The Television Academy revealed the list of Emmy nominees this morning, and with that list of potential winners, one thing was very clear: 2022 delivered some of the best television series of the decade. For Star Wars fans, it came as no surprise that Andor was named an Outstanding Drama Series—a title it also claimed here at Collider—but it is quite an impressive feat, considering the way the Emmys have historically handed out technical awards to Star Wars titles.

Following the announcement that Andor had picked up eight Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series, and Outstanding Special Visual Effect in a Season or a Movie, Collider had the opportunity to speak with Andor’s creator Tony Gilroy.

In addition to speaking about the experience of being nominated for the series, Gilroy spoke at length about all the incredible creatives involved in making Andor and the ongoing Writers Strike, and the way the labor movement connects to the themes of Andor. We also spoke about “One Way Out,” the exceptional episode written by Beau Willimon, which was nominated for Outstanding Writing. Willimon shared a statement about his nomination, saying:

“It’s thrilling to see Andor receive so many nominations from the Television Academy. I’m grateful and honored to be part of the team that Tony Gilroy assembled. He had such a strong vision for the series and hundreds of talented people worked tirelessly to bring the scripts to life. All of us are indebted to the fans who have been so supportive of us trying to do something different within such a beloved franchise. I’d also like to acknowledge that while it’s wonderful to celebrate the value of writers, 11,000 of us are currently on strike to protect the value of every writer on every show, and winning that struggle is the most important prize of all.”

Image via Disney+

RELATED: Diego Luna Says Tony Gilroy Is “Raising the Bar” With ‘Andor’ Season 2

COLLIDER: First and foremost, I have to say congratulations on the Emmy nominations, particularly that Outstanding Drama Series nomination.

TONY GILROY: I know! What a great thing. And thank you to Collider because you guys have been great for us all the way through.

Thank you. I love the show. I feel like you know that I love the show. I have to say, Andor absolutely broke the mold in terms of Star Wars and sci-fi. With all of this award buzz, what do you think it says about where Star Wars can and should go in terms of this gritty, grounded, very lived-in storytelling?

GILROY: I think the bigger lesson is that we were tasked with opening a new lane along these lines, and a new grammar and a new visual vocabulary, and a new approach to behavior. In a larger sense, I hope, and I think the aspiration is that it gives permission for all kinds of different shows. The mistake would be, “Oh, let’s replicate what Andor does.” I think the win would be if Star Wars could do any number of things in that universe with the elements that are at play. So, I’m hoping that the effects of this is broader than just saying, “Oh, let’s have everything be Andor.”

But I want everything to be Andor!

GILROY: [Laughs] You don’t want the Star Wars musical? Come on!

Well, I do want that. A musical episode would be very fun.

GILROY: There you go!

It would be like the [Star Wars Holiday Special] all over again.

GILROY: What about a Star Wars murder mystery?

There have been some very good Star Wars comic books that played upon that vibe, so I could definitely see that. To the point that you made, I do think that’s what’s so important about Andor is that it showed that Star Wars can be anything with the right team of creatives. It’s so great to see that a number of nominations have been given to Andor in directing, cinematography, the writing. I feel like, with the writers’ strike in full swing, it’s pertinent that we discuss Beau [Willimon’s] nomination for “One Way Out.” Out of all the episodes, what do you think it is about the writing in that episode that stood out so profoundly to the Emmys?

GILROY: You have to make a decision, I guess tactically, what you’re going to go for, and people just responded to that episode so strongly, from everything, from civilians to critics and everything else. It just seemed like that was the one that had the most heat, so that’s what we went with. It’s got everything in it. It’s got everything in it. I don’t know what it would be like to watch the one episode and not watch the show, but I guess if you just watch that one episode you’ve got a pretty good idea of what we’re trying to do all the way through the whole show.

Image via Disney+

Definitely. I was so surprised, though, the performances didn’t get nominated. Specifically that set of episodes, and that episode. Like Andy Serkis, I was so hoping that he would get a nomination because that is just a role and a character that I feel resonated with so many people.

GILROY: I don’t know what the right answer is to that. I mean, Succession has had a very glorious victory lap. They kind of rolled the table. There wasn’t a lot of oxygen, I think, by the time they got done.

I know. It’s so hard when you have an awards season where there are so many incredible series and so many incredible performances.

GILROY: You know what? That’s why that series nomination means so much. It’s a great group of shows to be part of. The only other time I’ve been through this is when we did Michael Clayton, and it was so great that year that I loved all the movies that we were up against and communing with. So it’s really nice to like the group that you’re in.

To that point, what is it like Emmys morning and getting the call, the email that your show has been nominated?

GILROY: It definitely improves the day.

I love that.

Another set of nominations here for Andor that I was so happy to see was Nicholas [Britell] for both the music as well as that opening theme. I’m curious, when you went into the conversation about what should the tone and the vibe be for the music, what was that like for you and Nicholas, to discuss the soundscape of Andor?

GILROY: Oh my god, Nick and I spent the better part of a year in a room together on and off. We had so many conversations about so many things. The great thing about these jobs—and it’s not bullshit—it’s the community, it’s the people you work with, it’s the chance to visit all of these various communities of this show in pre-production and shooting, and post-production and writing. Nick and I, there’s almost nothing that we haven’t talked about. We talked about this show, so it’d be hard to say where we leave off and the show begins. It’s one of the great collaborations I’ve ever been a part of. I look forward someday to getting back to it.

What you say about the community of a show is so accurate. Before I did all this, I worked in the film business and TV, and I was a stand-in on a TV show. I haven’t worked on it in three years, but I still have a great group chat with all of my other second team members, and we share all of our victories and wins, so I think about that whenever shows are nominated for stuff. It’s a whole community. It’s a whole family of people, regardless of who’s nominated. Everybody is nominated together in a sense.

GILROY: It always sounds like bullshit when you hear somebody say, “I wanna thank everybody,” but, like, there are 1400 people in the Andor community each year making the show. Our whole ethic has been to try to make everybody feel like a filmmaker and make everybody feel like they’re part of something ambitious and rational and cool, and that there’s a place for them to make a contribution. That’s not some bullshit thing. That’s what we really try to do, and you reap the benefits of that.

Look, I mean, not to transition too hard, but that’s what’s going on right now with the labor problems in Hollywood. You have this massive community of creative people in all departments everywhere. They’ve spent their lives, and some of them are second and third generation, some of them are just brand new; whatever it is, they’ve all come there, and they’re all part of this thing. Sadly, we’re in the place right now where the unions are the people that are trying to preserve this industry, this amazing American industry that grew up this incredible system that we have. And who’s trying to protect it? It’s left to the unions to try to protect this industry. That sense of community, I think, is the thing that will drive a successful conclusion to all this labor trouble. Because I think in the end, everyone realizes this is the end of the line. If we don’t do it now, we can’t get it done. But that’s what it’s for.

And it’s really hard– You know, people ask, and said, “Oh, well, you’re leaving your show,” and, “You’re walking away.” It’s really hard to make a show that’s about community and about solidarity and about doing the right thing and taking care of each other, and what happens when you don’t. It’s really hard to do that and not support it.

Image via Disney+

Absolutely. It’s hard to ignore the irony of the Emmy nominations this morning with the potential SAG strike this evening. It’s so profound. I looked at Twitter right after the nominations were announced, and it was so cool to see so many people resonating with “One Way Out” being nominated for Best Writing when that feels so relevant to the feeling of that community and the industry. It kind of speaks to the way that these stories transcend. It’s not just Star Wars; it’s a story that is relatable to all of us.

GILROY: What does Andy Serkis say? “If we can fight as hard as we work, we’re gonna win.”

Exactly. It’s so great to see the different elements of Andor that have been nominated. You also have the sound for “The Eye.” Can you talk a little bit about that soundscape and constructing that episode?

GILROY: Man, they start working on that in pre-production. Between Skywalker [Sound] and our team in London and John Gilroy and Margit Pfeiffer and Dave Acord, and all the people at Skywalker, and all the people that are on all that sound stuff, it starts really, really early on how it coordinates with the music. By the time you get to the mix, you’re into a conversation that’s 100 iterations along the way. It’s very, very considered, and it’s also fun. It’s just a shitload of fun to do it. It really is.

The full first season of Andor is streaming now on Disney+. Check out our interview with Diego Luna at Star Wars Celebration below: