Katee Sackhoff has candidly shared the extreme measures she took for her acting roles, including a time when she pushed her body to the point of missing her menstrual cycle.

The renowned actress, known for her roles in Battlestar Galactica and The Mandalorian, discussed her intense preparation for the Netflix series Another Life on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, which aired on Saturday.

Sackhoff revealed her dedication to portraying the physical strain of space travel in the 2019–2021 sci-fi series, where she played astronaut Niko Breckinridge on a mission to explore an alien artifact on Earth. “I wanted to appear gaunt and parched in those opening scenes,” she explained, referring to her character’s emergence from cryosleep in the first episode.

To achieve this appearance, Sackhoff initially focused on building muscle and slimming down, eventually reducing her daily caloric intake to about 1,500 calories. “The approach was effective,” she confessed. “However, I completely stopped menstruating.”

Upon realizing the extent of her actions, Sackhoff expressed relief at regaining weight later in the series as her character acclimated to life on the spacecraft. “That was when I realized I had overdone it,” she concluded.

While Another Life lasted two seasons before Netflix canceled it in 2022, the show developed a loyal fanbase among sci-fi lovers — and gave Sackhoff another commanding lead role following her Battlestar Galactica breakout.

Plenty of actors have taken on extreme transformations for roles — from Christian Bale to Rooney Mara — but Sackhoff’s story is a reminder that even in sci-fi, some experiments are better left off-screen.