01.15.10 From Chicago Now
Katee Sackhoff agrees that it isn’t a spoiler to reveal her new “24″ character, Dana Walsh, has secrets. “Everyone keeps going, ‘Are you bad?’” Sackhoff told me this week from L.A. “And I’m like, ‘Well guys, it’s “24.” It’s not like her secret is going to be that she raised show ponies in Kentucky.’” Although that would be a kindler, gentler twist for TV’s most action-packed, kill-heavy series. It’s hard to imagine Sackhoff, who has played such butt-kicking women as fighter pilot Kara “Starbuck” Thrace “Battlestar Galactica,” and bionic baddie Sarah Corvus on “Bionic Woman,” sweetly brushing her pony’s hair.
Dana Walsh oversees the computer analysts at the new CTU, which means she must handle job pressure, her boss’ demands, working with her fiance, CTU Agent Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze, Jr.). Dana also keeps her cool when dealing with a very frustrated Chloe O’Brian, who is no longer the smartest techie at CTU, the intelligence unit that has employed Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) for the better part of seven seasons. “I do like Dana; she’s fun. She’s the most outwardly normal person I’ve played so far,” Sackhoff said. “She felt more like myself right now, which is easier for me. It’s like stressful when you go to work and play someone like Starbuck. I don’t have to be so emotionally damaged [now].”
Playing Starbuck, however, brought Sackhoff fans, job offers and a prized trophy–RedEye’s 2008 Best TV Character title. Coincidentally, she beat Sutherland’s Jack Bauer to take the honor, a fact she decided not to bring up while working on his show. “Could you imagine had I walked in the first day and been like, ‘I just wanted to let you know, Kiefer, that I was voted more kick-ass than you,’” she said, laughing. “I might have been fired. When you’re the new chick on the block, you tend to mind your Ps and Qs a little bit better than I would have normally done over on ‘Battlestar.’”
Sackhoff talked a little bit more about “24,” motorcycling cross country with “BSG” co-star Tricia Helfer, what she thinks happened to Starbuck and how she doesn’t need career advice, thank you very much.
How’s it going?
It’s good; it’s going very well.
Before we get started. For this show, unlike “Battlestar Galactica,” you don’t have to keep secrets, right?
Ha, ha, ha. I’m just going to laugh the whole interview. Yeah, I left one show that was clouded in secrecy and went to another one that was clouded in secrecy. They all seem to be these political dramas that I get myself attached to. One just happened to be in space.
How have you adjusted to the new show?
It’s been quite an easy transition actually. Everybody’s very nice and very fun … I auditioned for Brad Turner who … directed “Flesh and Bone,” which is a “Battlestar Galactica” episode where Starbuck tortured Leoben and was like, “Oh my gosh. I know you.”
Then I was in the writer’s room and they were thinking of who to hire for one of the Russian roles and I was like, “You do know Callum Keith Rennie, don’t you?” So it turned out my first little bit of “24″ I was surrounded by “Battlestar” people. So it made it a lot easier.
Do you have any scenes with Callum? Or can you say?
I can’t say if I do or not.
I figured.
I could be Russian.
You could be. But I don’t think you are. But I do have to wonder: Does CTU have like the worst employee screening program ever?
They do have the worst employee screening ever. I’ve always wondered that, like how there’s always a mole at CTU or the FBI. You’d think that they’d be a little bit more careful, especially since it’s happened so much in the past.
I love the stuff between you and Mary Lynn when Chloe gets angry and snaps at you. But Dana’s so even-keeled.
Yeah. She’s like, “It’s totally fine that you don’t know what you’re doing. I’ll help you every step of the way Chloe.”
Dana does have some history
Oh she’s got some secrets, but it’s 24. What would it be without secrets? … I keep telling everyone that this entire season of “24″ is just going to be Jack Bauer at Starbucks. Can you imagine? … They needed a change of pace. People got bored with the way ["24"] was last time so they just decided that they’re going to follow Jack around: He’s going to run errands; he’s going to pick up the dry cleaning.
Right. Do you get any face time with him?
I do have some scenes with Jack. … I don’t know how much I can tell you for fear of repercussions from the Fox network.
Can you tell me about this old boyfriend at all?
What old boyfriend? My old boyfriend?
No, no. Dana’s old boyfriend.
Oh. [Laughs.] Dana’s old boyfriend. I don’t think I can. … She’s got a past and someone from her past comes to haunt her and she did have a romantic relationship with him so it could pose a problem with Cole. As far as how much I can tell you about that relationship? I think very little.
As a fan of “BSG,” I have to say it’s weird to see you looking scared.
I know. Because you’re like, bad Katee looking scared doesn’t really look normal.
I have to say you look really good though on those first four episodes.
Thank you.
You look very much like yourself and not like Starbuck.
I know, right? I know, people are like, “Oh my God, Katee’s smiling.”
How are you doing with all the tech stuff?
The tech stuff is like my worst nightmare. It’s harder than “Battlestar Galactica” because on “Battlestar” I would tape my dialogue to the Viper screen. So every time I didn’t know a line I would just pretend that I needed to touch a knob or something and then I would just get my line that way. So now I’ve had to pick up a folder. Every time you see Dana with a folder in her hand it’s because I couldn’t memorize a line.
And you have to rattle off some nerd-word heavy instructions.
Yeah. There are some doozies. I got to tell you, they get worse. So I wish I could say that the inner dialogue gets easier but that’s not true. She’s head analyst or something. She’s very smart.
Does she get to see any action out of CTU? Can you tell me that?
I said to someone the other day that I was doing night shoots and they were like, “Well, how could she do night shoots if you were–Ohhhh.” So that was my first “Oops!,” like the cat’s out of the bag. So, yeah, and then you get these phone calls where you answer questions about what episode you’re filming and they’re like you can’t even answer that.
So you were on “The Big Bang Theory.”
I was on “The Big Bang Theory.”
In the bathtub.
In a bathtub.
And geeks’ hearts soared.
[Laughs.] I read this very funny interview–I think it might have been Maureen Ryan at the Tribune. She actually said that I was going for the geek trifecta. That I was Starbuck and I did “The Big Bang Theory.” And I’ve written and produced a comic book with my friend Sully. So I’m kind of going for the geek trifecta was how she put it.
Now you can go to Comic-Con with an actual comic book.
I can go to Comic-Con with an actual comic book. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself though, because it’s the comic book people that don’t have money for the parties. So I’d be like, “Hey, Syfy, can I come hang out at your party?”
You were on “Nip/Tuck,” which makes me have to ask if you’d ever want to guest star and sing on Ryan Murphy’s “Glee.”
I would go sing on “Glee.” I love Ryan. I love “Glee.” I think it would be really fun to do that show, whether or not I have time to put another thing on my little docket is a completely trick question. I seem to have a bunch going on. I’m producing a documentary with Tricia Helfer. I’ve written a TV show [called "Rain"] that I just pitched to Universal Television the other day. I’ve got the comic book going. So I’m a little spread thin right now.
I guess so. What you sing?
Oh, God in heaven. Anything that they could edit very easily.
Tell me about this doc with Tricia.
I can. I has to do with motorcycles. We’re doing a documentary that’s inspired by the Van Buren sisters–Adeline and Augusta Van Buren. They were the first women to ride cross-country on motorcycles in 1916. So we were inspired by them to find out what it means to be a women. We’re going to ride cross-country and do a Ewan McGregor.
“Long Way Down” and “Long Way Round” were great. That’s cool and a great story.
It’s pretty amazing. Yeah, they set out to prove that women could be motorcycle mail couriers in World War I. They were told that women weren’t strong enough and didn’t have the stamina for the job.
And they were proven wrong.
Well, that’s the sad thing about the story. I believe that the government and all the nay-sayers were proven wrong, but it didn’t change anything.
One thing I do want to ask you about going from Starbuck to “24″ and other post-”Galactica” projects comes from some comments I’ve read on Twitter and from other TV writers. They’re almost telling you what you should do with your career.
I know, right? Which ones are you referring to? I’ve seen a lot. I’ve stopped looking actually.
I was just wondering your reaction to those types of comments. That you shouldn’t be playing “just ” an analyst on “24″ after playing Starbuck. But they don’t know who Dana is; maybe you’re the ringleader.
Right. For anyone to think that I don’t have an ulterior motive with everything that I do in this business and I don’t know exactly where my career is going in my mind, that’s kind of a juvenile thought.
I am very calculated in what I do with my job to try and navigate this business and form the career that’s going to provide me with the stability and the longevity to have a job when I’m 60.
Right.
Or 70. Everything I do has a reason for it. Sometimes its just I want to have fun. But there’s a reason for everything I do. You know what? Sometimes, especially right now in this economy, it’s just nice to have a job.
Speaking of “BSG,” I have a few Starbuck questions. Was she an angel in the end?
I don’t know. I think that she is one of the only people whose origin, I guess whose fate, was left to interpretation.
And do you know where she went in the end?
I know where I think she went but do I know? No. And I have no idea what Ron [Moore] was thinking. But I think that she’s with Anders.
OK And when do you think she became self-aware that she wasn’t just human?
I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m sure she kind of knew but I don’t know. It’s been two years since we shot that stuff; I don’t remember the episode. Yeah.
Do you get tired of answering “Battlestar Galactica” questions?
No, I don’t. You know, I loved the show and I think I would get tired of answering “Battlestar” questions if I was still not working. It’s very easy to look back fondly when you have something to look forward to.
