Katee Sackhoff Admits ‘The Mandalorian’ Production “Is Rushed All The Time,” Says Show’s Catering Budget Bigger Than ‘Battlestar Galactica’

John F. Trent |

Jul 7, 2023

Bo-Katan Kryze actress Katee Sakchoff recently detailed that the production on The Mandalorian “is rushed all the time.”

(L-R): Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) with the Darksaber in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

In the second episode of her BlahBlahBlah show with The Mandalorian director Bryce Dallas Howard, Sackhoff discussed the Star Wars series.

She said, “That’s why I tell people that Mando is like — they’re always so confused why it takes so long for us to shoot and why the episodes are in their mind so short.”

“And I’m like, ‘There are so many moving parts to this that you have no idea.’ We’re lucky that we finish as fast as we do. We’re rushed all the time and the fact that we finish is crazy,” she said.

Howard would then ask Sackhoff how The Mandalorian is different from other TV productions she’s been part of.

Sackhoff answered, “So the biggest difference for me — I mean budget is massive. Budget is completely different. I’ve never worked on something with a budget this big. … Our catering budget is probably the entire budget of Battlestar Galactica, granted that was 20 years ago.”

“The biggest thing is that most episodes of television that I am used to shoot in eight days. Eight days,” she continued. “It is so fast and you get two to three takes and that’s it. So when I came in, it was such — they used to joke and call me the one take wonder because I would know exactly what I was gonna do, I would have it all planned, I would know the story, and yes, I would fly by the seat of my pants through like inside that box, but I knew that I had one or two takes to get it perfect from every angle mind you.”

“So when I got to Mando and on day one with you, where for — God love you — the amount of takes you do is like my bread and butter,” Sackhoff relayed. “I think that we got to like take three and I was convinced that was it because that’s my experience. There are times we’ve done — we did 38 takes of one scene. Like that is legitimately the opposite of what I’m used to and so it gives you so much time to find everything and I’ve never done that before.”

(L-R): Paz Vizsla (Tait Fletcher), Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado), Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides), Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Grogu and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

Sackhoff went on to reveal that she’s a fan of having more takes and explained, “I love it. I absolutely love it because it gives me the ability to find different things inside of what I thought. And then sometimes you get so over it that you give a difference performance. You’re like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t expect that.’ And that wouldn’t have come without me completely abandoning everything that I’d already done or thought I knew.

“Or even sometimes just the exhaustion of going up and down stairs peppered your next take and made it something different and I love that too. It’s absolutely amazing,” Sackhoff stated.

Sackhoff’s comments appear to confirm what actress Emily Swallow detailed about the show’s production in an interview with Discussing Film in April.

Swallow informed the outlet, “We’re usually shooting more than one episode at a time because we have two crews going at the same time. So we’ll jump back and forth between episodes while filming the whole season, in between different directors.”

“Everyone has to keep track of where they are with their characters and where they are in the story,” Swallow elaborated. “The directors have to also keep track of where they’re fitting into the overall arc of the season.”

She concluded, “I feel like all of the directors are very generous in terms of wanting to serve the overall story, no one is trying to commandeer their particular episode or put a stamp on it in any sort of way that takes away from the rest of the show.”

LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: Rick Famuyiwa, Katee Sackhoff, Emily Swallow and Giancarlo Esposito onstage during a special screening of ‘The Mandalorian’ at the studio panel at the Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney)

Swallow then detailed how involved creator Jon Favreau is on set, “I think Jon doesn’t shy away from choosing directors who have unique styles, but there is such a concerted effort to make sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of the story that we’re telling and the creative tone of the show.”

“He makes himself so available, just to make sure the heart of the story is consistent and it doesn’t get too crazy, because we don’t shoot episodes one at a time,” she relayed. “A lot of it depends on what set we have up and when because the sets are so expensive, so we’ll shoot a few days of episode three, then a few days of episode six, and then a few days of episode two.”

What do you make of Sackhoff admitting the show’s production is rushed and that their budget is enormous?

NEXT: Katee Sackhoff Mocks Din Djarin Handing Over The Darksaber Following Fight With Axe Woves In ‘The Mandalorian’

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