NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Colman Domingo has a commanding physical presence, an expressive face and soulful eyes. But his most limber and powerful tool is his voice.
It can go low in a bone-rattling baritone, like in his Nigerian-accented pimp in Or it can rise to the warm, erudite rhythm of , in 鈥淩ustin.鈥� In Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淟incoln,鈥� Domingo鈥檚 voice, as a union soldier, is the first thing you hear.
Domingo, himself, isn鈥檛 sure when his voice became so resonate. Tracing it sends him back to his childhood, growing up a self-described outsider 鈥� gay, awkward, unsure of himself 鈥� in west Philadelphia. That voice, he says, wasn鈥檛 there 20 years ago.
鈥淎t some point, as I grew into this person, comfortable in my own skin, sexuality, my mind, my intentions, who I am in the world, I think my voice developed more,鈥� Domingo says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that I had this voice before. All the resonance in my voice, I can hear it. There鈥檚 confidence. There鈥檚 gravitas to it. I hear exactly what people hear now.鈥�
People are finally hearing Domingo. His performance in George C. Wolfe's 鈥� Domingo's first time atop the call sheet 鈥� has made the 53-year-old journeyman actor a favorite for a best actor Oscar nomination. It鈥檚 a deft and dazzling leading performance that channels all the complexities of architect.
Domingo also co-stars as Mister, the abusive antagonist of one of the most anticipated holiday releases. The roles couldn鈥檛 be more different. Throw in the fall-festival hit in which Domingo stars alongside a cast of mostly formerly incarcerated actors (A24 will release it in 2024), and you have the full spectrum of what Domingo is capable of.
Years of struggle as a supporting player in service of others have finally led to his turn in the spotlight.
鈥淚 started to feel like: Well, what happened, God? What is my journey? At some point, my journey felt like Bayard鈥檚 journey, which is maybe why I feel we鈥檙e so close,鈥� Domingo says. 鈥淵ou know, I鈥檝e assisted many people getting Oscars. I鈥檝e assisted many people getting a lot of shine and love.鈥�
On the heels of , Domingo met recently at a Manhattan hotel overlooking Central Park. After months of being unable to promote that part of his life, he had been thrown straight into late-night appearances, interviews and a 鈥淩ustin鈥� screening in Washington, with Barack and Michelle Obama, whose produced the film. Domingo threw a bunch of cold-weather clothes together and jumped on a plane from Los Angeles.
鈥淏asically, I was shot out of a cannon,鈥� he says, smiling.
Domingo, sincere and amiable in conversation, had the appearance of someone eminently aware that a hard-earned moment had finally arrived.
鈥淚 keep telling people that I鈥檓 54 years old. Because for this to happen now, it鈥檚 unusual,鈥� Domingo says. (His birthday is Nov. 28.) 鈥淪uddenly, after 32 years, it seems like the sun is shining on every corner of my career.鈥�
Domingo was raised in a working-class family by his mother and step-father. Domingo鈥檚 father, whom he鈥檚 named after, wasn鈥檛 a part of his life. It wasn鈥檛 until he took an acting class at Temple University that he began acting. In regional theater, starting in San Francisco, he honed the wide-ranging ability of a character actor.
鈥淕rowing up, I never thought I was much to look at it. I think it liberated me,鈥� Domingo says. 鈥淚 know I can play a handsome man and a hideous man because I鈥檓 liberated. I can play anything. I鈥檓 not looking at myself. I鈥檓 not taking myself too seriously. I have the body of a clown.鈥�
To 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� director Blitz Bazawule, Domingo is belatedly becoming the leading man he was destined to be after years of out-acting more famous co-stars.
鈥淐olman comes from the old-school of actors. You think about Bogart or you think of Daniel-Day,鈥� says Bazawule. 鈥淭hese people, the minute you hear them or see them, there鈥檚 a clear presence. I think he is in that tradition of leading men. Colman takes the frame.鈥�
Voice played a central role in Domingo finding Rustin. The film, which is streaming on Netflix, depicts the tireless grassroots activism of Rustin, who was openly gay, in where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would give his 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech. Domingo was flummoxed by the origin of Rustin鈥檚 Mid-Atlantic accent before talking with Rachelle Horowitz, who organized transportation for the march.
鈥淪he said, 鈥楬e made that up,鈥欌�� Domingo says. 鈥淚 thought that was key. Here was someone who truly created themselves at a time when everyone was trying to write you off or box you in or violate your body because you鈥檙e Black and queer. I thought: That鈥檚 courage.鈥�
Domingo鈥檚 own path also required self-invention. His first breakthrough came in the play 鈥淧assing Strange,鈥� which ran at the Public Theater in 2007 before opening on Broadway in 2008. Though celebrated 鈥� Colman shared in an Obie award for ensemble 鈥� once the play closed, Domingo found himself bartending again.
Resolving to make his own opportunity, Domingo wrote and staged the autobiographical a dexterous one-man play that used the soul music of his youth (Earth Wind & Fire, Donna Summer) to evoke his life story and the inspirational figure of his mother, his greatest champion. In it, he recalls his mother telling him: 鈥淜eep a song in your heart, and you will always find your way.鈥� She and Domingo鈥檚 stepfather died in 2016.
鈥淚 started writing my solo show in the last year of my mother鈥檚 life and I didn鈥檛 know that that writing was going to save my life,鈥� Domingo says. 鈥淚 was writing so I could be with my family 90 minutes a day.鈥�
Domingo鈥檚 production company, Edith, is named after his mother. When her son was struggling to catch a break, she wrote at least six letters to Oprah Winfrey, Domingo says. 鈥淪he said, 鈥楽he could help you. I want you to know her.' I was like, 鈥楳om, Oprah doesn鈥檛 care about me.鈥欌��
鈥淭he prayers and wishes people have for you are sometimes more profound than what you imagine, yourself,鈥� says Domingo.
In the years that followed, Domingo鈥檚 range only extended. He did comedy on the series 鈥淭he Big Gay Sketch Show.鈥� He was Tony-nominated for 鈥淭he Scottsboro Boys鈥� on Broadway. 鈥淔ear the Walking Dead,鈥� in which he played Victor Strand over eight years, brought him to his widest audience yet. Directors like Barry Jenkins (鈥淚f Beale Street Could Talk鈥�) and Bravo (鈥淶ola鈥�) came calling.
鈥淲hen I was cast in 鈥榋ola,鈥� I thought, 鈥楳e, playing a pimp? What? In this dark comedy? What do you see in me?鈥�" says Domingo. "And Janicza Bravo said, 鈥業 see that the possibilities of the way you think are endless.鈥�
Wolfe, the esteemed theater director, first cast Domingo in alongside Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, as the trombone-player Cutler. Gradually, he came to see Domingo as Bayard Rustin.
鈥淚 would be talking with Mark Rickler the production designer, 鈥極h, Colman could do that.鈥� Part of my brain would go, 鈥極h, Colman could do that,鈥�' recalls Wolfe. "It was an organic conversation that had a degree of inevitability but I didn鈥檛 realize it at the time. I think all good smart decisions, there鈥檚 a sense of inevitability.鈥�
Now, Domingo finds himself collaborating with some of the Hollywood legends his mother envisioned him with. Winfrey is a producer on 鈥淭he Color Purple" and the two have become friendly. During a hike for Ava DuVernay鈥檚 birthday in Hawaii (DuVernay cast Domingo in 鈥淪elma鈥�), he told Winfrey about the letters his mother wrote her.
鈥淚 said, 鈥業 think I just realized that you answered her letters,鈥欌�� Domingo says. 鈥淎nd she clutches her heart and says, 鈥極h, Colman.鈥� And then we started hiking again.鈥�
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
