Katee Sackhoff

Early life Sackhoff was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in St. Helens, Oregon. Her mother, Mary, was an English-as-second-language (ESL) program coordinator, and her father, Dennis, a land developer. She graduated from Sunset High School in Beaverton in 1998.

Career

Sackhoff moved to Los Angeles when she was 17 years old. Her first acting role was in the Lifetime film Fifteen and Pregnant (starring Kirsten Dunst), which motivated her to move to Hollywood and pursue an acting career after she graduated from high school. Sackhoff's first recurring role was as Annie in MTV's Undressed; she next won a supporting role as Nell Bickford in The Education of Max Bickford. She made her motion picture debut in My First Mister, then appeared as Jenna "Jen" Danzig in Halloween: Resurrection.

Sackhoff's most widely known role is as Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in the miniseries and follow-up TV series Battlestar Galactica, for which she won a Saturn Award in 2006 for Best Actress on Television. Her persona led the writers to develop the character as more complex and volatile. Galactica 's executive producer Ron Moore described Sackhoff as having "magnetism"; and producer David Eick said, "We saw this whole other side that was all because of Katee: vulnerability, insecurity, desperation. We started freeing ourselves up to explore the weakness of the character because we knew Katee could express those things without compromising the character's strength." Sackhoff said her performance was inspired by Linda Hamilton's portrayal of Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day: "I think that was the one character that I kind of looked to as far as body image and strength. I think I looked to her character and said, 'OK, that's kind of what you need to embody. Toward the end of the filming of Battlestar Galactica, Sackhoff began feeling physically weak. Soon after filming wrapped, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After surgery to remove her thyroid, she required no radiation treatments and by February 2009 was in remission.

In 2007, Sackhoff was cast as the evil cyborg Sarah Corvus in the short-lived NBC series Bionic Woman. David Eick, the show's executive producer, said, "[Sackhoff is] a very special find. Those actors who can combine the qualities of strength and vulnerability—they usually call those people movie stars." She has made guest appearances in Cold Case, ER, Law & Order, and Robot Chicken. Sackhoff provided the voice of a female marine in the video game Halo 3 and is featured in the viral marketing campaign for Resistance 2. In 2011, she provided the voice for Black Cat 2099 in Spider-Man: Edge of Time. She voiced Sarah Essen in the DC Comics animated film, Batman: Year One. She appears in four episodes of the fifth season of the series Nip/Tuck playing a new doctor, Dr. Theodora Rowe. However, for the sixth season Sackhoff was replaced by Rose McGowan for the role due to scheduling conflicts. Sackhoff headlined NBC's Dick Wolf-produced cop drama Lost and Found as Tessa, "an offbeat female LAPD detective who, after butting heads with the higher-ups, is sent as a punishment to the basement to work on John Doe and Jane Doe cases." The pilot was filmed in January 2009. NBC decided not to pick up the series. In 2009, she appeared as herself in The Big Bang Theory episode "The Vengeance Formulation", being fantasized as Howard Wolowitz's dream girl. She appears again in season 4, in the same role. Sackhoff appeared as a series regular in the eighth season of the TV series 24, playing Dana Walsh, a CTU data analyst with a secret.

In February 2010, Sackhoff signed on to play the lead in an ABC crime drama pilot, Boston's Finest. ABC decided not to pick up the series.

She made a special appearance in the Futurama episode "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences". In the fall of 2010, Sackhoff joined the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Detective Reed, a smart investigator who does not do well with sensitivity. In 2011, Sackhoff guest starred in an episode of Workaholics as a homeless drug addict named Rachel.

From 2012 to 2017, Sackhoff co-starred as the lead female role in Longmire, an A&E/Netflix television series based on the novels by Craig Johnson. Sackhoff played Sheriff's Deputy Vic Moretti.

From 2012, Sackhoff provided voice acting for the Lucasfilm Animation series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, in which she played Bo-Katan Kryze, member of the revolutionary Mandalorian Death Watch and Nite Owls. She reprised this role in the sequel to the series, Star Wars Rebels, and in the seventh season of the original series produced by Disney+ in 2020. Also in 2020, Sackhoff appeared as Bo-Katan Kryze in the Disney+ live action original series The Mandalorian.

Sackhoff played Dahl, a mercenary hired to track down Vin Diesel's intergalactic convict character in Riddick.

In August 2012, Sackhoff became the cohost of the Toad Hop Network podcast Schmoes Know Movies. One of her first shows was with guest Sean Astin.

Sackhoff announced in April 2015 a new TV series project, Rain, which she wrote and is executive-producing through her Fly Free Productions. She also had a role in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops III, performing voice over and motion capture as Sarah Hall. She portrayed Pink Ranger Kimberly in Power/Rangers, a short depicting a dystopian future in the Power Rangers universe.

In 2017, Sackhoff joined The CW series The Flash in the recurring role of villain Blacksmith for its fourth season, billed as a special guest star.

On April 26, 2018, it was announced that Sackhoff was cast in a main role on the Netflix science-fiction drama series, Another Life. It ran for two seasons from 2019 to 2021. Sackhoff announced its cancellation in February 2022.

In 2023, she launched her podcast called Blah Blah Blah with Katee Sackhoff. After a rebranding, the podcast was relaunched on April 23, 2024, under the name The Sackhoff Show. At the end of December 2025, Sackhoff announced that The Sackhoff Show would be pivoting to primarily become a Battlestar Galactica rewatch podcast.

Personal life Sackhoff and her Battlestar Galactica co-star Tricia Helfer co-founded the Acting Outlaws, a motorcycle-riding charity with which they have worked to raise awareness and funds for causes including the Gulf Restoration Network, the Humane Society, and the Red Cross amfAR.

From 2014 to 2018, she was in a relationship with actor Karl Urban.

In 2018, Sackhoff met actor Robin Gadsby in Vancouver, British Columbia. The couple married in October 2021 and have a daughter and son together.

Sackhoff has ADHD and takes medication for it, as revealed on her episode of the Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers broadcast.

Sackhoff moved back to Oregon in 2024, with her husband and their children.

Filmography

Film

Video games Year Title Voice role Notes 2007 Halo 3 Female Marine 3 2008 Resistance 2 Cassie Aklin 2011 Spider-Man: Edge of Time Black Cat 2099 2015 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Sarah Hall Also motion-capture 2016 Eve: Valkyrie Rán Kavik 2018 Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Sarah Hall 2025 ARK: Survival Ascended Lost Colony Expansion Pack Diana Altaras

Audio Year Title Role Notes 2021 The Division: Hearts on Fire Melanie Hoskins Audio drama based on the video game series.

Awards and nominations