Q: How do you clash with Chloe?
Katee Sackhoff: Yeah, my relationship with Chloe’s very interesting. It’s a situation where Chloe’s been gone,
Q: What’s it like jumping into this cast and crew?
Katee Sackhoff: You know what’s funny is I think that had this been the first year where they had new people come out, I think that it would be awkward but because this is a show where every season they have someone new, if not multiple people new, they’re used to it. So Kiefer and the crew and Mary Lynn are pretty much just like, “Hey, you’re the new girl, hi, how are you? Welcome.” Because it’s been really great that way.
Q: Is there a sense of relief not walking around with show secrets anymore?
Katee Sackhoff: Are you f***ing kidding me? Like I don’t have to walk around with secrets anymore? I’m sorry to swear at you. No, it’s very funny that you say that because I went from a show that’s clouded in this secrecy of who the Cylons are and blah blah blah blah blah and then I come to a show where I’m told right before I come out here, “You can’t tell them anything. You do know that, right?” So it’s very similar. I’ve said this before, I couldn’t have found a more similar situation to Battlestar Galactica. Its subject matter, not only subject matter but the crew is like a family. The shooting schedule is very similar to Battlestar so for me, it was a very, very easy transition and it’s been great
Q: So you’re not a mole?
Katee Sackhoff: I’m a Cylon. I think that because 24 airs so quickly, in fact that episodes come out so fast, that you kind of have to keep everything very secret because there are so many twists and turns that if I were to sit here and say some random thing, if it was a Starbuck thing, like I die in an episode or something, it could potentially ruin the entire season. So it’s one of those things where you just kind of have to keep your mouth shut, which I got accustomed to on Battlestar.
Q: Has continuity been a nightmare?
Katee Sackhoff: What Dana’s wardrobe is now is that you can pretty much tell when something’s missing. I think the crew would be able to tell me if my watch wasn’t there. Be like, “Katie, something’s odd with you today. Oh, it’s your watch.” So that’s been nice. Also, interesting to get used to to begin with because they shoot two episodes at the same time, which makes complete sense when you think about it logically because it all takes place in the same day so you could probably shoot a scene from episode 2 and episode 15 on the same day and it works because it is technically the same day. So it was interesting to get used to that shooting schedule where, “But this is in episode 1. Why are we shooting episode 3 when it’s my fourth day here?” It takes a little getting used to.
Q: Did ever think about taking a comedy or something lighter?
Katee Sackhoff: I tried that. I did a pilot that was very interesting and funny and it just didn’t get picked up. I think something that I always thought that I would fight against is being typecast because I started out in comedy. That’s kind of where I should be or whatever and I just happened to end up on Battlestar Galactica. So for me, I was like no, I’m going to do something different to prove that I can. Then I kind of thought to myself, “Well, that’s kind of stupid. If I have this fan base over here that wants to see me do this, why am I then on purpose going over here just to prove that I can?” When in reality I’m probably more castable and likeable on this side of things. So I kind of pulled myself back, came to that realization and I think everyone would be really happy to see me on 24.
Q: How about nip/tuck? Will we see you on there any more?
Katee Sackhoff: No, no, my nip/tuck days were very short-lived because of the pilot that came up. I was only supposed to do four episodes of nip/tuck and then obviously the cliffhanger came and I was then already on another show. So I loved it. It was very interesting because my first day here, I showed up and I had the same makeup artist that I had on nip/tuck so I was like, “Oh, hi.”
Q: It was a cool character.
Katee Sackhoff: She was great. It was fun to play that character. It was fun to finally play a character where they were like, “So, you actually have an hour of hair and makeup today” which was nice because on Battlestar I wore no hair or makeup. I would just roll out of bed and come to work and do my job. It was really nice. I always joked that the pilots had a certain amount of makeup and the Cylons had their makeup and then there was Mary who had her own hair and makeup and did her thing. So it’s interesting to get used to because now I have like an hour and a half of hair and makeup here and it’s like cool. I miss the days when they were like, “Just punch her in the face again.”
Q: Can you have your tattoos on the show?
Katee Sackhoff: No, I can’t have my tattoos on the show.
Q: What’s on your arm?
Katee Sackhoff: It says a couple things. Good property, public property, good money, good year. It could mean a lot of different things depending on who wants to translate it, what book you look in.
Q: Wouldn’t a data engineer be allowed to have tats?
Katee Sackhoff: Right, so we have to cover them. They’ve put me in a jacket.
Q: No one ever eats either.
Katee Sackhoff: And no one goes to the bathroom for 24 hours. We have bags.
Q: That’s the technology they don’t talk about.
Katee Sackhoff: It is. I brought that over from Battlestar. It’s like the whole plane thing, just pee on your leg.
Q: You didn’t go on
Katee Sackhoff: That’s not true. I was sitting in the bathroom in one of the last episodes.
Q: Eddie always shaved.
Katee Sackhoff: Eddie was always. I have such an awesome story about Eddie and this is so inappropriate. So I get a phone call from one of the executives over at Syfy or NBC, I don’t’ remember what it was. He’s like, “You have to come and see these dailies.” I was like, “Dailies from the movie The Plan? I’m not even in The Plan? What do you want me to see The Plan for?” I ended up not being able to but he walked me through what happened. Because it was straight to
Q: Will you ever get closure on Starbuck?
Katee Sackhoff: I don't know. I don't know. There’s been talk of doing another Plan-esque movie. I didn’t do The Plan not because I didn’t want to be in it. There was the option for me to be in it but we finished shooting and I was so exhausted and really sick, so I was like it’s better for me to not do it so maybe Starbuck would have gotten some sort of closure had I done that. I kind of like the way how it’s been so vague. Every person I talk to has a different idea of what happened to Starbuck. I have my own. I’m sure it’s completely different from what the writers had in mind but it’s really nice to kind of allow her to just have people have their own opinion as far as what happened to her and who she was, because I have my own. I like it. I like where she went. Whenever I tell people, they’re like, ‘That’s not what happened.’ Okay, whatever.
Q: So what happened to Starbuck?
Katee Sackhoff: I think, when I read the final script or when I saw that they were pulling her away from Apollo, it just was naturally happening on the show, and I think I realized that when he had such a hard time losing Dee, I realized that he and Starbuck probably weren’t going to end up together just because of how grief stricken he was. And I was like well, knowing that Starbuck, from what the writers have told me and what Ron Moore told me is that the Starbuck you know is dead. I said, “I want her to have peace.” I’ve always said that. When people are like, “What would be your end for Starbuck,” I was like I just want her to be at peace. In some way, shape or form to just have some sort of closure for herself. I said, “She’s never going to walk into the sunset with Apollo. That’s never going to happen.” So I slowly, Michael Trucco and I, kind of slowly had our characters come together. You don’t change dialogue. You just linger on things. You change the intention of what a line was and then all of a sudden now you’re more in love with this person.
Q: When did Ron tell you the Starbuck you know is dead?
Katee Sackhoff: He told me that right when I died, when the plane blew up. He said, “The Starbuck you know is dead but you’re coming back.” And I was like oh, okay, perfect. So I knew immediately that she was gone.
Q: Did he get more specific on what you were?
Katee Sackhoff: Never. No one’s ever told me what she was. I have no idea what she was and that’s the thing I don't know. I don't think anyone knows and I think they had her disappear because no one knows. I think that was part of the reason for that was because it was something that, I don’t want to say they wrote themselves into a hole because I don't think they did. I think the writing was absolutely superb on that show but I think how do you explain something that’s so unexplainable? So you just kind of don’t.
Q: Will we see any former
Katee Sackhoff: Callum’s on the show. I pushed for that because I didn’t get to see him at the very end and I was like, “Oh, Leoban.” And I’m really good friends with Callum so I was like I want to work with Callum again. So when they cast him and the whole bouncing around of his name was happening, I was calling him going, “Close the deal you *sshole.” He’s like, “Well, I don't know if I can. I have to do this thing in Canada.” And I was like, “Just close the deal!” Speaking of which it was his birthday yesterday so I’m having lunch with him today but when he showed up, and I have no scenes with him. Isn’t that horrible? The crew is coming up to me. They’re like, “Callum’s so lovely. We love him. He’s such a great guy.” I was like, “I haven’t seen him yet.”
