Kara Thrace - Casting

Casting

There was considerable outrage from fans of the original series when producers announced their intention to re-cast Starbuck and Boomer as women, with the decision to change Starbuck's gender especially controversial due to the character's popularity. Ronald D. Moore recounts: "When heard Starbuck was going to be a woman, it was just like, There can never be peace between us! Blood has been spilled! We just decided that we didn't care." Moore explains the gender switch: "Making Starbuck a woman was a way of avoiding what I felt would be 'rogue pilot with a heart of gold' cliche."

Producers were looking for a mid-30s actress with a tough military demeanor for the role. Katee Sackhoff was not quite who they had envisaged, being a very feminine 23 year old in real life, however, they were impressed by her acting ability. Director Michael Rymer explains: "Katee came in and my first reaction was, Well, she's the best actress, but she's too feminine." Katee Sackhoff admits: "Up to that point, I had always played pretty stereotypical blond roles. This was definitely a stretch for me. I wear high heels and dresses. I am a total girly girl. Now people avoid me at the gym."

Executive producer David Eick recounts:

"I was at home, looking at old tapes of auditions, just bemoaning the fact that we didn't have a Starbuck. It was the most talked-about role; this was not the role to fall on our faces with. Jenny, my wife, happened to be in the room when Katee was reading, and in an off-hand kind of way said, What's the matter with you, she's right there! I was like, Really? We brought back, and it was like, Oh! She's right!"

Executive producer Ronald D. Moore wrote, "Katee auditioned for the role along with many other actresses, and simply blew them all away. Sometimes we get lucky."

For Sackhoff, the reaction to the reimagined role was difficult at first. "At the start, I was young; I was stupid," said Sackhoff. "I let the fact that people questioned whether or not a woman could play a man's role dictate how I was going to play her." Fans opposed to the casting of a female in the popular role expressed their discontent during production on the miniseries, and Sackhoff even received a death threat before the start of filming. During the 2004 San Diego Comic Con, the actress was booed:

"I was booed. It was lovely. At that point, I'd seen the miniseries and I knew I'd done a good job. I had my confidence back. I didn't care anymore."