Q&A: Katee Sackhoff

Source: Read Express

WHEN THE NEW "Battlestar Galactica" went into TV orbit in 2003, purists were dismayed that Starbuck, the womanizing fighter pilot played by Dirk Benedict in the '70s original, had become a girl. But as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, Katee Sackhoff has silenced doubters — and kicked some serious robot butt. Season 3 of her show begins tonight at 9 p.m. on the SciFi Channel.

» EXPRESS: Has "Battlestar" finally made sci fi cool?
» Katee Sackhoff: I don't think it's ever going to be completely accepted. It's always been a weird genre. But it's nice that "Battlestar" remains a little secret. It's nice to feel that our viewership is manageable. I wouldn't want it to become too mainstream.

» EXP: You've become a tough-girl icon with this role. Who inspired you?
» KS: Well, I never met a woman who beat up a man or met a woman in a profession like Starbuck's. So I based this character on my brother. He's brilliant — he works building houses, he builds cars and blows glass. He's a creative tough guy.

» EXP: In Season 3, we get to see a gentler, long-haired Starbuck. Do the locks stay on?
» KS: Nobody was more excited than me to have Kara with longer hair! It's a way to show she's let the military go. She's allowed herself to be happy. This character, I keep telling everyone, is not kicking herself down. The world and people she knows keep kicking her back. It's a horrible thing. I feel bad for her.

» EXP: You play a soldier, so you have to wear work clothes on "Galactica," while the women portraying the robots [Cylons] wear heels and cocktail frocks. Do you mind?
» KS: I look at them walking around in their stilettos, and I thank God I'm not a Cylon. But I try to make Kara's uniform different — I wear shorts with military boots and different clothes I've stolen from men.

» EXP: What do you wear in real life?
» KS: I like to dress up. When I leave my house, it's in a dress or really short jean-shorts — the kind that, if you bend over, your grandmother would be embarrassed.

» EXP: Any fashion obsessions?
» KS: I own so many pairs of shoes that it's ridiculous, all of them high heels. I just bought the most beautiful pair of gold Gucci stilettos.

» EXP: What do you wear on the red carpet?
» KS: I don't really like the red carpet. It's a side of this business that I get very nervous with. I'm comfortable behind the camera, but the red carpet is scary. But I have one cut of dress I wear, a kind that ties around the waist and is cut really low, that works on me.

» EXP: Starbuck is such a buff character. How do you stay in shape?
» KS: I run four miles a day, and on the weekends I keep running until it hurts — about 12 miles.

» EXP: You own a house in Washington state near the "BG" set in British Columbia. How'd you decorate?
» KS: I went with a lot of neutral — dark wood, big cushy sofas and an antique door converted into a table. When I get home, I don't want to see anything but a view of the ocean and a glass of wine.

» EXP: What kind of wine is in that glass?
» KS: I love white wines like pinot grigio, but I'm learning my reds. They're daunting.

» EXP: How's it different from what Starbuck slurps?
» KS: Starbuck pretty much drinks anything if it's liquor.

» EXP: You also own a house in LA. Is it different from the Washington State place?
» KS: My house in LA is very extreme. My master bedroom is a chocolaty-purple color, it looks black! And my guest bedroom is blood red. My Peabody is on the mantel there.

» EXP: Any prize possession at either spread?

» KS: My dogs. I have one, Meatball, who is 14. He's part pug and part Chihuahua. He's the cutest thing. I've also got Nelly, who's a 7-month-old pug. She runs the entire house.

» EXP: Do you whip up anything good in the kitchen?
» KS: I bake really well — peach dumplings, cheesecake and lots of cookies. I bake, like, 100 cookies, and bring them to the border guards when I cross into Canada for work.

» EXP: What do you drive on your cross-border commute?
» KS: A Mercedes with crazy rims and tinted windows, and I'm buying a motorcycle. If I'm going to be stereotyped as a sci-fi actress, I'd like to have "rides motorcycle" on my resume.

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