Colman Domingo

Colman Jason Domingo is an American actor, playwright, and director known for his extensive work across film, television, and theatre. Emerging as a prominent figure on stage and screen during the 2010s, he has earned widespread critical recognition, including a Primetime Emmy Award alongside multiple nominations for Academy Awards, Tony Awards, and Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2024, Time magazine included him on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Born on November 28, 1969, Domingo grew up in a working-class family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the third of four siblings. His mother worked at a bank and as a homemaker, while his stepfather sanded floors. His biological father, who left the family when Domingo was nine, was from Belize with relatives in Guatemala. Domingo overcame a childhood speech impediment through therapy. After graduating from Overbrook High School in 1987, he studied journalism at Temple University before relocating to San Francisco, California, to pursue an acting career in local theatrical productions.

Domingo made his initial screen appearances in the 1990s, debuting in the film Timepiece and the television series Nash Bridges. Over the following decade, he built a diverse stage resume, appearing in Broadway productions such as Well, Passing Strange, and Chicago. His performance in the original stage runs of The Scottsboro Boys earned him nominations for both a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award. Beyond acting, Domingo has authored several plays, including A Boy and His Soul, Wild With Happy, and Dot, wrote the book for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and co-produced the Tony-nominated play Fat Ham.

His major television breakthrough came when he was cast as Victor Strand in the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead, appearing from 2015 to 2023 and becoming the first actor in the franchise to direct episodes. He gained further recognition for portraying recovering addict Ali Muhammad in HBO's Euphoria, a performance that earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2022. Additionally, he appeared in the Netflix comedy series The Four Seasons, securing Emmy nominations for his role as an interior decorator.

In film, Domingo achieved major acclaim for starring as civil rights leader Bayard Rustin in the 2023 biopic Rustin, becoming the first Afro-Latino nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received a consecutive Best Actor Oscar nomination for playing prison inmate John "Divine G" Whitfield in the 2024 drama Sing Sing. His wide-ranging filmography also includes roles in Lincoln, The Butler, Selma, If Beale Street Could Talk, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Zola, The Color Purple, and the 2026 biographical film Michael, in which he portrayed Joe Jackson.