Colman Domingo

 

I did not know who Colman Domingo was before seeing him in his featured roles in the musical Passing Strange on Broadway back in 2008.

Domingo, 56, had appeared in small parts on television and film before then but somehow had escaped my attention. And that was my loss.

Domingo has proven to be a force of nature, taking on leading roles and supporting parts with equal gusto and impact, IMO. His list of acting credits over the past 30 years is enviable -- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Selma, The Color Purple, among them -- and he's also produced and directed in TV and film.

Domingo was nominated for leading actor Academy Awards in two consecutive years and for two very different parts -- Divine G in Sing Sing (2004) and the title character in Rustin (2005). He won an Emmy for a guest appearance in HBO's Euphoria in 2022. He is no stranger to complexity.

Domingo's guest host role on SNL last weekend has been on blast since then; heralded as a game-changer. He will next be seen as Joe Jackson in the upcoming biopic Michael, and I am wondering what he does to bring to the screen a man who, we're told, not only built his gifted son's career but also destroyed his self-image.

I am also wondering if that part of the story will be in explicated in the movie, and, if not, if Domingo and director Antoine Fuqua will work it in somehow.