Katee Sackhoff Delves Deep Into Bo-Katans Mind and Her Role in The Mandalorian

SWNN Probe · Mar 14, 2023

After her starring role in the second episode of The Mandalorian season 3 as Bo-Katan, Katee Sackhoff is naturally doing a few interviews to promote the season. Along with her recent interview with Deadline, she also spoke to the excellent House of R podcast on the Ringer-Verse podcast network.

In the interview, Sackhoff speaks about where Bo-Katan is at right now, how her complex backstory informs her own performance, what it means for Bo to be a Mandalorian, her relationship with her sister Satine Kryze and the reason behind her minor change in wardrobe this season.

When we meet Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian season 3, she is very casually sitting on her throne. Katee Sackhoff spoke about the decision to have her pose in such a way when Din arrives. It was very much informed by the losses that Bo has experienced since the season 2 finale and that she hasn't adjusted to them well.

We worked on it for quite a while, and our goal was for her to look very dismissive of it, very disrespectful of it, and very disrespectful of him [Din] and his presence. I think she is in a really bad state.

I think for Bo, she's lost everything. Everything that she thought was important, everything that she thought she knew, everything that she wanted. Her family, her planet, her Darksaber, her respect. She's lost everything. I think that she's at a point where she may or may not be trying to figure out if everything she's done in her life is misguided. For fans of Clone Wars and Rebels, this is a woman who has a lot of guilt, you know? And I think it's playing itself out now.
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As Katee says, Bo-Katan's backstory is rather complex. Some fans have noted that Bo is conveniently neglecting to mention her own role in the rise of Deathwatch in The Clone Wars, which spawned Din's own covert Children of The Watch. Sackhoff elaborated a bit on why Bo omits details about her past when speaking to Din.

Well I think the easiest way to explain some of the stuff that she's talking about with Din, it's one of those things like if someone's cheating on you, they accuse you of cheating on them all of the time. So I think that a lot of the things she says to him, she hates in herself.

Let's be honest, [she is] misguided in who she puts her faith in [referring to Pre Vizsla in The Clone Wars]. I think that it's been a long time. We've been with Bo for a long time, for over 25 years of her life. She's changed and she's grown and she's learned and she's made a lot of mistakes and I think she's got quite a bit to atone for, so we may see a little bit of that.
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One of themes of The Mandalorian asks what it means to be a Mandalorian. Din grew up being taught by the Armorer that there was only one true way to be a Mandalorian, only to encounter Bo-Katan and her Night Owls, and then Boba Fett who also wear the armor without adhering to his perceptions of what a Mandalorian should be. Katee took the time to explain what Bo thinks it means to be a Mandalorian.

I know what it means for Bo, for sure. One of the interesting things about the show and 'The Way', to use the show's words, is that I think it's one of those things where everyone can read the same text and just interpret it differently, and it leads to disagreements and arguments and wars and all of these things, because we took the exact same words and it meant something to different people based on life experience and their own standings and the things they've been through in their life. And so I think that it means very very different things to a lot of different people. And you'll see that play out this season.

We definitely hear Bo's disdain for it, for the spectacle of it all. She believes that what others view as a religious ceremony was a spectacle, because she felt like a prop piece and so she [was] this child, this sister that was thrust into this life that never wanted any of it. She's a warrior, that's who she is, that's who she was raised to be and Satine was raised to be in government, not Bo.
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Bo-Katan's story in The Mandalorian revolves around the Darksaber and House of R put it to Sackhoff that the character might be standing in her own way, considering Din offered it to her in the season 2 finale. They asked whether or not Bo and Din could break free of the rules and myth surrounding the Darksaber for the good of them both. Interestingly, Katee believes that Bo uses the rules around the Darksaber to mask her own lack of confidence.

I think that the power and the belief that is put into the Darksaber is probably more than the Darksaber. At the same time, that's the way that that works, you know?

I think that the sword into and of itself is incredibly powerful, with the way that Din is overpowered by the saber. It's very clear when watching him fight with it that it weighs a ton. You see [her] pick it up and it's like she's fencing.

I think there is a little bit of potentially her standing in her own way, but she firmly believes that she needs that Darksaber to rule, because I don't believe that even though Bo has one of the biggest egos of anyone, I do not believe that she thinks she's capable, and that the only way to [lead her people] is with the Darksaber. It's her mask, if you will. She has the Darksaber, she doesn't have to be a good leader, she just has to lead.
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Bearing in mind that Bo has created an amicable rivalry with Din over the Darksaber, it surprised some fans that she risked her life to save him. Katee explained what it was that made her jump at the chance to rescue him without a second thought and Grogu's role in that decision.

At her core, she's a warrior. I think when the going gets tough, she's going to be in the front. That's who she is. But I also believe that at her core, who she is, how she was raised, everything she's ever done, from the very beginning of the very moment we meet her, she's always done what she felt was right for the Mandalorian people, as misguided as she may have been. And so, I think that she values life. And I also think that she values Din's life.

I think that she sees him as a warrior, I think she respects... the warrior in him, and I think there's another part of her that... you gotta love the kid. He pulls at your heartstrings. He literally shows up and you see Bo's face go from hardened, angry, get the heck out of here face to, 'Oh no! [The] child is alone. Why is this kid by himself, what happened to him?' and then she almost feels guilty because she set [Din] off on this path that she knew was dangerous, and was like 'Have fun!'

We also have to acknowledge where Bo has come from. Bo says as much in episode 2 where she talks about how she's known many Jedi. We saw her with Obi-Wan, we know that she knows Jedi. We know that she knows Grogu is a Jedi. I think that she understands the importance of him.
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The Mines of Mandalore revealed new pieces of lore on House Kryze, with Bo-Katan mentioning her sister Satine (pictured above) and her father, the latter of whom we'd known nothing about beforehand. Sackhoff talked about how it felt learning these new bits of backstory and how she incorporated them into her performance. Apparently, she'd known these things for quite a while through long discussions with Dave Filoni.

I love it. I think that every time a new piece comes out, it is imprinted on my mind as a piece of her. But at the same time, Dave Filoni is like, my encyclopedia, and I spend every second that I am with Dave listening and talking to him about Bo.

We will spend days just texting back and forth backstory about Bo, things that people may never see about her childhood, and how she felt about her father, and what Satine represented to her. All of things that I already know... it all went into this season, everything that we'd been talking about for years. It's a really interesting season.

Based on what we see in episode 2, you can tell that she is pained and that there is something more going on inside of her. I think she likes not being alone, she likes when she's with Din and Grogu, because everyone else has left her. And so, this is a character that is very broken, and if you know the Clone Wars and Rebels story, it makes even more sense why she's broken.
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Finally, Bo-Katan's hair and make-up looks a little different in The Mandalorian season 3, compared to her debut in season 2. Sackhoff revealed that the reason for this was down to how important it was for her to accurately portray her look from The Clone Wars last season. This time around, she decided to take a bit more ownership over her character's live action appearance, including changing her wig and adding more detailed facial features.

Well, she obviously has a hairdresser somewhere! I've said this before, season 2 was really... I don't think that they anticipated her being such a big part of this show. I think that the fan reaction to having Bo in this world was universally really interesting. I'm not going to say loved, but she fit in the world... for whatever reason. In season 2, we really wanted to just pay homage to the character in Clone Wars, and that was my goal.

My goal was to have her be instantaneously recognizable to people who knew her, but also not jarring and not take people out of the story. And I thought that we accomplished that in season 2. I know a lot of people had a problem with the wig. I personally didn't, I actually liked the wig. You know, it was like a helmet, that's what it looks like when you take your Mandalorian helmet off.

This season... I wanted to take more ownership, and I wanted to acknowledge that she existed in animation before live action, but to fully take ownership of the character and make her my own. And that meant -- and Jon [Favreau] was the one that spearheaded this as well -- but we wanted her to look different this season.

Her wig is different, the scar is potentially a little bit more prominent this season, as are the freckles, because I wanted her to look the way I wanted her to look in live action, whereas last season I wanted her to look the way people that people expected her to look.
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For the full interview, check out the deep dive by House of R into The Mines of Mandalore, where the interview with Katee Sackhoff is included after their own analysis.

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Katee Sackhoff Delves Deep Into Bo-Katans Mind and Her Role in The Mandalorian

SWNN Probe Seeker

Katee Sackhoff and Sam Witwer Discuss The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, Lucasfilm Loyalty, and More

Katee Sackhoff Bets on an Ahsoka and Bo-Katan Reunion, Discusses Bo-Katan’s Possible Outlook on Sabine, Thrawn, and More

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