Emmy Award-winning director, writer and actor Coleman Domingo Starring in five films in 2023, including a musical Purple and the Netflix biographical drama Rustinand his roles in both films were well received. An accomplished actor on stage and screen as well as a director and writer, Domingo has lent his creative muscle to many projects. In an interview with Deadline, Domingo shared his thoughts on what he’s learned from his prosperous career as an actor.
Domingo explained that keeping busy both in front of and behind the camera (or on and off the stage) has always been an aspect of his career, and his recent prolificacy is an extension of that. “I started out in the industry as a multi-talented guy, many years ago in the early ’90s, just trying to create work in San Francisco,” he said. “I took some classes, studied, and started dabbling in things, and my whole career has been In the process of me being in the room and learning. I didn’t go to graduate school to act. I learned everything by being in the room and watching rehearsals, so I wasn’t even asked to. The relationship between actors, playwrights, producers, you name it. When I look back on my career, I think that was my strength, it was my conservatory.
Domingo, who is openly gay and has played both straight and gay characters, noted that as an actor he wanted to be able to play a range of roles and found his creativity in many areas. He explained: “As an actor, I want people to see me as someone who can play a variety of roles. I think if there’s any pushback, if someone gets to know me and thinks, ‘Well, I don’t know if he’s really can go to those places’, I don’t know. But I feel like I freed myself early in my career from that kind of criticism or power or anything as an actor on “Bayard Rustin” and ” Starring in “Mr. Purple while demonstrating what I had always believed my career could achieve. I don’t think I had any resistance. If anything, I didn’t realize it because I was always busy creating my own work, creating my own style in many ways, which is why I bounced between being a playwright, a screenwriter, a singer, a dancer and an actor. I always have somewhere to go and create.
As a concluding thought, Domingo later added, “There’s always a lot of questions about the actor’s process. I think the character stays inside you forever.
