What Katee Sackhoff Did To Get So Fit For The Mandalorian

Though she's a minor character when she first appears (on screen, at least) in Star Wars: The Clone Wars' season 4 episode "A Friend in Need," it's immediately clear that Bo-Katan Kryze is not a woman to be trifled with. Voiced by Katee Sackhoff, the Mandalorian warrior plays a key role in leading her fractured people towards a more unified future, even as galactic power continually changes hands. Fans were delighted to see her again in Star Wars: Rebels, but her appearance on The Mandalorian was a true surprise because of the jump from animation to live-action. The best part: Sackhoff herself donned Bo-Katan's beskar armor, a dream come true for her and fans alike.

Part of her responsibility in reprising the role was not only to embody the character once again, but to look the part. Yes, the armor covers her entire body, but Mandalorians are an active people — "Always on the move," as Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) might put it. It wasn't the first time Sackhoff had to be in shape for a role, but she wanted to achieve a specific body type for Bo-Katan. And as fans of her YouTube channel may know, she hired the perfect trainer to help her on her way: Steve Zim.

For decades, Zim has trained not only Hollywood stars like Sackhoff, but "Olympic and professional athletes as well as thousands of other satisfied clients" (via ZimFit). The man knows what he's doing, to say the absolute least. Sackhoff had worked with Zim in the past, so she knew well before finally appearing on screen as Bo-Katan that he was the right man for the job. He'd helped her achieve the different body types she needed for her roles on Longmire and in Riddick, and did so again for The Mandalorian.

"Zim structures workouts for the aesthetic results they produce," to paraphrase something she says in one of her videos (via HealthDigest). So, in terms of both the exercise and the nutrition (including the right amount of protein) he prescribes, he's focused on how Sackhoff's characters' weight and musculature will appear on camera. "The camera adds ten pounds," as they say, and Zim definitely keeps that in mind.

Zim also emphasizes the importance of body symmetry, adjusting workouts so that more than just the right and left biceps seem even. "When you're trying to look a certain way," he says in the aforementioned video, "you gotta make sure that you're not overworking one thing and not the other." That's why Sackhoff never looks "big" no matter how much muscle Zim helps her pack on and no matter the camera angle: because she's evened out from all sides.

Actual Mandalorian training regimens may be a secret Bo-Katan would never share, but Sackhoff's more than willing to disseminate what she's learned. The next time you're thinking about wearing beskar, give her home workouts a look first.