Colman Domingo On ‘Rustin’ Golden Globe Nomination, ‘The Color Purple’ Co-Stars And The Importance of Depicting “Complex Narratives of African Americans”
No matter how you slice it, 2023 is arguably the year of Colman Domingo. Just this year alone, the Emmy-winning multi-hyphenate actor starred in the drama Sing Sing, summer blockbuster Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and animated comedy Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. However, it’s his two most recent and versatile roles as Mister, the meanspirited husband to Fantasia Barrino’s Celie in The Color Purple, and the gay Black Civil Rights icon Bayard Rustin in Rustin that has carried him over into the awards season.
On Monday, Domingo received a nomination at the 81st Golden Globe Awards for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama for his titular role in Rustin. The political biopic follows the life of Bayard Rustin, advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and organizer of the March on Washington Movement. The film, directed by George C. Wolfe shines a spotlight on Rustin’s life as he paves the road for racial equality and gay rights.
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Here, Domingo talks to Deadline about championing his fellow actors, forever being a part of history and the importance of making Black stories onscreen.
DEADLINE: Where were you when you found out about the nomination? Set the scene for us.
DOMINGO: I always wake up around five in the morning. I have a beautiful fireplace in my bedroom, and I had my coffee in hand. I was sitting looking at the things of the day, and I was like, “Oh yeah, Golden Globes nominations should I watch?” And I wanted to watch because whether it’s about me or my colleagues, I just wanted to watch to support them. And, so then I got a little nervous excitement after the first half [of the nominations were read], but I screamed when Lenny Kravitz got nominated for Best Original Song.
Then it went to Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks for The Color Purple; I got so excited for everybody that I think I almost forgot that I was possibly [also going to be nominated]. Then I heard my name, and I couldn’t have been happier.
DEADLINE: Exactly. While The Color Purple didn’t get Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy, your co-stars Fantasia and Danielle got nominated today, as you mentioned. Have you been able to congratulate everyone yet? How amazing is it that all of you are nominated?
DOMINGO: I did get a beautiful phone call from Oprah Winfrey, who just said, “Wow,” and sang to me. I was just so overjoyed, and she asked the question that I think is the most important, “How do you feel?” And that was beautiful. And not only am I excited for Fantasia and Danielle, but I also admire my entire company in both films. I’m excited that we’re in the conversation, whether that’s Lenny Kravitz and his original song for Rustin… I feel like whenever—and I sent a message to George C. Wolf—I told this to Oprah, that any nomination, any acknowledgement is for all of us.
That’s what I always believed. It’s like one can’t do this alone. Fantasia’s and Danielle’s nomination for The Color Purple is for amplifying these complex women and really giving voice to them and their spirit. I feel like we’re all a part of it, so we all win. So, it’s so great. I’m so excited for them as well, especially Danielle Brooks. Danielle Brooks and I go way back to when she first got out of Julliard, and she always remembers a conversation we had at the Signature Theater when she was trying to figure out if there was a place for her in this industry, and I knew it. I said, keep that courageous heart and forge your own path. And so, I feel like standing side by side with her, watching this woman who’s done that and created her space is incredible.
Also, I sent a message to my friend Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers); we’re both from Philadelphia. She’s one of my sisters in this business, and I’m proud she’s being amplified, too. These are artists who really have been creating their own lane and doing work that is not trophy at all. You know what I mean? I think that’s significant for Fantasia to get a nomination for her work because she’s poured so much into it and she was learning the entire time, and she was taking it all in. So, I’m really happy and proud of my leading ladies.
DEADLINE: This is the first feature film about this Civil Rights icon, and you’re basically why people will be introduced to this Bayard Rustin for years, decades even to come. What’s the importance of bringing this character to light and then getting nominated for playing him?
DOMINGO: I feel like the more I’m amplified for this work, the more he’s amplified. I mean, we’re working together in a gorgeous way where I’m able to lend my voice and give whatever I have of my craft to tell his story. This story is about somebody who’s been completely marginalized and pretty much erased from history books. So, I think I’m able to place him gently, yet ferociously, into the minds and mouths of people around the world. It’s incredible. It’s like you get to right the wrongs of history and be a part of it. And the idea that people will think of my interpretation, which, if anything, I wanted to do is make sure I gave a complex portrait of a man who was truly in service to this country. He’s truly an American hero, and so I get to be a part of that. It feels phenomenal, and I don’t know, it really makes me feel great. There’s a really warm feeling in my heart, knowing that years down the line, when people were trying to find out more about Bayard Rustin and his contributions and the Civil Rights movement, that I’m a part of it in some way, that I’m a part of the narrative of history, which is pretty awesome. I think every actor wishes they could have moments like this, I’m living in this moment and it’s extraordinary.
DEADLINE: You’re such a multi-hyphenate person, from directing, producing, writing and acting. Between Rustin and The Color Purple specifically, these two important Black films, when you fill these roles, what exactly is it about these characters and their stories that attracted you to them?
DOMINGO: I think we choose each other, and not only the characters, but I think whether it’s the producers and the way it’s going to be made, they know what I have to be in service to these characters. What I will do with my dramaturgical mind, my directorial mind and with my producing mind, I don’t leave anything behind. I bring it all to be a part of the collective. And I think that’s why these things are so important to me, especially these films in particular, Rustin and The Color Purple. I get to be a part of really taking a deep dive and really framing these complex narratives of African Americans. And someone just told me the other day, which blew my mind, the fact that Mister in The Color Purple and Bayard in Rustin are men on such opposite poles of life and experience and need and want, yet they live in the same timeframe. I was like, oh, wow. They do live in the same timeframe, which is fascinating. And the fact that it lives through me is great.
So, I’m able to really help dissect and interrogate our humanity through these very different men in the way they operate. It means everything to me. It really does. That’s what I’ve given a lot of my career to. Even as a writer, I think, how do I create such complex depictions of our humanity from people from the inner city, people who are in politics and people who are in the country? I’m interested in showing all of that in the most complex versions of them possible.
DEADLINE: I have to ask because social media wants to know. Did they let you keep the teeth you used on set?
DOMINGO: Yes, absolutely. They didn’t even let me keep the teeth [laughs]. I demanded to keep the teeth. I went to my makeup trailer and said, “Those teeth are coming home with me.” And they said,” Not only those teeth, but your backup teeth.” So, I have two sets of my teeth with me that, hopefully, may someday be in the Smithsonian or something.
DEADLINE: What would you like voters and audiences to consider while watching Rustin?
DOMINGO: I’d like them to consider that there’s never been a film that is centered on such a complex human like this, and I just want them to watch the film [laughs]. I think it’s a clarion call for change to inspire people to feel that they can do something in the world and that there’s hope in these dark times. That’s what I’d want people to consider. I want them to take some of this film away with them into their heart and believe that they can be a changemaker like Rustin.
The 81st Golden Globe Awards are set to take place at the Beverly Hilton on January 7.
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