The Mandalorian’s Toxic Fans Caused 1 Key Change to Bo-Katan, Reveals Star

Toxic fans of The Mandalorian were so vocal about one particular part of Bo-Katan’s appearance in Season 2 that it was changed for the third season.

While Katee Sackhoff’s return to the world of Star Wars was a big deal, her role in Mando’s sophomore run wasn’t big. That changed, however, when Season 3 came around.

Many fans felt she quickly became the lead of the show—perhaps because Pedro Pascal was off filming The Last of Us. Either way, for better or worse, Bo-Katan became a key focus in The Mandalorian, and her character developed exponentially from there.

Toxic Mandalorian Fans Changed Bo-Katan

Bryce Dallas Howard joined Katee Sackhoff on the Blah Blah Blah podcast where the duo discussed one key change for Bo-Katan between The Mandalorian’s second and third seasons.

Howard was curious about Sackhoff’s hair choice for the character, particularly about why she went from shorter hair to longer hair—is it something Sackhoff asked for?

Sackhoff admitted that she had “wanted to cut [her] hair that short” at the time, but she ended up getting “so much hate” from toxic fans:

“So I wanted to cut my hair that short and I felt very masculine. I was at a point in my life, where I was very young and I associated beauty with long hair… stereotypical things that we do the long hair, the perfect body, all of these, the dewy face, and the pouty lips, and all of these things that we’re trying to sort of think of. And so I leaned into this really, really short hairstyle. And then, I got so much hate off the top of it…”

The star continued, explaining how “there was a lot of hate about [her] masculinity:”

“Yeah, there was a lot of hate about my masculinity, and how I wasn’t female enough, but I wasn’t male enough… And I felt so insecure about it that I wanted longer hair. And it came from an insecurity. And it gave me a place to go with the character.”

Howard admitted that it “was a really powerful choice as an arc:”

“Well, that’s really interesting. It was a really powerful choice as an arc. I distinctly remember that and just being like, ‘Wait, who is she now? Oh my gosh.’ And leaning in because of it.”

Sackhoff admitted that she “took the insecurity and [tried] to turn it into a thing:”

“Yeah, yeah and then to have her cut it off again was like really freeing too. So, I took the insecurity and I tried to turn it into a thing. That’s one of the things that I’d always done was don’t let them see you insecure. Use your insecurity as part of the character, as part of something, and put it on the screen.”

Howard pointed out how that’s “the power and nuance of storytelling:”

“Yeah, I mean it’s the the power and nuance of storytelling. And to to make that choice from that place, but it’s also totally the right choice. The exact right perfect choice and like thank God for it. It’s really interesting.”

Sackoff concluded by noting that her “insecurities always put [her] in the right place.”

The Evolution of Bo-Katan

While it’s sad that such negative vocalization had an active effect on the production, it’s great to see that Katee Sackhoff was still confident in everything she was doing with the character.

Sadly, it might be a bit before fans see Bo-Katan onscreen again.

While The Mandalorian Season 4 was scheduled to start production later this year, that’s now delayed thanks to the writer’s strike—which still doesn’t have an end in sight. Perhaps Lucasfilm will surprise fans with an appearance of the character in the upcoming Ahsoka show?

Though, she could be quite busy leading the Mandalorians in their newly reclaimed home of Mandalore. Maybe the various Disney+ shows will leave her in peace until Dave Filoni’s big MandoVerse event film goes down.

After all, fans are itching to reunite with another key Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+.