Feature: Battlestar Galactica

We meet Katee Sackhoff, the actress who has shot to fame as Viper pilot Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace

In the second season episode Resistance, Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace fell in love with Samuel Anders, a Cylon resistance fighter on the planet Caprica. She was forced to leave him behind when she returned to the Galactica, but promised Anders she’d be back to rescue him. Unfortunately, Kara has been unable to do so, and this is preying on her conscience. She’s subsequently turned to drinking in an effort to deal with her guilt and this, not surprisingly, has affected her job performance. It’s a real about-face for the character and one that took actress Katee Sackhoff, who plays Starbuck, a little time to wrap her head around.

“As the latter half of this season unfolds, Starbuck gets knocked off her superstar pedestal. In fact, I think she’s giving Colonel Tigh [Michael Hogan] a run for his money when it comes to the drinking,” notes Sackhoff. “You know how they say that you inevitably turn into the person you most despise if you don’t figure out the reasons why you despise that person. Well, that’s what my character is doing. We’re talking head-on, full speed ahead, which is fun because it’s a completely different side of her.

“At the same time I was a little worried because I wanted to make it believable. I thought, ‘How can Starbuck suddenly go from being so capable and on top of her game – at least where her job is concerned – to someone who is everything she despises’. The whole thing starts in the episode Scar, and it was one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced yet on this show, mainly because my ego as Starbuck got in the way. I kept saying to our producers, ‘Starbuck would never do this,’ and they’d say, ‘Yes, she would. At some point if she can’t solve her problems on her own, she’s going to turn to drink, drugs, something to numb the pain.’

“I just feel Starbuck has lost hope. Everyone has turned down her request to go back to Caprica to get Anders. Here’s another man whose death she’s going to feel responsible for because she promised to return and save him. Funnily enough, some fans have a problem with Starbuck wanting to go back to Caprica. If you read the Galactica message boards, some of them believe I’m romantically involved with Michael Trucco, who plays Anders, which isn’t true. He already has the most beautiful, talented, lovely fiancée in the world. Yes, Michael is a great actor and person and we have wonderful on-screen chemistry together, but my main reason for wanting his character to return is that it would be another problem for Starbuck. She’d be caught up in a triangle where she loves Lee, and is also in love with Anders. It would be another fibre of Starbuck’s being to pick away at and unravel. That’s why I want Anders to come back, and he is coming back,” reveals the actress with a smile.

by Steven Eramo

Read the full interview in
Starburst Special #74

Image © Visual Imagination Ltd, Battlestar © Sci-Fi Channel
Feature © Visual Imagination 2006. Not for reproduction

Taken from

Starburst Special #74
Battlestar 2006
ships from Mar 22 2006
News-stand Price
UK £5.99 / US $9.99

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