Oscar Hopeful Colman Domingo Nearly Left Acting After Losing Out on a Role He Thought Would Be His ‘Big Break’

Colman Domingo’s rise to stardom included an Emmy win and multiple Tony Award nominations. And now he’s in the Oscar conversation for his turn in the historical biopic Rustin. But despite these recent successes, the actor has had his fair share of setbacks throughout his career.

Domingo recalled 2014 as a particularly difficult year — he returned to audition in New York despite a Tony nomination for a Broadway musical The Scottsboro Boys who took him to London.

He was particularly pleased with his role in the HBO drama produced by Martin Scorsese Boardwalk Empire.

At the time, Domingo thought a small role as a maître d’ in a black-owned nightclub was “the one that would finally be my big break,” he told The New York Times in a recent profile. After a strong audition, the actor’s agent told him that a historical researcher on the HBO series informed the producers that the maître d’s employed in nightclubs at the time were usually fair-skinned. Domingo did not get the role.

“That’s when I lost my mind,” he recalled, sharing that he was in the middle of the Manhattan Equinox gym when he heard the news and couldn’t help but scream and slide to the floor.

He said he told his agent, “I can’t take it anymore. I think this is going to kill me.”

‘Euphoria’ star Colman Domingo says his Emmy win shows ‘there are no limits’

Colman Domingo is pictured attending the MPTF NextGen Summer Party at NeueHouse Los Angeles on August 6, 2023 in Hollywood, California.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Although the experience almost forced Domingo to abandon his acting career altogether, he persevered and learned an important lesson about business.

“I had a lot of moments where I just needed that little spark or that little push or that extra scene that I know we shot, but the decisions were made,” he told NYT. “It happens. You can make a movie and do some of the best work of your career, and they leave out three incredible scenes, and you’re like, ‘That could have made me. That could have changed everything.'”

After winning his first Emmy last year for an impressive guest role on HBO EuphoriaDomingo is now at the peak of his career.

He was picked up by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground to direct her Bayard Rustin’s Civil Rights to Netflix’s Rustin. At the same time, the actor shows his range as the badass husband in the acclaimed film adaptation of the Broadway musical iteration Purplewhich recently earned the second biggest Christmas opening of all time.

Colman Domingo is civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in Netflix’s The Mighty Rustin Trailer

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Regarding his current position, Domingo noted, “I don’t want to miss this moment. All the movies, all the lights, all the accolades, all the wonderful critical responses — I want to soak in all of it right now.”

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Rustin can be streamed on Netflix and Purple currently in theaters.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education