On Tuesday, the 77th Emmy Awards nominations were announced, with Severance, The Studio, The Bear, and The White Lotus leading the pack. The Ben Stiller-backed workplace drama boasts 27 nominations, while Apple TV’s new Hollywood satire, Hulu’s old standby, and HBO’s sweeping hit scored 23 nods each. Other frontrunners include The Last of Us with 16 nominations, Andor with 14 nominations, and The Pitt with 13.
While none of these are all that surprising, there’s just one thing I can’t quite let slip: the fact that at least one lead in each of the aforementioned series received an individual nomination, yet none of Andor’s impeccable recurring ensemble received one. Not Diego Luna as the record-setting series‘ titular character, not Genevieve O’Reilly as the fan-favorite senator-turned-subversive, and not Stellan Skarsgård, who delivered the lion’s share of the show’s most searing monologues. Frankly, I struggle to classify these glaring omissions as mere snubs, but rather a result of a complete and utter ignorance on the voters’ part.
Since Andor premiered in September 2022, the series has drawn the most critical acclaim of any other Star Wars live-action project for its excellent ensemble cast, incisive take on resistance, and—that said—its eerie resonance to real life. The series is one of few political parables today that draws obvious parallels between a fictional empire’s authoritarian rule to…a nonfictional empire’s authoritarian rule *cough cough* the United States, Israel, etc. etc. Further, in its second (and unfortunately, final) season, Andor set a series high in viewing time, according to Nielson, garnering 931 million minutes of viewing in its final three episodes.
Beyond numbers, anyone who’s seen even one episode of Andor would agree it doesn’t seem right that among its cast, only two people (who aren’t series regulars) were recognized in actor categories: Forest Whitaker for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series and Alan Tudyk for Outstanding Character Voice-Over In A Drama Series. Did none of these voters see the famed Mon Mothma crash-out? Or Elizabeth Dulau’s powerhouse performance (her first ever out of drama school)? Surely, a Denise Gough edit found its way into their TikTok algorithms?
Not only were fans pissed about their omissions, but the show’s creator, Tony Gilroy, agreed with them. On Tuesday, Gilroy told Deadline: “These aren’t great moment-to-moment [performances],” Gilroy said about Luna, O’Reilly, and all others who were overlooked. “These are epic, long-term character studies that they’ve done over 24 episodes. I think the ultimate victory is that these performances will be celebrated and discussed for years to come. I feel confident about that.”
Apparently, I have friends everywhere…but the Emmy voters aren’t among them.
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