Alex Lawther Shocked Nemik’s Andor Manifesto Went Viral — I Had No Idea
Alex Lawther says he was surprised to learn that the anti-fascist manifesto he recorded as Nemik in Andor caught on with fans, and that the speech was later reused as a coda in the show’s finale. Lawther, who currently stars in Alien: Earth, only found out about the speech’s return after showrunner Tony Gilroy told him.
- What happened: Nemik’s manifesto from Andor season 1 was replayed in the series finale.
- Reaction: Lawther says, “I had no idea,” when he learned fans had fixated on the speech.
- How it was recorded: Lawther pressed Gilroy for the text, but Gilroy withheld it until the last minute; Lawther prefers the off-the-cuff delivery.
- Character detail: Nemik dies during a mission when he is crushed by a pallet of stolen Imperial credits.
The manifesto and the finale
In one of Andor‘s final moments, a recorded manifesto describes resistance in stark terms. The recording begins with the line, “Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks. It leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.” Then, after the audio stops, an Imperial officer notes, “Just keeps spreading, doesn’t it?”
That manifesto was performed by Lawther as Nemik in season 1. Consequently, the speech functioned as a resonant capstone when it returned near the show’s end.
Lawther’s reaction
Lawther told Polygon that he was surprised the manifesto “went viral,” and that he only learned about its reuse later. Specifically, he said, “I had no idea.” He found out when showrunner Tony Gilroy emailed to explain the piece’s resonance and to say the speech would be used again as a coda.
Lawther pulled up and read a line from Gilroy’s message aloud: “I’m sure you’re aware of how deeply our work together has landed — And I was like, Oh, actually, I’m not really that aware of those things.”
On recording the speech
Before the original recording, Lawther pressed Gilroy for the text of Nemik’s manifesto. Gilroy declined to reveal it until the last minute, and Lawther now thinks that was probably for the best. He said, “I’m glad I didn’t have time to sit with it.”
Moreover, Lawther explained his approach to the performance: “I’m glad that we just did it off the cuff. When writing is good, it’s better not to spend too much time thinking about it. The writing does a lot of the work.”
A small afterlife for Nemik
Although Nemik dies in season 1—he is crushed by a pallet of stolen Imperial credits—Gilroy’s decision to reuse the recording meant the character’s words returned in the finale. Lawther noted, “Because of Tony’s cleverness, I get to sort of live on in a way.”
Still, he added a frank aside about his character’s fate: “But I wish I hadn’t been killed by that trolley full of credits.”
