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Ana Sani is the second castaway to have her torch snuffed on Survivor 51. The voice actor, who also had a recurring role on The Boys, was blindsided in Episode 2 after a rumor involving fellow player Sharonda Cox spiraled out of control — though Ana says she did everything she could to save herself before Tribal Council.
In this Gold Derby Q&A, Sani opens up about her one big “regret” in the game, her reaction to Brady Booker slicing off a part of his thumb, her failed attempt to work with fellow Iranian contestant Alexis Levine, and Rob Antonson’s baffling decision to vote for himself. She also reveals why she is rooting for Carter Krull to win the $1 million prize.
Gold Derby: How are you feeling after your elimination from Survivor 51?
Ana Sani: It was a tough watch. It was a very tough watch for me. Obviously, I knew what I did out there, and I was very nervous seeing how it was all going to play out. I appreciate that I was fun and chaotic and messy because that’s kind of how I am in my life, but it wasn’t the way that I intended it to be. So that was hard.
What was worse — having Jeff Probst snuff your torch or having Homelander kill you with his laser vision?
Why is this happening to me? Why do I always get the terrible ending like that? It’s so not fair! Obviously, Jeff snuffing my torch was worse. But he said my name. He said Anahita. That was cool. That was good.
Did you come clean to your fellow players about being an actor, or did you lie about your profession?
I told everybody that I was a voice actor. I didn’t tell them that I was an actor. I didn’t think it was relevant to say what I had done, but they knew that I did some stuff here and there, and everyone believed that I was a voice actor because I did put on some voices a little bit. I don’t really care about the whole lying-about-your-career thing — just say your career. But I didn’t think it was super relevant to say which particular shows I had been in, so I just didn’t.
When Rob voted for himself, America was confused because the players are clearly told they can’t do that, right?
I knew that you can’t vote for yourself, so I don’t know what Rob was thinking. I think he wanted to make a big, different move, which — kudos to him for trying. He wanted to “sacrifice” himself so that Eric could have a second shot. But I was thinking to myself, “Rob, even if your plan happened, I still would have gone home.” Watching that, I realized I was toast no matter what. There was no point in me even trying to fight as hard as I did, which I did out there before going to Tribal. I was gone.
Did you ever consider using your Shot in the Dark?
Yes, I did, actually. While I was sitting in Tribal, I had some inklings. A couple of things that Sharonda said made me think, “Is this real? Am I actually being targeted?” I had this really bad feeling in my gut, and I kept looking down at my bag to where my Shot in the Dark was.
But I kept turning to Carter, Rob, and Christian [Chavez] and asking, “Am I good? Are we good?” to the point where they were like, “Yes, stop asking,” and were annoyed with me a little bit. So I thought, “Oh, OK. Well, I don’t want to be one of those super-paranoid, annoying people, so I think I’m safe.” But I should have listened to my gut. I regret that.
What was it like walking into Tribal Council for the first time?
It’s unbelievable! The whole experience completely consumes you. You’re in it 100%. These people become your world, the circumstances become your reality, and Tribal feels like life or death, it really does. Survivor does such an incredible job of immersing you in the experience 100% that when you leave, you genuinely feel like you’re being shaken out of this world or ripped out of it, especially when it comes to a blindside. I loved Tribal Council. It was beautiful.
Eric MacksoudCBS
You voted for Eric (with an “E”) so tell us: What was it about Eric? Why did he get on everyone’s nerves?
Look, I love Eric. I think he’s himself, and he’s a really, really good, nice person with genuine intentions. I think he just couldn’t read the room sometimes. We’re all out there really tired, hungry and feeling sick. We don’t want to talk about X, Y, Z, and we don’t want to do improv right now. He just couldn’t get those cues. He talks a lot during the game because he was so excited, and his excitement comes out verbally. He was constantly dropping references and dropping stories. I personally wasn’t too bothered by it. I was like, “OK, he’s just being himself.” I didn’t think he was a threat at all, but when his name was being tossed around, I was like, “Well, anybody but me.”
You said in your parting words that you played “too hard, too quickly.” What specifically do you wish you could have done differently?
Watching it back was really eye-opening for me, because in the back of my head I was like, “Did I bring up that Sharonda conversation?” It was very vindicating to see that it was Alexis who dropped Sharonda’s name, not me. I said I thought Sharonda was trouble. Alexis then went to Sharonda and said that I had dropped her name, but the story came back to me because everyone was spreading it like wildfire. It came back to me that someone said I was spreading rumors about Sharonda. Then the stories got mixed up in my head, and I was like, “Oh my gosh, did I do that?” That’s where the “did I play too hard, too fast?” situation came from.
But I really did try to save myself out there. The moment I heard that this was the rumor, I pulled Alexis aside and confronted her. I was like, “I know you’re talking about me. Why did you do that?” She was very honest with me and said, “I am talking about you.” I was like, “Girl, what are we doing here?” I really, really wanted to work with her. I told her, “Here I am, putting myself out there and telling you I know that you’re doing this to me, but I still want to work with you. Can we make it happen?” She said, “Of course I want to make it happen with you,” but she still ended up lying to me. That was painful, but it is what it is. She played her game.
You and Alexis bonded over both being Iranian, so you were especially bummed that you couldn’t work together. What happened?
I would have loved to work with her. During marooning, I got really good vibes from her. Other people on Toka were saying, “Alexis seems like a good one, Ana, so get close with her.” So I thought, “OK, I’ll make it my mission for when we merge. Then the four or five of us can get together.” That was my plan.
Who on Toka do you think you could have worked really well with if the tribe breakdown had happened differently?
I got really, really good vibes from Patt [Cannaday], Mike [Pinsky], and Jenna [Doore]. I also connected with Thien An [Nguyen] right off the bat. Those four — and, of course, my Canadian brother, [Danny] Kilby — I really connected with. Thien An was the one who said, “I like Jenna. You get close with Alexis, and we’ll come together.” I was really banking on that because I got such good vibes.
What was it like watching Brady chop off part of his thumb?
I didn’t realize they were actually going to show the thing. I was like, “Is that a nail?!” I was so shook by that. I can’t believe it. And good for him — what a trooper. The only thing going through his head was, “Am I going to be out of the game?” Wow, Brady.
How would you have handled that situation?
I would have passed out immediately for sure. I don’t know. I’d be so scared. I’d be crying. I’d be hysterical. Our cast is wild! We’re fun.
What did you think of the brand-new main title sequence?
I’m drinking a coconut. It’s great and all, but where’s my epic face shot? No, it was great. My sister loves it. She’s like, “I love that the coconut’s two times the size of your head.” I’m like, “It’s true.” I even remember that particular moment of trying to get every last bit of juice out of it.
How real is the hunger out there? What can you tell people who haven’t been on the island about the struggle?
I went out there with a 20-hour fast under my belt. I was prepared, and I fared better than a lot of people because of the 20-hour fast I did. But we ate 100 calories a day. That little crab Christian catches at the opening of the episode was our meal for the whole day, split between 10 people. We got to eat coconut, but foraging for coconut and breaking open coconut wasted a lot of resources and energy. We also couldn’t find fresh coconut. There was a lot of raw papaya out there. It was brutal conditions.
How much idol searching was going on?
Carter and I were really tight. I think we searched every day for at least an hour. We searched every single day, as many times as we could. I ended up idol searching with everybody because I had pockets with everyone. I idol searched with Rob for a little bit, Kristin [Flickinger], Christian, Alexis, Linnea [Capobianco] a little bit and Ori. I was literally out there with everybody idol searching, which is why I thought I was in with everyone. If everyone’s idol searching with me, then I’m like, “OK, clearly these people trust me.”
Did you have any idea that Rob had found the idol and was keeping it a secret?
They didn’t really talk about this, but I had an inkling that he had something. During marooning, someone had spread a little rumor or had seen that Rob had something in his pocket. So, I got onto Savu thinking he had an advantage or something in his pocket the whole time, which is another reason Carter and I decided to align with him. They didn’t show all of that, and I wish they did. You know how they showed in the first episode that Carter and Rob pulled me in? From my perspective, Carter and I pulled Rob in because I told Carter, “Hey, he has something,” and Carter was like, “Well, I’ve got to figure out what that is.”
Who are you rooting for to win Survivor 51?
Everyone betrayed me out there! It’s between Rob and Carter. But Rob, with his whole antics, I would have gone home anyway. So I am putting all of my money on Carter. Let’s go, Carty. Let’s go.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.