While Colman Domingo has recently made a name for himself as a talented actor and fashion icon, he has been honing his skills for over two decades to get to where he is now. From performances in Selma and Lalo to Fear the Walking Dead, Domingo has proven countless times that his talent is one of a kind. Everyone is finally seeing what he has known all his life.
While Domingo didn’t go to school for acting, he has been learning from the greats since the 90s, and it shows. He went to San Francisco to become an actor and dived into other art forms like theatre, film, and television. Due to his curiosity, Domingo has learned everything he can—now holding the titles of producer, writer, and director. Here are some of Domingo’s most iconic roles in TV Shows and movies.
1. Rustin
Rustin is another biopic that Domingo starred in about Martin Luther King’s advisor, Bayard Rustin. Rustin played an integral role in the American Civil Rights Movement in 1964. But this wasn’t the only reason why he was iconic. The reason many people are unfamiliar with Rustin and his contribution to the movement is that he was gay. Due to his sexual orientation, he was quite literally erased from history.
In an interview with Deadline, Domingo shared how he put everything into this role about a complex human being who used his intelligence to create lasting change in America. Domingo is superb in this role, earning him a Golden Globe nomination and critical acclaim thanks to his booming voice and dominating presence every moment he is on screen. He has also been nominated for a Satellite, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Award for this iconic 2023 film.
2. The Color Purple
2023 was Domingo’s best year starring in two high-profile films, including the Oprah Winfrey-produced musical The Color Purple, starring Fantasia, Taraji P Henson, Ciara, and Halle Bailey. Domingo plays yet another complicated role as Mister. Mister is abusive to Celie, whom he married when she stepped in for her sister Nettie. According to Oprah, Domingo brought a multi-faceted quality to the character, which they were looking for in this new version of The Color Purple. Domingo was nominated for a SAG award for his role as Mister in The Color Purple.
3. Candyman
2021’s Candyman is a sequel thriller to the 1992 Candyman starring Colman Domingo and Yahya Abdul-Mateen. For the longest time, the houses in this Chicago town have been haunted by ghost stories about the hook-handed killer named Candyman. Domingo plays an artist, William Durke, who dives into the history and origins of the Candyman, but he finds more than what he bargained for. Jordan Peele wrote the story, so it’s a chilling slasher film that horror lovers will be drawn to. Domingo does a fantastic job showing how his character slowly loses his sanity, leading to violent sequences and all the gore to expect from a Peele movie. This Nia Da Costa-directed film showed the world of Domingo’s acting talents and unique voice. So it wasn’t long before roles landed on his lap, and he was booked and busy.
4. Euphoria
Colman Domingo’s character in Euphoria was explicitly written for him by creator Sam Levinson. In the special episode of Euphoria, Domingo plays Ali alongside Zendaya, and they share a deep and heavy moment talking about addiction and its repercussions. Ali is Rue’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor and mentor. It’s easy for Domingo to carry Ali’s quiet calmness through the screen because of how he talks, handles language, and demeanor. After this role, Domingo realized that his peers could have finally understood his talent and the complex roles he could take superbly. While his character was only meant to appear once, he got a recurring role on the show because of how well-received his character’s humanity and kindness with Rue was.
5. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Before Candyman, Colman Domingo starred alongside the late Chadwick Boseman and the talented Viola Davis in the biopic film Ma Rainey Black Bottom in 2020. Domingo plays the band leader, Cutler, in this Netflix adaptation. For the role, Domingo had to physically and mentally prepare, putting on 10 pounds to look much older for his character. Domingo was both powerful and mesmerizing in this role of the trombone player who kept everything together. His performance in this film earned him critic choice nominations and brought him a much wider audience. This iconic group of stars only made this film more compelling.
6. Fear the Walking Dead
The Walking Dead became a worldwide phenomenon through several seasons, as did its spinoffs, which have also fared very well. Fear the Walking Dead follows other characters as they maneuver their new life during the earlier days of the zombie apocalypse. One of the star characters in the show is Domingo, who plays Victor Strand, a villain. His powerful voice makes it easy to get chills from this bad-guy performance. Like most TV Show villains, fans assume that Strand is only looking out for himself, but as viewers get to know more about him, they realize he has a vulnerable heart and cares about others, too, and not just himself. His character’s resilience to become one of the long-lasting survivors is a testament to Colman Domingo’s incredible acting in this series.
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