When Colman Domingo was first approached about Sing Sing, there wasn’t even a script. Director Greg Kwedar and his cowriter, Clint Bentley, had been struggling for years to create a film about their experiences as volunteer teachers for Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), a program that introduces prisoners to the transformative power of theater, music, and dance. “They bore witness to the profound effect it had on these inmates, how it gave them new skills to work through trauma, put themselves in someone else’s shoes, and rediscover parts of their humanity,” says Domingo. Inspired, Domingo agreed to help bring the story to the big screen. Now he’s nominated for his second consecutive Golden Globe for best actor for his portrayal of the real-life playwright and author John “Divine G” Whitfield (the first nod was for his turn as the civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in Rustin). Sing Sing also landed five Critics Choice Awards nominations, including best ensemble and Best Supporting Actor for Clarence Maclin, himself a formerly incarcerated RTA alum. “When I came on board, it was clearly about brotherhood; it wasn’t going to be a prison drama,” says Domingo. As awards season heats up, that brotherhood might just carry him all the way to the Oscars.
In Sing Sing, you play a longtime prisoner who was part of its acclaimed theater program. To prepare, did you spend time at the jail?
No, I got an article from Esquire magazine to read all about this program. I’d never been in a prison or even near a prison. I don’t know many people who’ve gone to prison. I love the outdoors, and when we went to upstate New York to shoot, I experienced the reality of a confined space. We were going to film in two decommissioned prisons. I could never find my due north because of the way a prison is structured—you can’t figure your way out. There’s a lack of sun, of air quality. All that stuff informed my performance.
You are playing a real person. Did you meet him?
I like to hold off on meeting anyone that I’m going to portray. I only met him the night before I started shooting. We had a lovely dinner. We found out we both love spinach. We’re both mama’s boys. He told me in high school he was a DJ, and he also wanted to dance. I said, “What kind of dance?” He said, “I like ballet and jazz, but I had to stop because I would have to fight people going back to my neighborhood when they found that I was wearing tights.” I thought that was a clue to him. I wonder if that dancer is still inside, because when he talked about dance, his eyes lit up. That’s why I do a little pirouette in the film.
You’ve been working steadily for decades, but in recent years you’ve had a string of critical successes with The Color Purple and Rustin, and you won an Emmy for Euphoria. How do you feel about finding success at this age?
I think it’s an awesome thing that I got success later in my career than earlier. I can handle it now. I’m 55 years old. I had been a slow burn for 30-something years. I’ve been simmering in the pot. I really was just a theater artist, making my work, and every so often people knew me. But it wasn’t in an overwhelming way. It’s been gradual, and I still know how to not take myself too seriously. That’s very important—I feel like the moment you believe the hype, that’s the problem.
Colman Domingo wears a Valentino jacket and shirt.
You have also become a fashion world darling. You are even a co-chair of this year’s Met Gala.
The capes! The colors! The drama! I’ve always loved dressing. I have an Easter Sunday picture of me as a kid: I’m wearing a red, white, and blue jacket with brown trousers and a tie that’s really big. My mom said, “Oh baby, that doesn’t match,” and I said, “But I like it! It makes me feel good!” Which is why I’m not afraid of a little fringe or a ruffle. I need to feel like I’m a warrior in some way. After all, warriors and kings wear capes.
Do you have a pet peeve?
When people say no. I don’t understand that. I say yes first, and then I backtrack. When people lead with no, I’m like, “Wait, what?” I have a bit of an attorney in my brain, where I can always turn it around and figure out why it should be a yes.
You’re playing Joe Jackson in Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, Michael. What can you tell us about that?
When people see me as Joe Jackson, they’re going to notice that I don’t look like myself at all. I completely transform. My skin is lighter because Joe was a bit more fair-skinned. I had prosthetics on top of my head above my eye, and my nose is different. And then the costumes. We really leaned into the different periods of Joe, where he was a little bit younger and slicker and a bit more of the hustle. And then when he started to have his little pooch, I needed that pooch. And the pants were riding right underneath, like all the men that I know that wear their bellies proud.
Do you have a favorite reality show?
I like The Real Housewives of Atlanta; they’re always fighting. I recently started watching The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Everybody there is being fabulous. To a level, they’re acting. Usually the husbands, because they’re terrible actors. When you hear a conversation like, “How was your day?” you’re like, no one in any relationship talks like that. And also they’re in full makeup, lashes, and wig at the gym. And it’s completely lit. They’re like, “Wait—who’s at the door?” Let’s see, you have a camera crew inside and one outside. I think you kind of know. I do like it when they fight. I think that’s the appeal: It’s, you know what? I guess I’m pretty okay if I don’t have this kind of drama with anybody.
Do you think you’re more like a cat or a dog?
I consider myself a dog, but my husband calls me “the cat.” I guess when I’m at home, he can’t find me. He’s like, “Where’s the cat?” The cat is usually somewhere quiet, reading a book.
Grooming by Jamie Richmond for Dior Beauty.
Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Hair for portfolio by Paul Hanlon at Dawes & Co.; makeup for portfolio by Sam Visser at Art Partner; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders James. Set design by Gerard Santos at Lalaland.
Creative producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Leonard Cuinet-Petit at January Productions; producer to Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott: Kevin Isabelle; produced by AP Studio, Inc.; executive producer: Alexis Piqueras; producer: Anneliese Kristedja; associate producer: Kimmy D’Ancona; production manager: Hayley Stephon; production coordinators: Miranda Dos Santos, Susan Lucas; photography assistants: John Neate, Jed Barnes, Chris Whitaker, Kendall Peck; digital technician: Niccolo Pacilli; digital assistant: Cassian Gray; postproduction by Dreamer Post Production; fashion assistants: Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, Celeste Roh, Raea Palmieri, Tatiana Isshac, Haleigh Nickerson, Lauren Marron, Savannah Steilner, Sage McKee, Frankie Benkovic, Kaley Azambuja, Tatum Sanchez; production assistants: Gigi Rosenfield, Lily Cordingley, Eli Cash, Lex Vaughn, Anderson Renno, Kat Saravia, Kyle Dekker, Wyatt Noble, Brandon Martin, Moose Krupski, Josh Muwwakkil, Bradley Gonsalves, Drew Carter, Thomas Lynch, Alex Kofman, Jackson Schrader, Anatalia Zavaleta, Joseph Wride, Matt Flynn; first AD: Steve Kemp; location manager: Kyle Hollinger; hair assistants: Kim Garduno, Ben Gregory, Marco Iafrate, Hyacinthia Faustino, Chris Foster; makeup assistants: Shimu Takanori, Laura Dudley, Brian Dean, Beatrice Sandoval; manicure assistant: Cheyenne Vander Schuur; set design assistants: Seth Powsner, Denver Stoddard, Ryan Johnson; tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Ripsime Vartanyan, Jackie Martirosyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.
