Nominations for this year’s Critics Choice Awards for television were announced Tuesday (December 6), and a pair of Latine actors made the cut for their performances in their respective sci-fi/adventure series.
First, Diego Luna landed a nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Cassian Andor, the title character in the Disney+ series Andor. The debut series serves as a prequel to the 2016 Star Wars spin-off film Rogue One and follows Andor, a spy and intelligence officer working for the Alliance. The story takes place five years before the events of the film. Andor also received a nomination for Best Drama Series.
In an interview with Remezcla this past summer, Luna said his character’s refugee status reflects his own experience. “I think it’s a global issue,” he said, adding that in every city, you “see the cultural interaction and the diversity.”
Along with Luna, Ismael Cruz Córdova earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role in Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. In the series, Córdova plays Arondir, a silvan elf. His casting made him the first person of color to play an elf onscreen in a J.R.R. Tolkien project.
In an interview with Remezcla in September, Córdova said Latines like him were ready to take on massive projects like LOTR and prove to the industry that they belong in them as much as anyone else. “I feel an incredible amount of pressure and responsibility that I fully welcome,” he said. “You know, this is not something that makes me feel daunted or any of those other negative things. It makes me feel galvanized and just honored to be able to bring our people into this world.”
The 28th annual Critics Choice Awards will take place in Los Angeles on January 15, 2023. Nominees in the film categories will be announced on December 14. The ceremony will air live on The CW at 7 p.m. ET.