Could Andor’s Diego Luna End the 25 Year Shutout for Latino Actors in Lead at the Emmys?
It’s beyond time for a Latino actor to return to the Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy lineup. It’s been almost 25 years since Jimmy Smits was last nominated for NYPD Blue as the first Latino actor to be recognized in this category. History may be made this Emmy season, and Diego Luna’s outstandingly complex and acclaimed work in Disney+’s Andor is more than nomination worthy.
Luna returns to the Star Wars universe after introducing the character in the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. There, we first meet Cassian Andor as a Rebel captain and intelligence officer teamed up to steal plans for the Galactic Empire’s Death Star. Co-screenwriter Tony Gilroy collaborated to give the audience the gift of fully realized characters and a compelling narrative, fashioning Rogue One into one of the most successful Star Wars films to date.
But Gilroy wasn’t done with this story or with its beautifully nuanced characters.
In Andor, Gilroy re-teams with Diego Luna to enhance not only the history of the Star Wars universe, but he also provides a deeper, personally relevant backstory to Luna’s Cassian Andor. And Luna soars with the provided opportunity. As a series, Andor emerges as a politically complex narrative, focusing on the plight of the everyday, ordinary men and women who felt called to risk their lives for the greater good. Luna’s performance as Cassian Andor vastly expands what we understand about Cassian Andor from Rouge One. He helps ground the series in an infinitely relatable way.
Through Luna’s work, we understand that Cassian Andor isn’t a traditional marquee-branded hero — he is all of us.
Luna expertly guides the audience through Andor’s journey from reluctant bystander to uncovering his full potential and capacity to lead. We’re privy to the incremental events and decisions that shape the character. Thanks to Gilroy’s brilliant and intricately detailed scripts, we understand the truly human stakes at the center of this adventure. Luna’s performance avoids the traditional pitfalls found in epic material such as Andor. He gives the audience shading and nuance. He takes the character seen in Rouge One and regresses to a pre-formed version of himself, someone just beginning the journey and events that would forever change him. Through Luna’s eyes, we understand the risks, complications, and life-threatening dangers that everyday men and women across time have been willing to insert themselves for the reward of a just and right cause.
Latino actors are certainly having a moment in the 2023 Emmy cycle. Not only does Luna’s Star Wars cohort Pedro Pascal lead Disney+’s The Mandalorian, but he also stars in HBO’s The Last of Us. Selena Gomez continues her career-best work as a key ensemble player in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Jenna Ortega also reinterpreted a classic character by imbuing Wednesday Addams with her own Lantina heritage in Netflix’s Wednesday. So, it comes at a particularly significant moment in television history that Diego Luna’s Andor performance puts him at the forefront of the Emmy conversation with his equally talented peers.