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Katee Sackhoff spills on 24—and talks Starbuck's fate

Katee Sackhoff spills on \<i\>24\<\/i\>—and talks Starbuck\'s fate
Katee Sackhoff on the set of 24

The following takes place between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.

The newly re-formed Counter Terrorist Unit: New York branch is hidden in a Chatsworth, Calif., soundstage. As we prepared to infiltrate the set (see images below), techie extraordinaire Chloe literally provided decoy cover. Actress Mary Lynn Rasjkub got a makeup touchup outside, so we slipped into the studio while crew were focused on the pretty actress.

The hand scanner in the lobby accepted our prints for entry. Our plan to hack into the system to authorize our DNA for access worked, or maybe the hand scanner was just a prop. Either way, we were in. Through the bullpen of monitors capturing video feeds from high-population areas around town, past the medical bay where a monitor showed a flat line (someone dies this season!), we cornered new cast member Katee Sackhoff in the underground car park.

Sackhoff joins the cast of Fox's sci-fi-ish spy series 24 this year and spoke with a group of reporters on the set. Her CTU training proved strong against interrogation tactics, but as 24 proves, repeated badgering and torture works. Here are seven pieces of intel she gave up. 24 returns this January on Fox.

Katee plays Chloe's boss. Chloe has never let authority stop her from getting the job done, but she's never dealt with anyone like Dana before. "Dana is permanently happy," Sackhoff said. "I think that also pisses Chloe off, because Dana's like, 'Oh, no, it's totally fine that you don't get it. Let me help you. It's great. I'll do that. It's fine. You don't need to figure it out, because I'm good enough to do both our jobs.' So that really pisses Chloe off."

Dana kicks ass. But intellectually. Starbuck fans might be disappointed they don't get to see Sackhoff beat up terrorists. The show's writers have a different idea for utilizing Sackhoff's talents. "I wanted to just blow s--t up, and they were like, 'I don't know if we can do that,'" she said. "I came in and sat down with the producers and writers, and we had a discussion as far as what they wanted from me and what I wanted to do, and hopefully we'll all [meet] in the middle, so we'll see."

You'll see Sackhoff in a whole new light. Dana may be locked inside the CTU offices all day, but the premise is that she's had an earthbound life. That allows Sackhoff to finally get some sun. "The first thing I thought was, I'm going to constantly have a tan, which is fantastic for me, because I spent the last five years on a show that you were in space, so you weren't supposed to have a tan," she said. "So this is, like, the orange [stage light] bounces off your skin, and everyone just has a nice little glow. You've either just been to Mexico, or you're pregnant, so it's perfect. It's really nice, and just new. Orange looks good on me, so it's exciting. I went from a show where color was bad to you're now in an orange set, which is awesome."

Something happens at CTU. Gee, thanks for the big tip. Sackhoff's allowed to reveal that something's going on at CTU. "I was like, 'Seriously? I don't know if anyone thinks that's actually a big secret,'" Sackhoff joked about her gag order. "Could you imagine? So this is a 24 episode, and the whole season is just about nothing. No controversy, nobody dies, nobody gets beat up, Jack Bauer doesn't do anything. He might not even show up, and for 24 hours that would just be what it is. Could you imagine?" That might actually be funny for like the first six hours. "It would, and then people would go, like, 'Are you serious?' Just office lives. I'm handing my files to Chloe. They show us at lunch."

Continuity is easy. A lot may happen in a day on 24, and by episode 20 it can be hard to remember what you were playing in episode 2. At least her wardrobe doesn't have to change. "It almost makes it easier, because it all takes place in the same day," she said. "It's one of those things where the continuity as far as your wardrobe doesn't change, so it's like, 'Something's [off]... my watch isn't here." Because you're so used to wearing it that it becomes kind of like the gunbelt from Battlestar. It would seem very odd to not have it on. You have to remind yourself what room you were in last, not what happened last episode, because it all is taking you to the exact same place at the end of the day, kind of. So I found that easier."

She's still got a potty mouth. The word "frak" might not exist in the world of 24, and the Fox network has stricter language guidelines for broadcast than did Syfy, but behind the scenes, Sackhoff still talks dirty. She endeared herself to the 24 crew right away by sharing a dirty story about Battlestar. While Edward James Olmos was shooting The Plan, he reveled in the chance to include nudity on the DVD release. "There's a scene in the Head where everyone's just naked, and Eddie on the day is going, 'Zoom in on the c--k. Zoom in on the c--k,'" Sackhoff recalled. "The camera guy's like, 'I can't zoom in the c--k. He keeps covering up the c--k.' They're like, 'Zoom in the c--k. Get him to do something else with his hands. Make him shave.' So then he's shaving, and he's like, 'Now, zoom in on the c--k.' That's on the daily. That is so Eddie. It's one of the funniest things I've ever heard. 'Zoom in on the c--k' in Eddie's voice. I think I told that story my first day here, and the crew was like, 'We like you.'"

BTW, what really happened to Starbuck? Here's Sackhoff's theory about her ambiguous conclusion on Battlestar Galactica. "So when she at the end was saying goodbye to [Anders], I think that she was saying goodbye to their bodily forms," she said. "I think she knew, especially if he says, 'I'll see you on the other side,' I think she's with him. I think they're both dead, but I think she's with him. That was a decision that we made, because I selfishly wanted her at peace, and the only way to do that was to have her with someone at the end, or to be with the person she wanted to be with. I don't know. That's kind of where I think she is. She's with Michael Trucco playing pyramid in the sky somewhere."

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(21) COMMENTS

brutal:
i think the series that is sweeping the nation twilight is gay just shows how pathetic american life is and also we...More »


Comments

By sprdave5150 at 8:38 AM ON 11/18/09

cool interview.. I would love to buy her a few drinks.. I bet she would be a rocket to be with.

FIRST...

By green11420 at 9:07 AM ON 11/18/09

I CAN'T WAIT FOR 24!!!!!!!!!!!

By lizard at 9:24 AM ON 11/18/09

What's wrong with her face in that picture? scary.....

By henry dunn at 9:58 AM ON 11/18/09

who?

By IronOre at 10:05 AM ON 11/18/09

Starbuck and alcohol don't mix so well. She tends to break stuff and play strange songs on pianos with imaginary father figures when drunk...

By mredder4 at 11:06 AM ON 11/18/09

What exactly, if anything at all, is "sci-fi-ish" about "24"? I mean, besides absolutely nothing at all.

By yokozuka at 11:40 AM ON 11/18/09

awww, the last part was very touching, made me go back and remember that seen, i was already crying my eyes out, it was beautiful!!....I Miss you Kara Thrace!!

By asfm at 11:50 AM ON 11/18/09

24 has become so stale and rote. The first season is magnificent. 2-3 are great, but don't compare to 1. After that, it went downhill so fast. Season 4 is a massive, massive joke. Season 5 had a great opening - it was unusual, and it was all about Jack - but that only lasted 4-5 episodes. Fell back into the usual groove after that.

The rest have been awful. They need another character-driven story, like season 1. Not some stupid zomg 4 million ppl wudv died last seezn lets maek it 10 million ppl to die this seezn lololol nuke terror rargh!!!!11

Because that's literally what their roadmap says. I'm not joking.

By Red at 1:01 PM ON 11/18/09

Wow - she looks really different

By scifi-ED at 1:47 PM ON 11/18/09

@mredder4

I've never watched 24, but it is apparently scifi, because in season one, a character was kidnapped three times in the season. Which means a person got kidnapped and rescued 3 times in one day.

So the scifi part is, that on the third kidnapping, the person must have been teleported out of a bunker. Because after two kidnappings in one day; you would lock yourself underground, right?

This is the reason I couldn't get into 24. Once I heard a person getting kidnapped three times in a day. That's ridiculous.

PS.
The last two letters in my captcha are P. U. which pretty much sums up how I would describe captcha.

By beans at 1:52 PM ON 11/18/09

asfm don't watch if you don't like it And quit posting

By Grandizer at 6:32 PM ON 11/18/09

About the last question...
One of the writers did an interview with questions asked from people, I submitted the same question, what was up with Starbuck at the end.
She said that basically Starbuck was now one of the aliens / Gods form the original series that traveled in the Glowing ships.
Once her job / mission was done, she returned.

By Grandizer at 6:36 PM ON 11/18/09

To Beans.
I actually watch bad scifi all of the time, and comment on it.
The fact is that if the bad isn't watched, the good will never be made.
I am NOT YET at the point where I record just so they know it is watched, but I was getting there with Dollhouse.
And if SciFi had brought back Painkiller Jane or Flash Gordon, that is exactly what I would have done.

By Eva at 8:56 PM ON 11/18/09

I'm excited to see Katee join the cast. While I watch 24 every season and look forward to doing so, I have to say the last few seasons have lost a bit of their "oomph". I hope she shakes up next season!

By franz fanon at 12:42 AM ON 11/19/09

When is 24 going to have a woman support actress as bad as Nina Myers. Instead of these bland blondes. This is an action series. Series 7 had too many cheesey moments with Madam President and her daughter.

By Cris at 3:24 AM ON 11/19/09

@mredder4
24 is not sci-fi, but Katee Sackhoff was in BSG, which is sci-fi, so anything she does for the rest of her career will likely be reported on SciFi wire.

By Photoprinter at 11:32 AM ON 11/19/09

Sure there are sci-fi elements in 24. How else do you travel miles & miles on So Calif. freeways in a matter of minutes? As for her face...come on! She is clean, well groomed, with a big smile. How many times was she like that in BSG?

By jp at 4:01 PM ON 11/19/09

I noticed something odd about the picture, too. Maybe it's just the way she is smiling, but the shape of her eyes look markedly different.

By CaptainZappyPants at 5:35 PM ON 11/19/09

The writers couldn't figure out what to do with Kara, so they pulled the old ambiguous character fate. Leave it all mysterious-like and let the fans make stuff up for the next 10 years. That's some seriously weak writing. Then again...

By TV FAN at 3:07 PM ON 11/20/09

What is Katee Sackhoff doing in Howard's bathtub? Find out Monday November 23rd on 'The Big Bang Theory'. Only CBS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6UBGZy3nSk

By brutal at 10:49 AM ON 11/23/09

i think the series that is sweeping the nation twilight is gay just shows how pathetic american life is and also were pathetic for inventing the snuggie what a stupid idea

NICE ONE AMERICA


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