Katee Sackhoff Reveals How Playing Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian Nearly Broke Her—and How She’s Fighting Back

Starbuck herself opens up about misplaced confidence, years of career drought after The Mandalorian, and the coaching that brought back her creative fire.

Actress Katee Sackhoff—best known as Bo-Katan Kryze in The Mandalorian and previously as Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica—recently delivered a raw and candid account of her struggles after stepping into the live-action boots of her animated Star Wars character.

On her podcast, The Sackhoff Show, she revealed how deeply out of sync she felt with Bo-Katan. Despite having portrayed the character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels, Sackhoff admitted that bringing her to life on camera exposed a rift. “I lost all of my confidence after Mandalorian,” she said. “Bo-Katan is nowhere near who I am as a human being… I never felt her in my stomach—I never identified with her.”

That disconnection triggered a cascade of self-doubt. Sackhoff shared that long after filming wrapped, she found herself unable to secure roles. “I started doubting everything about myself. I’m not a strong auditioner on tape… I wasn’t booking anything. And for three years, I basically didn’t work,” she confessed, calling the experience “devastating.”

Eventually, courage came in the form of a new manager and acting coach. The coach reassured her: “I’m not here to teach you how to act. You already know how to act. I just need to get you back in your belly. You need to find your confidence again.” Those words became a turning point.

This revival in her creative confidence has already yielded results: in 2024, Sackhoff appeared in an episode of Law & Order, lent her voice to animated projects, reprised Bo-Katan in Tales of the Empire, and is gearing up to star in the upcoming Prime Video adaptation of Carrie, reuniting with director Mike Flanagan.