Katee Sackhoff on Bo-Katan in ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3: “She’s a Little Bit More ‘Rebels'”

A role in the Star Wars universe offers a lot to an actor. There’s the fame and money, obviously, as well as having your likeness immortalized in 6 inches of poseable plastic. But the chance to play a character in Star Wars has afforded something on top of all of that for Katee Sackhoff: portraying Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze has given Sackhoff the gift of longevity.

The release of The Mandalorian Season 3 marks Sackhoff’s sixth season playing the character across three different series — and even two different mediums. Sackhoff premiered in the role way back in January 2012 on the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She carried the character over into another animated series, Star Wars Rebels, in 2017. With The Mandalorian Season 2, however, Sackhoff was given the chance to bring the character into live-action in all of her gun-toting, armored, jetpack-riding, ass-kicking glory.

The Bo-Katan Kryze that Sackhoff plays in an expanded role in The Mandalorian Season 3 is different from the one she voiced over a decade ago. Bo-Katan is older, tougher and possessed of greater resolve. Bo-Katan Kryze lives in live-action now and, as Sackhoff told Decider in the run-up to The Mandalorian’s Season 3 premiere, it’s the actor’s decade-long relationship with Bo-Katan that’s allowed her to bring new depth to her portrayal. Below Sackhoff talks about maturing alongside her Mandalorian counterpart, welcoming new Mandos into the fold, and the phrase she keeps repeating to Star Wars mastermind Dave Filoni.

Decider: When did you find out that you were going to be back for The Mandalorian Season 3? Did you always know that her story would extend beyond Season 2?

Katee Sackhoff: I did not know. I had hoped, but no. I thought that she was really just [in] a couple episodes. I thought when I originally started doing the voice in Clone Wars that she was only in a couple of episodes, so this is just the character that keeps on giving. I love it. 

Now that Bo-Katan is back for another season, did the hair and makeup or costumers upgrade her look at all? Did they make her ready for the spotlight?

So without giving anything away — I think that based on the trailers, you can see that Bo’s hair has grown out a little bit. She’s a little bit more Rebels. The fact that she’s around more, we wanted to make sure that she hit a bit more. That’s not to say that we didn’t pay attention to it last season, but I don’t know if anybody knew that she was going to be around as long as she she has been. We really paid attention this season, even more so. I wanted the scar to be really visible. I wanted her freckles to really pop. I wanted to finally not pay homage to an animated character, but to step in and create this character myself and make her Bo-Katan in live action — and that’s where she lives now.

What’s it like seeing all this Mandalorian lore in live-action, presumably stuff that you first saw in the cartoon 10 years ago?

It’s so surreal. In my wildest dreams, I never thought that that Bo would ever be in live-action, and so it’s just amazing. But I like to look at the animation as, in my opinion, as far as Star Wars is concerned, just as important to the story arcs as the live-action. All of the animation has a place where it slots in and it fits in the story, and if you want to go and watch everything in the order that that it can be watched in, that is something that is super cool. The animation just adds to the the backstory and the texture of what you know about the universe. Or if you just want to watch Mandalorian and that’s the only show you watch, it all makes sense. That’s what I love about the show that Jon [Favreau] and Dave [Filoni] have created.

You also have the gift of being with this character for a very long time, and you’ve now played her over such a long span of her life. What does the Katee of today bring to Bo-Katan that maybe the Katee of ten years ago couldn’t?

Oh my gosh — life experience. I think that the older we get, we start to collect and safeguard our experiences and our losses and our tragedies and our successes. And I think that this isn’t a character that I could have played in live-action ten years ago because my life was a series of fantastic fortunes. And I think that the older I’ve gotten, the people around me and within my own family and circle, there’s been loss and tragedy and hardship. I think that those are things that have made me a better actor, because my emotions are on the edge right now. I have more to draw from and I think it allows me to play her pain much easier.

You’re not the only Mandalorian jumping from animation to live-action. Natasha Liu Bordizzo is playing Sabine Wren in the upcoming Ahsoka series. Did you get the chance to meet her at Star Wars Celebration?

We did meet at Celebration, yeah! It has got to be different to have this wealth of information and backstory at your fingertips, but have it not have been you, so it almost feels like you are one-step removed from it. For myself, I am so close to [Bo-Katan’s] story.

Do y’all have a live-action Mandalorian club that you welcomed her into? Like, “Here is your tiny helmet” or something?

[Laughs] Right! “Welcome to the universe. Here is your Bengay and ice packs.”

Battlestar Galactica was so famous for “frak,” and now The Mandalorian has “dank farrik.” What is it with you and shows that have fake sci-fi curse words? 

I know! I have gotten so good at saying all of these weird words, too. People still ask me if I say “frak” and I am like, “No, I absolutely don’t.”  And then I did it the other day and it was so random.  I said “frak” because I was about to say the F-word and I realized I was surrounded by children.  

Is dank farrik making its way into the lexicon? 

Not as easy to say dank farrik, but it is there!

Where do you hope Bo-Katan’s story goes after Season 3? Jon Favreau’s said he’s already written Season 4, so has he tapped you on the shoulder yet?

I am just gonna say the same thing that I said to Dave Filoni at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago [in 2019], when Bo was nowhere near this world. I said, “You know, she is still alive and she can always show up.”  And so that is all that I want.  

The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres Wednesday, March 1 on Disney+

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.