As hard as it may be to believe, fans of a certain sci-fi hit were so hostile to one star that she nearly quit before it started!
It’s almost quaint to remember, but way back in 2003, the idea of rebooting Battlestar Galactica seemed like a terrible idea. The original 1978 series had only lasted one season, but it remained a popular show among sci-fi buffs. The tale of humanity's last remnants fleeing the evil Cylons and seeking a “lost colony” called Earth had maintained its audience for decades.
There had been attempts at restarting the saga over the years, but nothing came together until 2003. The Sci-Fi Channel (as it was then known) brought it to life courtesy of Ronald Moore and David Eick. This was a much darker take on the property with a realistic edge.
The show took a lot of liberties with the original series such as the Cylons being able to have human bodies. They also changed the races and genders of some of the classic characters, none as big as Starbuck.
Played by Dirk Benedict in the original series, Starbuck was the show’s most popular character, a charming, wisecracking ace gambler, ladies' man and pilot. The new version had Starbuck being the call sign of Kara Thrace, a great pilot who was also a short-tempered, hard-drinking, bed-hopping personal mess.
It was the breakout role for Katee Sackhoff that would become a popular character over time. But Sackhoff is opening up on how vicious the backlash over her casting was in the early going!
Sackhoff recalls being booed by Battlestar Galatica fans at San Diego Comic-Con
Keep in mind, the Internet as we know it didn’t quite exist in 2003. Fan pages and forums existed, but not to the extent of today’s social media landscape. That said, it was still possible to get the fans riled up with big news.
Thus, to classic Galactica fans, the word that the best character from the original series was now going to be a woman wasn’t received well. That included slams on the series “ruining” Starbuck right off, and many vowing to boycott the show before it even aired.
Speaking to The Joe Rogan Experience, Sackhoff admitted she was a bit out of the loop in regard to fan feelings about her casting until right before her debut at the 2003 San Diego Comic -Con.
“The internet did not exist yet, mind you. It was brand new. You had to go down to the internet café and buy 30 minutes … So I went down to an internet café because someone was like, ‘I guess they’re talking about the show on these message boards.’ And I was like, ‘What’s the internet?’ So I went on down. I logged on, and I saw this thread – and just the hate that I was getting in this thread!
That led to the big reveal of the cast at the event itself where, instead of applause, Sackhoff was booed by the crowd.
“They had us in Hall H, and I was booed. I was booed! I think it upset me a little bit. I would be lying if I said it didn’t upset me. But luckily, there were enough people championing the show that I really didn’t pay any mind to it.”
Sackhoff was 23 at the time and while she was okay then, she admitted the reaction “would probably break me now." She half-joked she “didn’t think the show would last anyway,” so she didn’t treat it as a big deal.
Of course, the show would gain popularity with viewers and Starbuck soon emerged as a fan favorite. The more Sackhoff delved into the character’s many flaws and struggles, the more endearing she became, aided by Sackhoff’s fantastic performance.
“It slowly started winning people over. I would go to cons after that, and the line would be longer and the people would be more supportive. People would say, ‘I didn’t want to like it, and I love it.'”
Since the series ended in 2009, Sackhoff has remained busy with the hit Western procedural Longmire and a genre icon playing Amunet Black in The Flash and Bo-Katan in The Mandalorian. It’s a good thing for fans that Sackhoff didn’t let this initial experience ruin her attempts at stardom, and it's a reminder of how some segments of fandom have always had the wrong reaction to change!