Colman Domingo | |
|---|---|
 Domingo in 2025 | |
| Born | Colman Jason Domingo (1969-11-28)November 28, 1969 (age 55) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Temple University (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Works | Full list |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Full list |
Colman Jason Domingo (born November 28, 1969) is an American actor. Prominenton both screen and stage since the 2010s, Domingo has receivedvarious accolades, including aPrimetime Emmy Award, and nominations for twoAcademy Awards and twoTony Awards.Time magazine named him one of the100 most influential people in the world in 2024.[1]
Domingo's earlyBroadway roles include the playWell (2005), the musicalPassing Strange (2008), and the musicalThe Scottsboro Boys (2011), the later of which earned him aTony Award nomination. He reprised the role in the 2014West End production, receiving aLaurence Olivier Award nomination. In 2018, he wrote the book for the Broadway musicalSummer: The Donna Summer Musical.
After early roles in various incarnations of theLaw & Order series and as part of the main cast forThe Big Gay Sketch Show, Domingo had his breakthrough playingVictor Strand in theAMC seriesFear the Walking Dead (2015–2023).[2] He gained wider acclaim for his recurring role as the recovering drug addict Ali on theHBO seriesEuphoria (2019–present), winning thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2022. He was further Emmy-nominated for theNetflix comedy seriesThe Four Seasons (2025).
Domingo received consecutiveAcademy Award for Best Actor nominations for his portrayals ofcivil rights activistBayard Rustin in the biopicRustin (2023) and a prison inmate in the dramaSing Sing (2024). He has also acted in the filmsLincoln (2012),The Butler (2013),Selma (2014),If Beale Street Could Talk (2018),Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020),Zola (2021), andThe Color Purple (2023).
Domingo was born and raised as the third of four children inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, in a working class household.[3][4][5] His mother was a homemaker and also worked at a bank,[6] while his stepfather, Clarence, sanded floors for a living.[3][7] His mother died in 2006, the day after Domingo's audition for the theater musicalPassing Strange.[5][8] His stepfather had died a few months earlier.[8]
Domingo's biological father was fromBelize, with relatives fromGuatemala.[9] He left the family when Domingo was nine years old.[3] Domingo had a speech impediment, alisp,[10] as a child and was sent to speech therapy classes by his mother.[8]
Domingo is a 1987Overbrook High School graduate,[11] and later attendedTemple University,[12][13][14] where he majored in journalism. Soon thereafter, he moved to San Francisco, California, where he started acting, mainly in theatre productions.[13][15]
From 2009 to 2017, Domingo lived in the federally subsidized artists' buildingManhattan Plaza.[16][17]
Domingo's first on-screen acting credit is in a 1995direct-to-video feature film calledTimepiece.[citation needed] Domingo continued to act sporadically through the 1990s, making his television debut in the police proceduralNash Bridges in 1997. Then, he took a small role inClint Eastwood'sTrue Crime (1999) and acted in the independent filmsDesi's Looking for a New Girl (2000),Kung Phooey (2003), and the crime dramaFreedomland (2006). He also took minor roles inLaw & Order,Law & Order: Criminal Intent, andLaw & Order: Trial by Jury.[18] He also acted in the sketch seriesThe Big Gay Sketch Show from 2008 to 2010.[19]
On stage, Domingo starred as Mr. Franklin Jones, Joop, and Mr. Venus in the critically acclaimed rock musicalPassing Strange,[20] which, after a successful 2007 run atThe Public Theater, opened onBroadway on February 28, 2008. He received anObie Award in spring 2008 as part of the ensemble ofPassing StrangeOff-Broadway,[21] and reprised his role in thefilm version ofPassing Strange, directed bySpike Lee, which made its premiere at the2009 Sundance Film Festival.[22]
In 2010 Domingo's one-man autobiographical playA Boy and His Soul premiered Off-Broadway at theVineyard Theatre, for which he won aLucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show.[23] He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Drama League Award.[24][25] From June 14 to July 18, 2014, Domingo playedBilly Flynn in theBroadway revival ofChicago.[26]
For his work inThe Scottsboro Boys on Broadway in 2010 he was nominated for theTony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in May 2011.[27] WhenThe Scottsboro Boys opened in London, Domingo was nominated for theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical in April 2014.[28] He was also nominated for the Fred Astaire Award for Best Principal Dancer on Broadway in 2011.[18]
Domingo also appeared in Lee's filmsMiracle at St. Anna (2008) andRed Hook Summer (2012).[29][30] Around this time, he also booked supporting roles as Private Harold Green inSteven Spielberg's historical epicLincoln (2012), as Lawson Bowman in42 (2013), as Freddie Fallows inThe Butler (2013), and asRalph Abernathy inSelma (2014).[18][31][32]
According toThe New York Times, Domingo considered "quitting the acting business over the rejection" in 2014 due to missing out on many film and television auditions, including one for a small role onBoardwalk Empire because casting directors allegedly said that his skin was too dark.[33] Domingo described breaking down with emotions after being rejected for a role he and others felt was perfect for him and subsequently decided his talents weren't best used in acting, and he should instead pursue a business in photographing headshots.[34] However, around this time, a friend introduced him to a manager who made some changes with Domingo to his auditioning style and put him forward for different types of roles. These changes helped Domingo to get booked for his breakout role inAMC'sThe Walking Deadspinoff television series,Fear the Walking Dead, which Domingo has said "gave me a new footing back in the industry, believing I had something to give."[18][34]
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OnFear the Walking Dead, Domingo portrayed the character ofVictor Strand; his first appearance was in the fifth episode of the first season, titled "Cobalt".[35] In December of that year, it was announced that Domingo was promoted to series regular for the second season of the series.[2]IndieWire called him "easily the most vivid character in the sometimes gray apocalypse" of the series.[36]
In 2016, Domingo appeared in various television series, with roles such as Dr. Russell Daniels inThe Knick,[18] Father Frank inLucifer,[37] and Dr. Evers inLouis C.K.'sHorace and Pete.[38] That year, he also starred as Hark Turner inNate Parker'sThe Birth of a Nation, which was based on the story ofNat Turner, anenslaved man who leda slave rebellion inSouthampton County, Virginia in 1831.[39] Of his experience shootingThe Birth of a Nation, Domingo said:
I've played a Union soldier inLincoln, head of the White House butler staff inThe Butler, and even marched withSelma, but the idea of playing a slave who was going to be a part of this rebellion... I was living in so much darkness for the first couple weeks and I had to really work it out. We were shooting on plantations, and you feel that emotional trauma. It's in the soil; it's in the air.[18]
In 2017, Domingo joined theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a member of the Actors' Branch,[40] and played adragonfly in an episode of thefourth season of theNetflix animated seriesBoJack Horseman.[36]
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In 2018, Domingo joined theDirectors Guild of America as a director on season four ofFear The Walking Dead.[41][42] He became the first ever actor from the series to helm an episode withinThe Walking Dead franchise.[43] He ultimately directed 3 episodes ofFear The Walking Dead (episode 12 of season four, "Weak"; episode three of season five, "Humbug's Gulch"; and episode three of season six, "Alaska").[44] That year, he also wrote the book for the Broadway musicalSummer: The Donna Summer Musical,[45] and appeared inBarry Jenkins'If Beale Street Could Talk, a film adaptation of theJames Baldwin1974 novel of the same name.[46] In the latter, his on-screen wife was played byRegina King, who received theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress.[47] He also collaborated withSam Levinson for the first time with a supporting role inAssassination Nation (2018).[48]
Levinson cast Domingo in the recurring role ofAli, a recovering drug addict, in theHBO drama seriesEuphoria (2019–present). Domingo attracted considerable attention for his performance inEuphoria,[49] eventually winning thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2022 for his work in thesecond season of the series.[50]
In 2020, Domingo signed a first-look deal withAMC Networks.[51] That year, he also received acclaim for his supporting role as Cutler in theNetflix adaptation ofAugust Wilson's playMa Rainey's Black Bottom, alongsideViola Davis andChadwick Boseman. The following year, he received further notice for his role as X, a ruthlesspimp, in the crime filmZola, which was directed byJanicza Bravo forA24.[52] For his role as X, he received a nomination for theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.[53] That year, he also served as an executive producer onScott Aharoni andDennis Latos' short filmLeylak, which premiered at that year'sTribeca Festival and qualified for theAcademy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.[54]
In 2023, Domingo starred ascivil rights activistBayard Rustin in theNetflix biopicRustin, which was directed byGeorge C. Wolfe. Upon the announcement of his being cast in the lead role, the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice voiced their approval directly to Domingo, espousing that "Your powerful voice helps amplify Bayard Rustin, Godfather of Intersectionality, Planned theMarch, Brought non-violence to the Movement, Inspired theFreedom Riders, Lost to history because of who he loved, Who he was. Angelic Troublemakers unite!"[55]
For his performance inRustin, Domingo received nominations for theAcademy Award,BAFTA Award,Golden Globe Award, andScreen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor. His Academy Award nomination forRustin made him the first Afro-Latino to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor,[56] as well as the secondopenly gay man, afterIan McKellen—and the first American openly gay man—to receive an Academy Award nomination for playing a gay character.[57][58]
He received positive notice for his performance as Mister in thefilm adaptation of the musicalThe Color Purple, itself based onthe novel of the same name and its1985 film adaptation, and along with the ensemble cast, he received a nomination for theScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for the film.[59] That year, he also voiced theDC Comics superheroBatman in theSpotify scripted podcastThe Riddler: Secrets in the Dark.[60] The following year, he reprised the role in the second season ofBatman Unburied, succeedingWinston Duke in the part.
Domingo portrayed John "Divine G" Whitfield in theprison dramaSing Sing, which premiered at the2023 Toronto International Film Festival, and which was picked up by A24 for theatrical distribution the following year to critical acclaim.[61] Domingo received nominations for theAcademy Award,BAFTA Award,Golden Globe Award, andScreen Actors Guild Award for his performance inSing Sing.[62][63][64] In 2025, Domingo voicedNorman Osborn in theMarvel Studios animated seriesYour Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and has expressed interest in playing the character in live-action in theMarvel Cinematic Universe.[65][66]
Domingo co-starred inThe Four Seasons, which was released onNetflix on May 1, 2025. In May 2025, Netflix renewed it for a second season. In that same year, he was nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award forOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Danny.[67] Domingo was a co-chair of the 2025Met Gala.[68] He has also filmed a supporting role inGus Van Sant's upcoming historical crime filmDead Man's Wire.[69] In August 2025, Domingo starred inSabrina Carpenter’s music video for her song "Tears".[70]
Domingo will portrayJoe Jackson in the 2026 musical biopicMichael about the life of singerMichael Jackson.[71] He will then co-star inSteven Spielberg's2026 film, alongsideEmily Blunt,Josh O'Connor,Eve Hewson,Wyatt Russell, andColin Firth.[72] Domingo is set to direct and star in an untitledNat King Cole biopic from a script he co-wrote. The project is scheduled to shoot in 2026.[73][69] He will also star oppositeSandra Hüller inTrue-ish, set to commence principal production in early 2026.[74] Domingo is also attached to co-star inStrange Arrivals oppositeDemi Moore.[75]
Domingo isgay.[76] He met his husband, Raúl Domingo, in 2005.[77] They married in 2014.[78]
Domingo taught classes and performed lectures at theUniversity of Texas at Austin in 2014,[79]O'Neill National Theater Institute in 2015,[80] andUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016.[81] On May 10, 2025, Domingo received an honorary Doctor of Public Service fromAmerican University[citation needed] during theAmerican University School of Public Affairs' Spring 2025 commencement, during which he was keynote speaker.[82]
Over his career, Domingo has received aPrimetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for twoAcademy Awards, twoBAFTA Awards, fiveCritics' Choice Awards, twoGolden Globe Awards, aLaurence Olivier Award, fourScreen Actors Guild Awards, and twoTony Awards.
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