Colman Domingo, appearing in two major films and Oscar-nominated for one of them, can claim the title of first Black gay movie star — according to our sibling publication Out.
Domingo graces the cover of Out’s current print issue. He’s won acclaim and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for playing real-life civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in Rustin, and he has another high-profile role as Mister in the musical film of The Color Purple.
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“I do think it’s an incredible time, the idea of seeing an openly queer man on this level, playing these roles,” Domingo tells Out. “This has taken a long time, but it’s here at the right time. Because for me to be amplified by representing someone like Bayard Rustin and The Color Purple, I feel like I’ve truly earned it. As I’m stepping into the spotlight, so is this incredible hero of mine at the same time. I think that’s beautiful too.”
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“In the middle [of both of these characters] is me who’s just constantly trying to explore Black men and how we operate, how we love, whether there’s redemption or not,” he adds. “There’s a human quality that I’m trying to explore in all these different kinds of people, whether they’re a pimp or a bandleader. I always want to be useful [to the narrative or story] and then let’s see how I can tell my story [through it].”
Sam Waxman for Out Magazine
Sam Waxman for Out Magazine
With Rustin, Domingo is only the second out gay man to be Oscar-nominated for playing a gay character, the first being Ian McKellen, nominated for Best Actor for playing real-life film director James Whale in 1998’s Gods and Monsters. But many straight men have been nominated and won for gay roles.
Domingo has been acting for 30 years and has been highly praised for many supporting performances, but Rustin marks his first lead role. Julian Breece, co-screenwriter of the film, says Domingo was the ideal actor for the part.
“Bayard’s legacy has been so unjustly buried, and it’s so rare that you have the perfect character and the absolute perfect ambassador for it,” he says. “That’s why it is just a dream to have Colman be able to not just be a masterful actor but also be the kind of person who can really carry that kind of legacy.”
Blitz Bazawule, director of The Color Purple, has complimentary words for Domingo as well. “Colman feels deeply, and I don’t know if it’s attributed to his sexual orientation or maybe it’s just his nature of being able to process [things differently], but I felt that constantly he was also interrogating what masculinity means,” he tells Out. “That’s why I think he’s so good in the film because he could see it from the outside looking in and interrogate that dark masculinity that is the plague of our principal character.”
Despite his acting talent and the fashion sense he displays on red carpets, Domingo insists he’s “pretty ordinary” and not out running around “constantly just being fabulous.” But he’s savoring his moment and acknowledging those who came before him.
“It’s paying it forward, paying it backwards, and we’re all doing it together,” he says.
Sam Waxman for Out Magazine
