Now I get it. I really do. It’s like anything else. If you’re a genre author, director, or even actor it’s harder definitely for one to break from that mold especially if you’ve been doing it for a while. People are just less keen to take you seriously. Ask the director who wanted to direct a period piece after having a resume of nothing but scifi or horror. Or the author who wants to write the next great american novel however her resume is nothing but homoerotic vampiric love sagas. Just ask someone like Dean Stockwell, Jonathan Frakes, Scott Bakula, even William Shatner up until fairly recently (and he still bitches about not getting is due time in the upcoming Star Trek film). Katee Sackhoff wants to nip it in the bud, and I totally understand. Philosophically for sure. I also understand that genre fans, are some of the most loyal and consumer crazy fans out there. All you need to do is look at San Diego Comic Con to gage any sort of sense on how powerful that fan base is to your celebrity. Now I’m not suggesting that Sackhoff is unappreciative of her fans and the celebrity she undoubtedly received being in this show. Nor am I suggesting that she’s unappreciative of Battlestar Galactica itself, and everything that came with it. Actors, Writers, Directors. What I’m saying is more bluntly: whether done intentionally or not, she’s dissing the fans.
Now this is not the first time actors have dissed their fans, nor will it be the last. Again ask Shatner. Katee does have hotness on her side, which definitely gives her a little buffer, and she’s also very big in the lesbian community: another buffer. But aside from all of that, it’s just a lame move.
Katee, honey, I’m sure you’re a smart enough girl to realize the possible consequences of this. Yet it seems like you don’t care. In an industry where image is everything, you’re going to turn your back on the one thing that basically gave you your career? The fans of BSG. That is a bold move girl. And one that will have inevitable blowback.
People like David Duchovney, Julie Benz, Jeri Ryan, Alyson Hannigan, got their fame in genre moved to other things without turning their backs on the fans.
Of course the real challenge for her isn’t jumping from BSG to Nip/Tuck like she’s doing. She can do that, get another show, win an Emmy maybe. (Although whether she likes it or not, people will initially look to cast her in the tough girl tomboy roll. A roll that the lesbian community, of course, really likes.) But geeks are like elephants, they never forget. It’s what makes them geeky. The real challenge, for Katee Sackhoff is jumping to the big leagues, ie feature films which I’m sure she wants to do. I’m not saying it’s just going to be difficult for her, it’s difficult for all TV actors, writers, directors, etc. It’s harder to transition. And when you try to transition, with a fanbase out there that feels slighted… well good luck. After all you rolled the dice and maybe you’ll get lucky. That is how this town works it seems. For good or bad.
