Netflix's Sandman actor Vanesu Samunyai discusses her role as Rose Walker and growing alongside her character

Newcomer Vanesu Samunyai had a pretty successful San Diego Comic Con, making her Hall H debut to a full crowd at Netflix's Sandman panel, and she's immensely grateful for it, "These people don't know me, so I was just thankful that everyone was nice and welcoming."

Sandman is an adaptation of a classic comic written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics, so it's got quite a big fan base and history. On preparing for her role, Samunyai shared that she drew from the comics, but not all of them. "We were doing Doll's House in season one, so that's all I went off in the beginning, because her subsequent issues wouldn't really be relevant in season one." Because she only had limited material for her arc in the comics, Samunyai told us that "A lot of her story I had to build and create myself. I did a lot of imagining and kind of filling in the blanks."

Samunyai added that she and Rose had a lot in common, "We were at similar points in life. In her journey, in the beginning, she… tried to be too selfless and thought less of herself and more of others and what she needed to do… and she grew and become someone who wanted to take more for herself, and I grew in a very similar way."

Sandman will be available to stream on Netflix on August 5.

To check out who else Popverse talked to this year at San Diego Comic Con, check out our Popverse's SDCC coverage roundup.