Andor Star Alex Lawther Had No Idea Nemik's Manifesto Went Viral — Until Tony Gilroy Told Him
Alex Lawther had no idea Nemik’s manifesto had gone viral with fans.
Actors are often the last to know when a scene becomes A Thing. Case in point: Alex Lawther had no idea Nemik's manifesto in Andor turned into a fan-favorite rallying cry until Tony Gilroy himself tipped him off.
How he found out
Lawther, who plays idealistic rebel Nemik, delivers that manifesto during the Aldhani arc. The monologue pops back up in the Andor season 2 finale, where Partagaz listens to it moments before his death by suicide. Lawther told Polygon he genuinely didn't know the speech had blown up. Gilroy reached out to let him know the manifesto would resurface in the final episode, and that was the first he heard about its afterlife. In his note, Gilroy talked about how much the writing had stuck with people, and Lawther even shared a line from the email:
'I'm sure you're aware of how deeply our work together has landed'
Lawther laughed that, no, he's not usually clocking that kind of ripple effect in real time.
Happy to live on, not thrilled with the way out
He loves that Nemik's words keep echoing through the show, but he does wish his exit had been less... crunchy.
'Because of Tony's cleverness, I get to sort of live on in a way. But I wish I hadn't been killed by that trolley full of credits.'
Meanwhile, Andor season 2 keeps collecting wins
- Season 2 is the best-reviewed live-action Star Wars series to date, with high-profile praise from Pedro Pascal and George R.R. Martin.
- It picked up five Emmy wins, even though it was shut out of the acting categories.
- Next up in live-action Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu, hitting theaters next year.
Not bad for a manifesto the guy who delivered it didn't even realize had legs.