Long before she heard Jayma Mays read for Dulcinea in “The Adventures of Puss in Boots” and knew she’d found the purr-fect match, Ania O’Hare was crunching numbers as an auditor. Today, the three-time Daytime Emmy winner is senior vice president of casting and talent relations at DreamWorks Animation Television—and the 2027 Backstage Vanguard Award honoree.
O’Hare says she felt “a little bit of shock, but a lot of gratitude” when she learned she’d be receiving the award, a collaboration between Backstage and the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS) recognizing excellence in voice acting as well as community advocacy. “I love SOVAS. When you see a group of people enjoy what you do and are so grateful, it feels really good,” she adds. The casting director joins a roster of past recipients that includes Fran Drescher, Redd Pepper, and Marcus Scribner.
Here, O’Hare discusses her commitment to inclusive casting, the DreamWorks 7 live directing showcase, and why the strongest auditions start with being yourself.
Every audition is a chance to open a door.
O’Hare champions inclusive casting practices, helping ensure that “different worlds” are all represented. “The goal is always to give someone an opportunity who never has had it before,” explains the CD. That mission led to casting Deaf actor Shaylee Mansfield as a Deaf character who communicates in American Sign Language on “Madagascar: A Little Wild,” earning the young performer a historic “sign over” credit alongside the series’ voice cast.
More recently, that goal came to life on “Jurassic World: Chaos Theory.” DreamWorks cast Kiersten Kelly, who was born with a limb difference, to take over the role of Brooklynn from Jenna Ortega after the character loses part of her arm in a dinosaur attack. “We were able to bring in someone who represented the character now that she had lost her arm, and it was someone who has not necessarily had the opportunities of doing voice work,” O’Hare says. “I got to sit with her and work with her to find her way, and then the studio as a whole really supported her.”
At this year’s That’s Voiceover! Career Expo, O’Hare is taking part in DreamWorks Animation’s “Opening Doors: Talent Without Limits” panel spotlighting voice actors with disabilities. The idea grew out of her longtime relationship with the disability advocacy organization Easterseals. “How can we show a group of people who have had to come about this business in a different way?” the CD asks. “They’ve had a much more difficult path. Now, finally, there’s more acceptance for who they are, and more roles for them on TV and more writing for them. This group of people has fought really hard for what they get to do, and I think everyone connects with that.”
Your commercial demo is your ticket to DreamWorks 7.
O’Hare is also hosting DreamWorks 7, a live directing showcase, at the expo. The studio’s team will review submissions and handpick seven voice actors to work one-on-one with O’Hare on authentic DreamWorks scripts—a rare direct line into a major animation studio’s casting process, and one DreamWorks uses to scout new talent for its roster.
Auditions require a commercial or narration demo, which may surprise many animation-minded actors, but O’Hare’s reasoning is simple. “I want to see who they are,” she explains. “I tend to get a better sense of that in their commercial [reel]. It’s like my generals. I don’t really want to talk about work. I want to talk about what you ate for breakfast. You’re here, so you’re obviously talented. So it’s the whole piece of, what’s your sense of humor?”
The actors who stand out own who they are.
The performers who make it in front of DreamWorks’ executive producers, O’Hare says, are “people who took the risks and just were themselves in their auditions.” That believability “comes in so much more when you’re being yourself,” even for heightened vocal characters. “Not that Andy Richter is Mort in person, but he would be a great Mort walking around town,” O’Hare says of the actor who voices the lovable mouse lemur in “Madagascar” and “All Hail King Julien.”
In her live-action days, Bill Skarsgård made a similar impression. “He came in to read for us, and it was just like he owned himself,” O’Hare says. “This is what you want to see when an actor comes in and owns it.”
Instead of doing “what you think everyone wants,” strive to show “who you are in your acting and your performance and your audition,” the CD advises. The best way to do that, she says, is to “speak your truth; don’t let someone put you in a bucket. You can speak your truth in your audition.”
O’Hare’s parting message for the voiceover community: “Have fun! This is supposed to be fun, right? Just have fun; let it go. This is our industry. Let’s embrace it and enjoy every moment.”
O’Hare will receive the Backstage Vanguard Award on Jan. 8 during the online That’s Voiceover! Career Expo, taking place Jan. 8–10, 2027. The Voice Arts Awards gala follows on Jan. 17 at the Beverly Hilton.
