36 Katee Sackhoff: Um, um, we sort of, uh, allow a lot of people to play Americans. We don't really get the off- uh, the option to go the other way- Yeah ... too much. Um, um, but his, uh, Jamie's dad is, um, American. Oh, okay. So he grew up around, um, an American accent, so he's very good at it.

44:55 Marc Preston: You got a studio set up at home, I'm assuming.

44:57 Marc Preston: Correct?

44:58 Katee Sackhoff: I do. Yeah. Not... The, the one I'm in right now is just for interviews. Yeah. Of course, it's normally a lot quieter, unless you've got somebody that's drilling and- ... sawing in the room right next to you. Yep. We have a studio downstairs, and, um, that's just a living room that we've turned into a studio, but we're building an actual studio, um, on property.

45:20 Marc Preston: I have to ask, what is your favorite microphone to use? It's, I gotta ask one VO question, VO nerd question. Oh my

45:26 Katee Sackhoff: God. These are questions that you, you should ask my husband. I don't even know. This is what he does.

45:31 Marc Preston: What is his gig? What is his, uh, vocation?

45:34 Katee Sackhoff: So my husband is a writer by trade. Um, uh, but my husband is, uh, very good at figuring out how to do everything.

45:43 Katee Sackhoff: Um, he is, he is one of those people that, um, that if you ask, if you ask him to figure out how to do something, he will do it. He will, uh, figure out how to build a chicken coop, and he will, you know, he will draw the plans and do the measurements and Well, you have the jackpot there.

46:00 Marc Preston: You know, you got a, you got somebody

46:01 Katee Sackhoff: just- Yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty amazing.

46:03 Katee Sackhoff: He, he will... He figures out how to do everything. He just, uh, for our live event with Ron Moore, he did all the editing, all the sound, all the, the, the cueing, like he... And he was also on camera doing the interview with me. Like it was, he is, um, he is very good at everything. So he, um, he does all the, the stuff for the YouTube channel.

46:31 The Seven Questions

46:31 Marc Preston: Before we get going, I always do my seven questions at the back end of my chats. It's my little extra bit of fun, and I always talk food at least once during the show 'cause I'm kind of a food nerd. What-

46:40 Katee Sackhoff: Well, you should come to Portland. That's what we do here.

46:42 Marc Preston: I, I have heard, well, no, I have heard that y'all have some really good donuts there.

46:46 Katee Sackhoff: We do have good donuts. I mean, I, I, I just... I really don't think a good donut's hard, to be honest. Like, like, to me, I'm not impressed by a good donut. Like, I know we have good donuts here in Portland, but I'm like, "All right. Great, guys." Yeah, I know. It's like, how many of those can you- Like, can we talk about some of the, the, you know, uh, uh, some of the phenomenal restaurants we have here?

47:05 Katee Sackhoff: I mean, we got more food carts than I think any other state. It's abs- it just, there's so many- Well, that's- ... good restaurants here ... that's something I- You can get Michelin star quality food in a food truck in Portland.

47:17 Marc Preston: But, you know, being down here, I, whenever I go up to Austin, I always have to hit the food trucks up there.

47:22 Marc Preston: But- Yes ... I, I gotta know, what is your favorite comfort food, that thing, if you've having, you're having a great day, it adds to it, if you're having a crummy day, it kind of elevates you a little bit, what would that be for you?

47:31 Katee Sackhoff: Oh, God. Um, I love, um, Spanish food. I love, like, hearty, hearty, like, um- Paellas or-

47:41 Katee Sackhoff: rice and beans and, and, um, like moles and stuff. When I, when I filmed, um, in New Mexico, um, it was one of my favorite places to film because of the, uh, the, the food there and how it's all, um, inspired by and then, like, everything is just sort of, um, you know, um, let's take a mole and flip it on its head and things.

48:09 Katee Sackhoff: I, I just, I, I love it. There's, um- Well, the

48:11 Marc Preston: question for anybody in New Mexico is do you like the red or do you like the green sauce, or do you do both?

48:16 Katee Sackhoff: No, man. You gotta have it Christmas.

48:18 Marc Preston: There you go.

48:19 Katee Sackhoff: You gotta have it Christmas. You gotta have it both. There's a place here, um, uh, at the farmers market that has s- one of the best breakfast burritos I've ever had in my life, and they do a green and a red sauce.

48:30 Katee Sackhoff: And, um, they always know when somebody knows what the hell they're talking about 'cause they always come up and they say, "Can I have my Christmas, please?"

48:38 Marc Preston: That's... Oh, gosh. I literally ate right before we chatted. Now I'm hungry again, so, uh, thank you.

48:42 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah.

48:43 Marc Preston: Um, now next question: If you're gonna sit down, you're gonna spend an afternoon talking story with you and, uh, three other people, living or not- Mm

48:49 Marc Preston: you're gonna be sitting down just having coffee, talking, who would those three people be, uh, living or not, that you would like to have that conversation with over an afternoon? Oh

48:58 Katee Sackhoff: my God.

49:01 Katee Sackhoff: I'd say my husband 'cause he's really good at breaking story down. Ron Moore He's one of the smartest people I've ever met. Um, and Mike Flanagan. I'm just like, I wanna sit with those guys. Um, they're so different, and they're, they're all just so amazing. Ron and Mike are, by far, two of the best storytellers that I've ever worked with, and they're both respectful and fans of each other.

49:33 Katee Sackhoff: Um, they both are aware of each other. Um, and, um, I think that, that, that watching those two create something together could be quite-

49:46 Marc Preston: Yeah, it's all about listening to- Yeah ... to great storytellers, you know, just, just kind of go at it, you know. Ever heard somebody tell a story and you were actually there when the story happened, but they tell it in a much more theatrical, interesting way?

49:59 Marc Preston: It's like, "Okay, well, I can't really do that," you know? It's so great to listen- ... to great storytellers. Yeah. It's

50:03 Katee Sackhoff: how I tell stories. My, my parents, when I was a kid growing up, I was a compulsive liar. Um, and, um, my parents didn't really stop me until it started biting me in the ass the older I got, and I realized that you can't quite make up stories because now you're just lying.

50:19 Katee Sackhoff: It's not really embellishing the truth for, for, uh, for emphasis and for flair. Um, but my parents always allowed me to do it because they thought it was hysterical, um, the stories that I would concoct, and I could tell these amazing s- these, you know, create entire worlds that happened in our backyard. And, and, um, my daughter does it.

50:42 Katee Sackhoff: Our daughter does it- Oh,

50:43 Marc Preston: my, my- ... and it's really crazy to see her do it ... my youngest does it as well, and it's, it's sort of- Mm-hmm ... when she was younger, it's like, okay, she's either gonna go into, into something theatrical or politics, one of the two, because she's really good at it. She just- Yeah ... she's like, she totally buys in.

50:56 Marc Preston: But yeah, I know, I know what you mean bec- sometimes it's, with her it's like, okay, it'd be better if it's a better story, so she just embellishes. So it's fun to see her little- Yeah ... mind conjure stuff. Um-

51:05 Katee Sackhoff: Supposedly, children that lie just have high levels of intelligence.

51:09 Marc Preston: Going back to when you were young, uh, next question.

51:11 Marc Preston: Who was your first celebrity crush when you were young?

51:14 Katee Sackhoff: Oh my God, Jonathan Brandis.

51:16 Marc Preston: What do you call, Home Improvement, was he on that? Or is it, am I thinking-

51:18 Katee Sackhoff: No, that's Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Oh,

51:19 Marc Preston: yeah, that's

51:20 Katee Sackhoff: right. Uh, uh, Jonathan Brandis. Is that his name, Jonathan Brandis?

51:24 Marc Preston: Yeah. I-

51:25 Katee Sackhoff: He was on, um, the, the show with the, the dolphin.

51:29 Katee Sackhoff: What was that show called? Um, SeaQuest, or is that, was that his name? He's unfortunately passed away. Yeah,

51:36 Marc Preston: yeah.

51:36 Katee Sackhoff: And he, um, I think it was Jonathan Brandis. Is that his name? Um, yeah, it was Jonathan Brandis. Um, yeah, he did a... He was in The NeverEnding Story, which I was, like, obsessed with. Um, and he, um, what was the TV show called?

51:53 Marc Preston: Yeah, I, I know what you're talking about. Yeah, but I can't think of what the name of it was. But-

51:56 Katee Sackhoff: Oh, yeah. So sidekicks and ladybugs and, like, it was ma- SeaQuest. Yeah, it was SeaQuest.

52:00 Marc Preston: Yes.

52:01 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah. Um, but no, he was- Um, absolutely amazing

52:05 Marc Preston: There, there was an era. He wa- he was in that ecosystem of, uh, Tiger Beat and all that, you know, all the

52:10 Katee Sackhoff: Mm-hmm.

52:11 Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was, like, you know, 12.

52:13 Marc Preston: Now, the next question I got, if you're gonna be living on a, like an exotic island, somewhere you really wanna be, it's, it's wonderful, but there's no streaming, and you're gonna be there a whole year. You... If you wanna listen to music, you're allowed one CD, or a, I'll, I'll allow a, a box set.

52:29 Marc Preston: And a movie, you're allowed one DVD. What would that one, uh, to watch and to listen to over and over, what would the CD and what would the DVD be for you?

52:37 Katee Sackhoff: Oh, my Lord. Um, probably take... Oh, my God. I would probably take The Band greatest hits, um, vinyl with me. Um- So we're

52:49 Marc Preston: doing vinyl. We're not even doing CD.

52:51 Marc Preston: We're going OG.

52:51 Katee Sackhoff: No. Okay. We'll just go to vinyl. Um, and I would probably take for DVD Oh my God. That's the hardest thing ever. You know, there is one movie, and everyone's gonna make fun of me for this forever. There is one movie that no matter what I'm doing, I will stop and watch it, and it's The Wedding Planner with J.Lo.

53:16 Marc Preston: It's, it's your comfort food movie. You know? It's that-

53:19 Katee Sackhoff: It is.

53:19 Marc Preston: Yeah.

53:19 Katee Sackhoff: I, uh, J- uh, Jennifer, Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey were gold together. Um, and she, she m- just nailed that role. They together, I just, I loved everything about that movie, and I still do. I will still watch it and, you know, sometimes when I'm watching movies in the park, I will take out all the colored M&Ms and throw them away

53:47 Katee Sackhoff: just to, just to remember the movie. I love it.

53:51 Marc Preston: Very good. Now, uh, i- if you were to say from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed, what would be the ingredients for you of a day that you can go, "Hmm, that was a perfect day for me"? What would be the, some of the, some of the ingredients- Hmm

54:03 Marc Preston: that would make it perfect?

54:05 Katee Sackhoff: Oh, God. Um, so I've had a perfect day recently. We were staying at an RV park at the beach here in Oregon. Um, woke up in the morning, had some coffee. It was kind of rainy, but, like, the sun was starting to come out, but it was a little cold. So we took the kids to the beach, and then, uh, went to the aquarium, and then we went and got some lunch, and then we played on the beach some more, and my parents were there.

54:39 Katee Sackhoff: Um, and then we went and got dinner, and came back, and had marshmallows, and went to bed in the trailer, and it was beautiful. It was-

54:48 Marc Preston: That is,

54:48 Katee Sackhoff: that is- It was- That is perfect ... a perfect day.

54:50 Marc Preston: So do y'all have a trailer or do y'all have a motor home?

54:52 Katee Sackhoff: So we've been renting. Um, we've been renting, um, to try and decide what we want to buy- Mm-hmm

55:00 Katee Sackhoff: without making the expensive mistake and then having to sell it and change our minds. I,

55:06 Marc Preston: I have to admit, I've been watching- So trying to figure it out ... YouTube videos, and I've been watching this, like, uh, 'cause it's a, it's an interest of mine that maybe wants to turn into more than an interest. 'Cause I was like- Mm-hmm

55:14 Marc Preston: how cool would it be to have, like, a class A motor home? Set up a little studio- Yeah ... space and just travel, you know. Yeah. And, uh, that to me would

55:21 Katee Sackhoff: be- Yeah, absolutely ...

55:23 Marc Preston: that

55:23 Katee Sackhoff: would- There's something really beautiful about it, and, you know, it's, it's one of the things, back to children, one of the things that, you know, we really want to instill in our kids is the, um...

55:35 Katee Sackhoff: Our kids are very spoiled. They, they have everything that they could possibly want. Um, so what we need to do is we need to take that knowledge and still give them the understanding that they, um, are very lucky and that, um, that- That, that they need to be able to see past the end of their nose, and see past our cul-de-sac and past our country and past, you know, wherever, and see that, uh...

56:05 Katee Sackhoff: Acknowledge, um, y- like their piece of who they are in this world. And, and I think that one of the ways to do that is to, to take away, um, the technology and, and spend time together. And, um, some beautiful things happen with our kids when, when we're with them and there's nothing to do.

56:28 Marc Preston: Yeah, I think travel teaches, and I think having, like, a space- Mm-hmm

56:31 Marc Preston: like a trailer, motor home, something like that, you know, you're in a con- you're in a, you're in a space with the kids and the pooch- Yeah ... or pooches. You're just having these experiences that you know when they become adults, those are gonna be memories they talk about. You just know they are. 'Cause that's something- Mm

56:44 Marc Preston: I wanted to do with my kids. It just never really panned out. So I'll be, I'll be following your Instagram to see if, you know, what, what you end up getting. The wanderlust part of me wants to do that. So I think that would be a lot of fun.

56:54 Katee Sackhoff: I think, yeah. I think we're... A lot of people are craving that, um, a simpler time.

56:59 Marc Preston: These days, absolutely. Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Now, um, now if I was to say to Katee, y- this acting thing, the voiceover thing, the creative, uh, the theatrical thing, it's just not available to you anymore.

57:10 Katee Sackhoff: Mm-hmm.

57:10 Marc Preston: What would be the next thing that you would... Vocation that would bring, you know would bring you joy?

57:15 Marc Preston: Or you feel like it would bring you joy.

57:17 Katee Sackhoff: Hmm. Um, I would find something that requires me to talk to people on a daily basis, you know? One of, one of the things that I love doing most, um, that is a, is a side shoot of my career, is going to conventions and meeting the fans and talking to them. And, um, um, I find it to be really special.

57:41 Katee Sackhoff: Um, so I don't know. I would find something that requires me to continue to do that, um, and, you know, continue to create a community, which is sort of what I've done. You know, it's... Our... Entertainment is in the midst of such a massive upheaval because of AI. It's not gonna look the same, I don't think, in 10 years.

58:07 Katee Sackhoff: But there is a pushback by some people that want a- tangible content again. They want real content. We want physical media. We- I think that the moment that people realize that you don't own the streamer and the s- the, the movies and the TV shows that you've purchased on your streaming channels- Mm-hmm

58:29 Katee Sackhoff: you don't own those, even though they told you you bought them. I'm waiting for the class action lawsuit. Like, I'm, like, this is... It's crazy to me that you can say to someone, "Do you wanna rent this or buy this?" And, um, in both of those, you actually are just renting it.

58:43 Marc Preston: Something happened not too long ago where I forgot somebody was no longer licensing, I don't know if it was Sony or something like that, uh, so all the, the entire library that was sitting on whatever streamer just disappeared, even though somebody had bought it.

58:57 Marc Preston: And, uh- Yeah ... from what I understand, Gen Z, one of the things through studies and research, they're, they appreciate authenticity and the tangible and the real, because I think they grew up with a phone in their hand. They're intrigued by. The same way millennials are intrigued by the vinyl, you know. Uh- Mm

59:13 Marc Preston: nobody needs to bring back cassette tapes or eight-tracks. They don't need to do that. Um, now the last question I got for you, if you were to jump into that DeLorean and you're gonna travel back to when you were 16 years old, you got a few minutes with 16-year-old Katee. You got a piece of advice or some guidance or something to make that moment of your life somehow better or to get you on a little different trajectory, what would that piece of advice be that you would offer yourself?

59:36 Katee Sackhoff: Oh, God. Oh, in all honesty, I would probably just tell her to continue to do what she's doing. Every mistake that I made in my life has led me to where I'm at. Um, and I love my life. Um, so I don't think I would give her any advice. I wouldn't wanna change where I'm at right now, and if I move one apple-

59:59 Marc Preston: Yeah

59:59 Katee Sackhoff: I change the trajectory of my life.

1:00:01 Marc Preston: There actually was a movie years ago I remember watching, uh, called Mr. Destiny with Jim Belushi, and- Mm-hmm ... and he- Yeah ... and he was like, "What if I was the quarterback and I got the touchdown? What if..." You realize, oh, well, the grass is always greener thing didn't really work out.

1:00:15 Marc Preston: But yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm-

1:00:16 Katee Sackhoff: It's a phenomenal concept that is portrayed in multiple movies, the whole sliding doors aspect of life, and, um, you know, like The Snowman and, like, all of these things of, you know, if you could change your life, would you change your life? And, you know, I say this all the time, and in relation to, to life and the things that you would change, and if you could have somebody else's life and blah, blah, blah, and, you know, it's, it, it- The grass always looks greener until you're standing in someone else's grass.

1:00:48 Katee Sackhoff: Mm-hmm. And then you realize that you actually know how to take care of yours. You've spent a lifetime cultivating it and learning how to care for just that right type of grass, and you, you know exactly, you know, each blade and, you know, where the sprinklers act up and everything. And, you know, um, I, I say if I could throw my shit into a pot with everybody else in the world's shit, I would take mine back out-

1:01:13 Marc Preston: Uh,

1:01:13 Katee Sackhoff: y-

1:01:13 Katee Sackhoff: 'cause I know how to handle it.

1:01:14 Marc Preston: I, this has been so much fun. I really enjoyed it. Uh, you know, hopefully we'll see each other more than once every seven years, you know, but, uh, but it's been- Yeah ... such a pleasure, and it's so wonderful to hear you're doing great, and, uh, looking forward to, uh, checking you out, and hopefully we'll catch up down the line.

1:01:28 Katee Sackhoff: Absolutely. Have an amazing day. It was nice to see you, Marc.

1:01:33 Marc Preston: Well, there you go, Katee Sackhoff. That was a lot of fun. So jazzed that, uh, she and I finally got an opportunity to sit down and chat. Uh, the show, the series, Carry, it debuts October 7th, Amazon Prime Video, uh, along with Amber Midthunder and Matthew Lillard.

1:01:51 Marc Preston: Uh, also don't forget she just kicked off Battlestar Reactica. It is out now, where she's going, uh, with her husband and watching Battlestar Galactica, which she never watched, as you heard her say, when it originally came out. So check out her podcast and, uh, she also has The Sackhoff Show. So talented.

1:02:09 Marc Preston: Really enjoyed the sit-down with Katee. Of course, I would love for you to grab your podcast app. Make sure to follow Story and Craft. Get those notifications when a new episode comes out. Leave a like, a star, a review, or whatever have you, comments. Uh, helps people to find the show, and I appreciate it. And everything you could possibly wanna know about the show, super simple.

1:02:28 Marc Preston: Just go to storyandcraftpod.com. Uh, past guests and episodes, everything's right there, and you can also sign up for the newsletter. Uh, okay, I'm gonna get on out of here. Uh, I have a, uh, a pooch who's looking at me, and he needs to go outside. So I'm gonna go do that. You have a great rest of your day. As I always say, thank you.

1:02:46 Marc Preston: Thank you so much for making what I got goin' on here part of whatever you've got going on. It's great to connect. And, uh, we'll connect in a few days for another great conversation right here on Story and Craft.

1:02:57 Announcer: That's it for this episode of Story and Craft. Join Marc next week for more conversation right here on Story and Craft.

1:03:05 Announcer: Story and Craft is a presentation of Marc Preston Productions, LLC. Executive producer is Marc Preston. Associate producer is Zachary Holden. Please rate and review Story and Craft on Apple Podcasts. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. You can subscribe to show updates and stay in the know.

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