Variety sat down with Abbot Elementary stars Janelle James (The Final Straw, The Standups) and Quinta Brunson (Miracle Workers, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) to discuss the show’s upcoming season. They also discussed the possibility of her winning an Emmy for her portrayal of Ava Coleman on the series.

“I’m undeniable at this point,” she said to Variety. “I’m not part of the machine, and I don’t strive to be. I’m doing good work, and I continue to be recognized.”

While James is excited that four women of color are nominated for best supporting comedy actress at the Emmys, she told Variety that there’s more work to do. “No, I don’t. Of course, it’s great that our category has women of color — but I’d love to see more in the main categories. That’s where the real shift would show.”

She suspects that shifts away from diversity might come with the new presidential administration, per Variety: “You can call me whatever you want, but it goes with whatever administration is in. When there’s a Republican in office, everything goes more white. Then we swing back. But there’s always just…a limit.”

Brunson, the creator of Abbot Elementary, spoke to Variety about the skilled touch James brings to the series. “Janelle does something so well that people think it’s easy, and it’s not,” Brunson says. “She’s playing a character who could be grating, over-the-top — but she’s not. She makes people laugh and care about Ava. That’s not common.”

Brunson also mentioned to Variety that she was disappointed that the Emmys haven’t nominated for art direction or production design. “It’s criminal,” she said. “People think we’re filming in a real school. They don’t realize how much detail and work go into building these sets from scratch.”

While she doesn’t feel like the series is wrapping up, she informed Variety wants to make sure the series is ended in a satisfactory fashion. “If it ever feels like it’s slowing down, I want to be able to write our ending — to end it respectfully and on our own terms,” Brunson explains. “But who knows? That could be 10 seasons, 12. I don’t want to waste the audience’s time.”

Abbot Elementary’s fifth season is set to premiere on October first.