Katee Sackhoffmay look like she was born to play Bo-Katan Kryze, buttheMandalorianstarsays the role nearly destroyed her confidence. On her podcastThe Sackhoff Show, the actress admitted that taking on the character left her feeling completely disconnected and questioning her abilities.
“I lost all of my confidence after ‘Mandalorian’… My style of acting has always just been your first instinct is the right instinct. Do that. Play the reality of the situation. And I’ve never really played a character. Do you know what I mean? I’ve always played 2 steps removed from myself, in a sense. It always felt grounded in some part of my belly of who I was. Bo-Katan is nowhere near who I am as a human being. Her life, what she wants - I didn’t understand her. As much as I understood her, I never felt her in my stomach. I never identified with her. I didn’t know how to find her. It broke me. It just broke me where I started doubting everything about myself. I’m not a strong auditioner on tape and I was having to put myself on tape. I wasn’t booking anything, and for three years, I basically didn’t work.”
Bo-Katan Was Too Different From Katee Sackhoff
For fans,Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan felt seamless— an animated character made flesh, and one of the highlights of the series for long-term Star Wars lovers. But for Sackhoff, the process was painful because, as she explained, her usual approach to acting — leaning into instinct and playing close to herself — didn’t work withBo-Katan, a hardened warriorwhose motivations and worldview felt foreign.
That disconnect pushed her into a dark place, which felt like a foreign country to her, so as she struggled to embody a character she didn’t “feel in her stomach,” Sackhoff’s confidence collapsed. The ripple effectsextended outside of Star Wars, leaving her struggling through auditions and watching job after job slip away.
Her honesty gives fans a glimpse of what often goes unseen in Hollywood, which is the emotional toll of carrying an iconic role. While viewers rightly celebrated Bo-Katan’s rise from animation to live action, Sackhoff was quietly fighting to hold herself together. Thankfully, she’s spoken openly about finding her footing again, rebuilding her confidence with the help of friends and coaches. But her story is a reminder that even the galaxy’s fiercest warriors can feel broken behind the mask.
The Mandalorianis streaming now on Disney+ now.
The Mandalorian
