Katee Sackhoff Reveals How Cancer Helped Her Find Her Voice in Conversation with Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast

Katee Sackhoff, well known for her performances as Starbuck in ‘Battestar Galactica’ and as Bo-Katan Kryze across ‘Star Wars’ sat down for a chat with Portrait of a Fangirl host Jenna Wrenn for a frank conversation about her life in Hollywood.  

Throughout the 20-minute conversation, Katee shares her experiences of navigating years in a male dominated industry and learning to find her voice.

At one poignant moment, Katee shares how her trauma impacted her desire to fight for her voice. 

“I didn’t really learned to speak my voice and find my voice until I was 28 and had my thyroid removed. I had cancer and had my thyroid removed and had a very traumatic [experience]. Anesthesia was very traumatic in that it was the first time I’d been put under. 

“They put the needle in, they forgot to screw the IV to it, and blood was squirting everywhere. And I was so traumatized by that. 

“And I was screaming for my mom, and then my mom came in, and by the time my mom came in, they’d given me something to calm me down. But I was traumatized, and I woke up from that surgery, which was a very long surgery. 

“But I woke up from it with this…this sort of defiance to always speak my mind and always say what I wanted to say, because I felt like I was so scared in that moment. 

“That moment came at the very end of Battlestar Galactica. And so, it sort of coincided with me finding my voice as a woman, which I found later in life.” 

The Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast is a series hosted by Jenna Wrenn and the rest of the team at entertainment website Temple of Geek.

The series aims to spotlight the stories of women who have found inspiration, growth, and power through their fandom, and previous guests include Ashley Eckstein, Felicia Day, and Rachel Smythe.

The podcast can be listened to on the Temple of Geek YouTube channel, as well as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, iHeartRadio, and Spotify.