The new life of Stana Katic, the legendary Beckett who was fired from ‘Castle’ and hated Nathan Fillion
The actress eventually left the series through the back door, after which new projects came her way, such as Absentia and her first experience with motherhood.
Back in 2009, ABC decided to give a shot to a series called Castle. The show starred Nathan Fillion, a mystery novelist who joins the NYPD as a consultant in order to turn his cases into fiction. It was within this police department that we met Stana Katic, who played the co-lead, Kate Beckett.
Stana Katic was born in Canada, although her parents are Serbian, and she comes from a family with Croatian and Montenegrin roots. Her professional journey began in International Relations, Economics, and Law, but her passion for acting led her to take a different path and study performance.
Once in acting, Katic began with smaller projects, such as Acid Freaks (1999) and Alias (2004). Over time, her roles became more prominent, leading to her appearance in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008)—a stepping stone to Castle.
Her rise to fame with Castle
Castle has been, so far, the defining project of her career, a series that aired for eight seasons and catapulted her to stardom. Besides landing a strong role, she also earned a significant paycheck, eventually making over 10 million euros per season, until she was let go in Season 8 due to budget cuts. “Kate Beckett has been a beloved character on Castle for the past eight years," read the official statement announcing her departure.
It was a harsh goodbye for Katic, who previously admitted in an interview with EW that she hadn’t seen it coming: “It hurt and it was a tough ending. I still don’t fully understand the decision-making process behind it.” Ironically, the series didn’t survive much longer and was ultimately canceled by ABC.
Afterward, she took on other projects, including Absentia, which ran for three seasons and starred her as FBI agent Emily Byrne. She later entered the superhero universe, voicing Wonder Woman in Justice Society: World War II.
Stana Katic today
In 2021, Stana Katic quietly announced on social media that she was taking a break, both professionally and from her online presence. This led to her public disappearance, which later turned into a personal transformation when she revealed in June that she had welcomed her first child with husband Kris Brkljac at the end of 2021.
After that, she slowly returned to social media, posting a few photos, including what looked like a Zoom reunion and nostalgic snapshots. Her comeback sparked fan speculation about a possible return to acting—either in front of or behind the camera, as she’s also a producer through her company, Sine Timore Productions.