Reddit AMA Recap: Dana Swanson

Recently Dana Swanson did a Reddit AMA interview whom aside from famously providing the voice of Toonami’s SARA since 2013. She’s also a writer, producer, actor, singer, host, karaoke therapist, and has had involvement with the Adult Swim “Williams Street” Branch for 13 years and also a cat lover.

On what department at Williams Street was the most fun to work with?
I loved making promos with Pete and he taught me the value of frightening stock footage.

On trying out for Anime English Dub roles.
Yes! I currently audition for them.

On what it was like working with Adult Swim & Williams Street
I miss working at WS, but it has an all-hands-on-deck, scrappy vibe. You’re family, and you’re doing 5 jobs for the price of one because you love it. I do freelance for them now and miss seeing everyone around the office.

On working with the Toonami Crew.
Everyone is kind and I miss all of them. It’s a family vibe where everyone feels like a big brother?

On her history with Toonami and if she was a fan during her childhood.
It started coming on when I was in high school, but I used to watch it! I also helped them with a few things pre 2008 when I worked in the Williams Street library.

On finding out she got the role of SARA.
I didn’t realize I got the role of SARA, I thought I was recording scratch until Gill and Jason told me I was airing that Saturday. It wasn’t real until I watched the block that night and hopped on Twitter.

On what was it like to be working with Steve Blum? (The voice of TOM)
I love hearing what Steve adds every week. He’s a dang genius and sweetheart and we have only recorded in the same room once, sharing a microphone for funsies. He’s got a great laugh and has a very calming presence!

On what particular Anime shows she’d love to see on Toonami someday.
Berserk because I don’t think it can air on Toonami due to how violent it is and it means there’s a tear in the fabric of spacetime.

On working as a Freelancer in Los Angeles.
LA is a city built on freelance so there are a lot of common things that you see people doing or gravitating towards or similar challenges that pop up. It’s very feast or famine. I think the most surprising thing is that there’s no map to it, so there’s the potential for businesses taking advantage of you and telling you that you need services that are bunk, especially with finances.

On weirdest thing to happen over at Williams Street?
I will save the really weird stuff for non-online interactions, sorry!

I have been thinking a lot about the pandemic and nature of how TV is made, and in 2006 there was an episode of Venture that was arriving late and we couldn’t figure out why… it took hours of one of the producers calling to find out that the plane that the tape was on got struck by lightning? What happens then? If the thing is stuck in transit, can it even get to air? The episode showed up in time, but the pandemic feels like a million planes are in the air carrying shows people love and they are all getting struck by lightning. Regarding entertainment, this is Murphy’s Law times a million right now. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. I am really feeling for anyone who has to stay in broadcast operations and keep the lights on.


On her biggest advice to give to future voice actors/actress’.
I have been a performer/improviser/actor/singer/whatever for a long time. I’m a giant ham. I owe a lot to Nick Ingkatanuwat who was testing the new sound booth at Williams Street post-renovation and needed someone on the mic to help. I would go in the booth and sing TV theme songs to try and make him laugh, then he asked me to replace a vocal track on a song for the Aqua Teen movie. He and some of the editors would ask me to do scratch tracks here and there (meaning they need a voice to edit to and you’re likely to get replaced). Sometimes I’d wind up in an episode woo woo. SARA came from Gill and Jason hearing some of the other stuff I had done in my free time then asking if I would read copy for SARA. I didn’t realize it was an audition at all.

My biggest advice to young VAs is to ask yourself if you know how to act. If this is yes, great! If this is no, take some classes, find resources online, find people who need to fill roles for their podcasts or plays, and do it up. There’s no right way to do it, just find what works for you. Find your strengths, play around, record yourself doing monologues from your favorite shows/games/etc. I hope that helps!


On what the future of Toonami will look like.
No idea, but it’s always been more than a programming block to me–it’s a supportive culture and a kind fanbase. Everyone who identifies as a Faithful is looking for a place to belong and has it with The Bot and The AI piloting through space…and showing curated programming that seems to fit the vibe. I hope that in this weird season with minimal in-person interactions that fans are discovering ways to find each other.


And finally what does she plan on doing after Toonami ends?
“TOONAMI WILL LIVE FOREVER”