Of many, many breakout moments in Andor‘s first season, the passionate posthumous manifesto of Alex Lawther’s Karis Nemik providing the backdrop for Cassian’s return home remains one of the series’ standouts—perhaps only matched when the recording made a surprise return in the show’s second and final season, spreading the message of the Rebellion like a fire across the galaxy. But it wasn’t until the man behind the performance himself learned about that return that he realized just how much of a mark Nemik had made on Star Wars.
Lawther, who, between that brief audio recording cameo in Andor season two and his turn as Joe D. Hermit in Alien: Earth, has made “appearances” in two of the best sci-fi shows of the year, told Polygon of his surprise in a recent interview, revealing that he only learned of Nemik’s viral sensation from an email with showrunner Tony Gilroy.
“I had no idea. He wrote this very beautiful email about the resonance of that particular piece of writing,” Lawther told Polygon of the message, which was sent by Gilroy to let the actor know that he would make a brief “return” in the climactic moments of Andor‘s final episode, with an archival recording of Nemik’s manifesto being played by Anton Lesser’s outgoing ISB lead Major Partagaz before he commits suicide rather than face reprisals for the bureau’s failings.
“‘I’m sure you’re aware of how deeply our work together has landed,'” Lawther quoted from Gilroy’s email (it’s perhaps no surprise to see that the showrunner has repeatedly kept up with online chatter about Andor). “And I was like, ‘Oh, actually, I’m not really that aware of those things.'”
But the actor is very appreciative to see his performance live on… even if poor Nemik didn’t. “Because of Tony’s cleverness, I get to sort of live on in a way,” Lawther concluded. “But I wish I hadn’t been killed by that trolley full of credits.”
Us too, Lawther. Us too.
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