In the Oscar-season finale of The Envelope video podcast, we sit down with Colman Domingo, lead actor nominee for “Sing Sing.”
Washington: Hello and welcome to the season finale of “The Envelope.” Kelvin Washington, Mark Olsen, Yvonne Villarreal. Looking forward to this. We’re going to have some Oscar conversations here, of course, to get to that. And with that, I’m going to start with you, Mark. We know there are things that kind of lead up to it, that we can say there’s a trend. There are some, you know, predictors where we can kind of see where this thing is going. What are we? What’s the latest?
Mark Olsen: Well, it’s interesting. As much as this has been felt like an unsettled, uncertain year, we have had some, like, precursor awards, and I think things have definitely started to settle a little bit. Somewhat unusually, both the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild gave out their awards on the same night so that people were hustling from one show to the next and the film “Anora” won at both of those awards. Sean Baker, the director, won at the Directors Guild and then the film, also produced by Sean Baker, won at the PGAs. It’s funny. Back in September, if you made a list and said, “What do you think is going to win?” You would have said, “Oh, probably ‘Anora,’ I think ‘Anora’s’ looking good.” And then we confuse things. We get all topsy-turvy, and you get on the roller coaster of awards season, and we make it more complicated than it needs to be. And we’ve now ended up back at “Anora,” where we were in the first place.
Washington: Just go right back to where we started. I swing to you, Yvonne. Those are the precursors Mark was talking about. What about just your dream scenario? Maybe it’s a film, maybe it’s a director, maybe it’s an actor, actress that you just say, “I would love for them to get a win here.”
Villarreal: I’m going to go outside the main categories, if that’s OK.
Washington: Yes! This is your dream.
Villarreal: It’s my dream. I feel for Diane Warren. This woman has been nominated 16 times. Granted, I’m not a music person, so I can’t really tell you this song really stands out more than the others. But she’s nominated for the 16th time for her song “The Journey” on Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight.” And I just feel like give her the due.
Olsen: She did get an honorary Oscar for a few years ago, so she has a statue.
Villarreal: It’s my dream, Mark, so lay off! OK. Who’s yours?
Olsen: I think mine actually would be Edward Norton, supporting actor for “A Complete Unknown,” playing Pete Seeger. Because doesn’t Edward Norton seem like one of those people that should have an Oscar? And he doesn’t. He’s been nominated before. And also, personally, I’m a big fan of the motion picture “A Real Pain.” I like the actor Kieran Culkin in “A Real Pain.” I get annoyed when people win too much and it gets locked in too early, and we’ve seen him give the fun speech and everything. And so I think the surprise of Edward Norton, I would like for him to have an Oscar — I think that’s where I’m going.
Villarreal: I also felt like that performance, it was so calm and understated, and he made me leave that film being like, “I need to be like that more.”
Washington: Have you been doing that?
Villarreal: No.
Washington: We’ve got time. It’s early in the year.
Villarreal: After the podcast is over. Season finale, I can be calm again.
Washington: For me, you all went a little off the beaten path, if you will. Mine is super chalky, but Cynthia Erivo because —
Villarreal: Oh!
Washington: Hold on.
Villarreal: I’m in agreement!
Washington: 20th person to win an EGOT. I thought that’d be awesome.
Villarreal: I’m thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Washington: I’ll stay with you. You have, of course, Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing.” Got a chance to speak with him when we did a roundtable earlier. He’s great. He’s awesome. This is kind of a great season for him.
Villarreal: The film follows a group of men enrolled in a prison theater program, and Colman is up for lead actor for his performance as Divine G, a man that was wrongfully convicted and really takes on this leadership role in the theater program. He’s very much like I was as a kid: When there’s a group project, you want to be the leader and really guide people. And he comes into a little bit of resistance there. But it’s a really great performance. It’s his second nomination for lead actor. The last one was for Netflix’s “Rustin” last year, where he played civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. So it was a really fun conversation. I will say we both wore black, and one of us wore it better than the other. And I think you can guess who that was.
Washington: You did it.
Villarreal: No. Not me. Not me. The man can wear — what is it, the Canadian tuxedo? Is that what it’s called? Does it still apply when it’s black denim?
Washington: I don’t know. I feel like it’s typically blue. But don’t ask me.
Villarreal: Well, he’s creating something else because it looks really good. But it was a fun conversation.
Washington: He can do no wrong with fashion. Here he is, Colman Domingo with “Sing Sing” and Yvonne talking to him.
Colman Domingo with Clarence Maclin in “Sing Sing.”
(A24)
Villarreal: Colman, thanks so much for joining us.
Domingo: It’s good to be here.
Villarreal: I kind of feel like we’re on a “Real Housewives” reunion. I know you watch “Real Housewives.” Don’t think I don’t know that.
Domingo: [Laughs] I’m waiting for “[Real Housewives of] Atlanta” to come back because I think it’s one of those things you like to watch just because there’s always some drama. There’s always some she said, she said. And I don’t know. It’s just a little mindless.
Villarreal: Look, I long for the day where you get the inspiration to develop one of their stories into a motion picture, because I know you write and direct.
Domingo: Listen, there’s enough material. There’s always material. There’s material that you wish they didn’t have. You’re like, “Save yourself,” you know?
Villarreal: Well, congratulations are in order. This is your second consecutive year being nominated for best actor. This is for your performance in “Sing Sing,” last year it was for “Rustin.” Were there any lessons learned from last year that you applied to how to navigate, or maybe enjoy, the process this year? Like, “I’m going to take up space” or “I’m going to go up to Meryl Streep if I see her.”
Domingo: Nothing like that. But I think that I just naturally try to be present and enjoy the moment and where I am and not let it be about the actual award. The idea of being feted for the work that you care about and being in the moment, being present. I feel like that’s something I navigated pretty well last year, and this year I think I’m even more mindful about making sure that I rest. I wake up early in the morning.
Villarreal: 4 a.m., guys.
Domingo: 4 a.m. That’s “me” time. So before I come on to all this stuff, I got to just be able to wake up early. I like watching the sunrise. I go for a little walk around my property.
Villarreal: You break down your boxes to recycle.
Domingo: I broke down my boxes to recycle today. They were all stacked up since Christmas, so I was just cutting boxes, the most mundane stuff. But also, when you do that, it’s like you have something to do at home. I stopped by a nursery and bought ferns because I wanted to plant some ferns. I didn’t get a chance to plant them yet, but they’re there. I do things like that.
Villarreal: Do you journal?
Domingo: No, I don’t journal.
Villarreal: I always am curious — sometimes I think about the work that I do and the people that I meet, and I’m like, “Why am I not documenting this?” And I think for you, to look at all the work you’re doing, the people you’re collaborating with, do you ever think, “I should maybe write some of this down?”
Domingo: My manager says I should keep a journal and write these things down, but I think I have a good memory. And now starting to understand why I’m not keeping a journal is because I like to be in the moment, be present, which is why I’m not someone who documents a lot of things with a lot of photographs either. I’ll think, “Aw, I should take this and capture this,” but I just want to be present, be there and sort of take snapshots with my mind. And I think, and I hope, that I can remember everything when I decide to eventually write all this stuff down and these experiences. Because I am a playwright. I like the lens of looking back at a moment and it becoming your own in technicolor, and your own perspective, and not the way it felt when you’re actually feeling it.
Villarreal: Is there a moment that stands out from these past few months in the lead-up to the Oscars? For me, it’s seeing the friendship developed between you and Kieran [Culkin]. I don’t know if there’s something else for you that stands out.
Domingo: Listen, that’s a highlight. I feel like getting to know Kieran and getting to know Demi [Moore], Mikey [Madison]. That’s the joy of this — all the new comrades that you meet and you admire their work. Before we did any of the roundtables, I made sure I watched everyone’s films so I can actually, when I see them in the room, I can talk about them. And so that’s been the joy. But also the friendships that I established even before, like with Bradley Cooper, the people who come out and stand for you and amplify your work. Bradley, Andrew Garfield. I’ve made some real good brothers and sisters in this industry. And it’s nice to see when they step up and they just say, “Hey, I want to tell everybody about your work in the film.” That feels good. So you feel like you’re doing it with a community and not just on your own.
Villarreal: That’s nice. Well, I know with “Sing Sing,” there wasn’t exactly a script that they approached you with.
Domingo: No, there was no script.
Villarreal: Greg Kwedar, the director, came to you and said, “Read this Esquire article,” or maybe you asked for it. What that’s like? I read the article and I know what spoke to me. And I wonder for you, as not only an actor but a writer and director, what is that process like for you?
Domingo: Well, we made it in a very organic way. I read the article and it really spoke to me, especially the individual stories about these men and how they came to theater and how theater was doing something for them that was offering some catharsis and some moments of change and true rehabilitation in many ways. I was fascinated by that. And I wanted to help tell this in a film setting, especially when we drilled down that it’s just about a friendship more than anything else. It’s not this prison drama, it’s not suffering, all these tropes. It’s something unique and really showing the possibility of the human spirit when you pour art and love and humanity and light into it. So, I just thought that was great.
We did a lot of work on Zoom, actually. We actually got together on Zooms, and we talked about what we were interested in. They set me up with Clarence Maclin, my co-star, and we talked about what’s interesting to us as men, about the process, about loving Shakespeare. Greg and Clint [Bentley, the film’s screenwriter] would go off and write and come back and present some scenes to me. We would read them, talk about the scenes, talk about conflict, talk about how we need to dial things up. Clarence would share things from his lived experience of being incarcerated. And I would share what I know as an artist and as a maker of film, television and theater. We created this hybrid and just gave everything that we could. The cool thing is I was asked to bring more than just the role of actor, but to bring all the multihyphenate parts of me to the process. It’s been a program that was established to help the population with management skills, and it’s turned into something a bit more, I don’t know, wonderful, because it helps people get more in touch with their feelings and able to process and actually move through and truly get some rehabilitation.
Villarreal: Did you find any parallels or similarities to what brought you to theater with what brought these men?
Domingo: Yeah.
Villarreal: Tell me about that.
Domingo: I was always a shy kid and not popular. I come from a very working-class family. And when I found theater when I was 19 years old at Temple University, just taking an acting class as an elective, it gave me a voice. Because I, actually, I don’t think I had a voice there. And it gave me some purpose. You’re creating a community, and you’re doing something and building together. [There were] all these skills that I realized I was drawn to. And also, I love the research aspect of it. I love history. I love the deep dive. And so I felt like I found a place for me to belong. And I think a lot of these men found that — too many of them say that they found it much later than they hoped or wished because it wasn’t offered to them when they were younger. And they said that perhaps some missteps, some mistakes may not have happened. So they had this foundation. And that’s exactly what I know. Theater can seem trivial to people, people standing onstage and emoting in some way, but it does so much for a person.
Whenever I would teach, I would ask students to come in and show me their monologue, and then I would redo their monologue with them. And I’ve had so many breakthroughs as a teacher. I had this young woman come in, and I’d say, “Give me some monologues.” And she’s like, “Yeah, I’m going to do this monologue from Neil LaBute’s ‘Fat Pig.’” Great. And she was big girl. But I met her before, and she was vivacious and funny and interesting. And I was like, “Huh, why did you choose that monologue?” And she said, “I think that’s the way the industry would see me.” And I said, “That’s interesting because I see you as a queen. I see you as playing Juliet. I see you as all these things.” And she cried. I cried. We all cried. And I said, “You have to dictate who you are and find your voice and not let other people tell you who you are.” As a teacher, I would tell my students, “If I give you skills to be an actor, that’s great. But if I give you skills to find your voice, that’s even better.”
Villarreal: What was that experience like, taking that acting class as someone that [is shy]? I am painfully shy. I used to hide behind my mom [when I was little] at every family function. But when I do my work, talking to people like you, I feel like I’m wearing a mask, like I’m a superhero and allows me to do it. What do you remember clicked for you in that class where you’re like, “This is unlocking something for me”?
Domingo: I think there was a sense of play, first of all. I remember rolling around on the floor and being silly and being open and using our imagination and doing it together — like, that was required. It shows that in our film “Sing Sing”; it’s required for you to be silly and vulnerable and weird and [to] pretend. And I think to be afforded that possibility, I think it unlocked that part of me where I feel like, “Oh, I am more than what I seem to people. I am as interesting as, I guess, my parents would believe that I was.” But I was sort of locked and shy. And so it unlocked something. There was the person before — because when I was in high school, no one would ever believe what I’m doing now. Ever. Because I was very shy. I was on the school newspaper. Every picture of me in my high school yearbook is like hiding behind glasses and a thick sweater.
Villarreal: That’s still me.
Domingo: I feel like I’m a reformed introvert. I feel like I know how to do it. But at home, I’m pretty quiet, actually. I’m always in my office and reading and doing other things, because that’s the introvert. But I know how to dress it up and get out there now because I knew that’s also something I needed to learn to do. My best is when I’m in a large environment and just being one-on-one with somebody and I feel more like myself. But it’s almost like a mask that you have to put on to navigate this world. It’s useful.
Villarreal: It’s weird too, because people will think, “Is this really you then, when we’re out doing what we’re doing, or is this a facade?” But it is just a different side of you.
Domingo: People always think that I like to be out all the time. And actually, I don’t.
Villarreal: You want to be home watching “Housewives.”
Domingo: I think I have a limited bandwidth for a lot of —
Villarreal: Chaos?
Domingo: Yeah, maybe that’s it. People don’t even know. I can go to a party and be the center of that party. But they don’t even know that I’m only there for 10 minutes. But I go in there, and I make a great impression, and I do the thing, and I dance about around room. And then I pull the Irish goodbye and I’m out. People never know when I leave. I’m usually like, “I’ve got to go take this call at … home.” And I go.
Villarreal: In “Sing Sing,” you play a prisoner at Sing Sing Correctional Facility who’s really taking on a leadership role in this theater program. [The film] incorporates the lives of real prisoners. Your character is based on a real alumnus of the program, John “Divine G” Whitfield. What was that experience like? What questions were they asking you? What questions were you asking them? And how did it enrich you as a performer when that time was over?
Domingo: The beautiful thing is that we all made a decision to make it very organic. I think we were enriching each other just from the jump from our Zoom meetings. I thought it was so admirable what they were doing and the work that was laid out in that Esquire magazine article. And when I got to meet them, I just wanted to meet them where they were. I didn’t want to ask what they did or how their lives were inside — that wasn’t actually important to me. I wanted to know: Who are they now and what are they willing to share just by getting to know me? And I feel the same way. I told them what we were interested in, just the way we would get if got together when we first have a coffee, and we just talk and get to know each other. So I feel like we just formed a brotherhood and a bond pretty quickly.
And I knew that I had to establish an environment where they can thrive. These are grown men who are being thrust into this film environment, who have had minimal experience in this, but they have a love and passion for theater. And so I wanted to lay a foundation for them to say, “You can play, and this can be whatever you want it to be. And all it requires is what the program required of you, which is to be vulnerable and be open and — something that I was very clear about — to be tender.” These guys wouldn’t say tenderness was a part of their evolution. But it was. When you have to stand and be bare in your soul and deal with past trauma, putting yourself and your story into another person’s story, it requires a sense of vulnerability and tenderness. Especially when you’re in a very dangerous container, like a maximum-security prison. So, I think it enriched all of us.
I know that I invited my best friend, Sean San José, to be a part of the film. He plays Mike Mike. And my other best friend, Sharon Washington, plays the parole board hearing officer. I knew that I needed love in the room so I can be as vulnerable as possible. I knew that they would have an effect on the rest of the cast, as well as Paul Raci [who plays Brent Buell] — these are the only professional actors in there. And we had an opportunity to share what we know and share it with people who could be great beneficiaries of it. And I know that we’re beneficiaries of what they shared with us. I did this because of their work. I didn’t do this for myself. I did it for them, because I wanted to tell their stories and highlight what good work is possible to the people who are incarcerated when you find programs that help you and help you heal, whether it’s gardening or photography or art.
Villarreal: Being on the front lines of the wildfires.
Domingo: Exactly. It’s amazing to me. I feel like everything is in concert with one another. I love the fact that their stories are being told, like, “Hey, do you know who’s fighting these wildfires, who is helping us out?” These are folks that most people have put away and out of their mind. And they’re actually the ones who are out there to do the work. And now we just have to make sure that they’re properly compensated. And there’s a pathway when they get out.
Villarreal: How transformative is that experience, especially for you? You’re in this real moment in your career, and to be working with people that approach their work for such pure reasons. How illuminating was that for you, remembering why you do what you do?
Domingo: What a great question. I can’t forget, because I think I come from a very humble place, and I just always believe when you do well, you take care of others as well, and you pass it on. It’s not just for me. It’s for all of us. I know that I represent many communities and many people have poured into me so I can be exactly who I am. And I don’t forget that at all. I’ve established grants and awards and opportunities, production companies, because I want to make a difference. And I know I make a difference standing as an actor and a writer and director, I can make a difference as a producer and even just as a person. What we do day to day is very important to me. I think that was instilled in me by my parents, which is to make sure that life was a life of service. I try to inspire other people to know that that’s what it’s about. Especially young people trying to navigate or people who are looking at me now who would like a career like mine. I would say, “Hey, get that word ‘networking’ out of your system because it’s not about networking. It’s about getting to know people and looking after each other. And if you’re looking after somebody and they’re looking after you, you all win.”
Villarreal: Something that’s crazy to me, and I hesitate to say this out loud with my editor within earshot, but you shot this across 18 days in between “The Color Purple” and reshoots for “Rustin.” And I can’t imagine that kind of schedule and intensity. Was the pace of that something exciting and thrilling or scary?
Domingo: It was scary. It was scary because I’d never done anything like that before. I think I’m a pretty measured, pragmatic person. Usually, I like to have a proper amount of prep time, because I feel like that helps me do the work so I can actually be liberated in the work. But the schedule just wouldn’t allow [it]. And it wasn’t even my suggestion. It was the suggestion of my director because we got to a good draft of the script and then they said, “Well, when can we shoot it?” And I said, “Well, that’s a whole other story. I don’t know, maybe next year.” And they were like, “Oh, man. Because we really think we can get this done and we can do it in a great way.” I said, “I don’t know, man. I just, I don’t know what to tell you.” And Clarence Maclin, my co-star, literally smiled at me on the Zoom and said, “Come on, man, we can do it.” And, so, with that sort of innocent “Come on, man, we can do it” and that invitation, I just said yes. I threw caution to the wind. I said yes, let me. I’m not afraid of hard work and I will figure it out. And I’m not prepped the way I think I like to be. But I also was up for the challenge that maybe this needed to be different and it needed to help me process my work and be a part of the work in a different way, which is why I know it’s probably some of my more threadbare work — because I leaned into that. I’m dealing with men who have had the lived experience, so therefore I can’t have any gloss or sheen over my performance like I probably had with “Rustin” or “Color Purple,” the characters with more size and polish, in a way. And I thought this requires more grit and requires more of me, to be honest.
Villarreal: In the film, the group of actors are working on a time-traveling musical comedy, which honestly looks rather fun.
Domingo: And insane.
Villarreal: And insane. So if you were presented with “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code,” which is also just a brilliant title, would your interest be piqued as Colman Domingo? And what character would you want to play? Would you want to be the Gladiator or Hamlet?
Domingo: I feel like I would want to — I’ve always straddled my career with being a character actor and a leading man, and I feel like the character actors have a lot more fun. Leading men have a good time too. You’ve got a different weight on your shoulders, but the characters who come in and hit it and do some wild stuff and then roll out, it’s kind of fun too. So I’m not sure. I feel like I would like to play both.
Villarreal: Don’t be greedy. You continue to be a busy man. You’ve got the upcoming Tina Fey comedy, [a remake of “The Four Seasons”]. I know that you are playing Joe Jackson in Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming Michael Jackson biopic. What intrigued you about playing Joe and exploring that troubled legacy that he has?
Villarreal: Joe is such a formidable person, and I was very privileged to play him. I wanted to really unpack: Who is this man who really gave up a lot of himself, to be honest, to pour into his children as he recognized their musical talent and they wanted to start a group? And the conversation was, “You want to start a group?” Because Joe was a musician as well. And they were like, “Come on, Dad, help us with that.” He said,”I’ll teach you that, but you have to have discipline.” And he went on that journey with them. He’s always someone in our minds who is kind of villainous in some way, shape or form. But I think that also I want to just examine the man fully and all his complexity, where he came from, being a blue-collar man, being a family man. There are things that I always want to examine with every character. One is how he loved his family and how he protected his family. That’s where I led with Joe, to find all those instincts of this man, to make him a very complex character and not sort of lean into any sort of tropes from the court of public opinion about him.
Villarreal: Do you feel like that’s the most you’ve transformed physically for a role?
Domingo: Yes, because I’m wearing prosthetics, and I believe my makeup is probably tinted just a little fairer than mine. And Joe had blue eyes. I look very different. I look very different.
Villarreal: Sending selfies to people must have been striking.
Domingo: No, I was just doing FaceTime to my husband once in a while.
Villarreal: How about “Euphoria”? Is it back in production yet? It was supposed to be.
Domingo: We are back in production. I stopped by the studio yesterday.
Villarreal: Tell me everything.
Domingo: I can’t tell you anything.
Villarreal: You’ve read a script finally, though, right?
Domingo: I can tell you that we’re in production, and it’s going to be fantastic.
Villarreal: How was it to be back on set? You can tell me that.
Domingo: It was beautiful, actually. It was nice. It was actually very calm and kind. And I caught up with Z [Zendaya] for a bit. I caught up with Sam [Levinson, the show’s creator] and it was just lovely. I felt like I went back into a lovely workday.
Villarreal: Did you feel like you had to reacquaint yourself with the character, or did you have to rewatch? It’s been about three years.
Domingo: I actually wasn’t on yet, so I just popped in to say, “hi.” We’ve really been a family, and it’s fun to pop in and check on my family when the cameras are up.
Villarreal: Because right after you wrap on that is when you work start work on your own film, “Scandalous,” right, with Sydney [Sweeney]?
Domingo: Yes. But before that, I do a movie with Steven Spielberg.
Villarreal: What the heck?
Domingo: Yeah. I got to shoot this movie with Steven Spielberg, and it’s a beautiful cast — Emily Blunt and Colin Firth.
Villarreal: And you’re not keeping a journal weekly?
Domingo: No, I’m too present. I feel like I just want to be in the present.
Villarreal: I want to have your mind, because I feel like I would forget everything in, like, two years.
Domingo I think maybe that’s also my challenge. I feel like people always want to document it. I feel like I just like being in it. I like to be in it.
Villarreal: Well, such a crucial component to your job has become the red-carpet element and, Colman, the way you show out on red carpet consistently — one of the best dressed around. That’s why I was worried coming here today. I was like, “I won’t even try.”
Domingo: Look at me, I’m wearing simple … It’s black denim and some Oxfords and a simple shirt.
Villarreal: Look at the way you wear black and the way I wear black. But you talked earlier about being an introvert and a shy kid. What has this element to the job unlocked for you? Do you see it as working in conjunction with the way you present yourself onscreen, or is it a totally different side of your creativity?
Domingo: It is totally in conjunction with it because I feel like it’s all storytelling. I think it’s a way to express yourself. I grew up wearing my older brother’s and older sister’s hand-me-down clothes. So I think that there was something about that, that once I got my first job at McDonald’s and I wanted to buy my own things, I [thought]: “What is my sense of style? How do I wear clothes? How does this body feel out in the spaces?” For me, it’s part of that dressing up that introvert [so he] can tell a story with his body.
Villarreal: What was that first item of clothing with that McDonald’s paycheck that really had you like, “I got this.”
Domingo: Two-tone jeans. Oh, yeah, because they were hot then. We’re talking about the ’80s. I remember they were stone wash on one side and blue on the other.
Villarreal: Nice. You can do that again. Have you started thinking about —
Domingo: Maybe I’ll rock something like that for the Met Gala.
Villarreal: OK, I was going to ask you [about that]. You’re co-chair. They just announced the theme. You want to talk a little bit about being a part of this and the theme itself?
Domingo: Yes, “Superfine: Tailoring Black [Style].” It’s fantastic. It’s really looking at the history of Black male tailoring, which is awesome. It’s never been done before and I’m just very excited. I’m excited about all of it. I’m working right now with Valentino; I’m a house ambassador for Valentino, so Alessandro [Michele, the creative director] is going to design something really special for me to wear. I feel like I want to do a couple outfits, and we’ll see what happens.
Villarreal: Have you started thinking about the story or emotion you want to evoke with your red-carpet [look] for Oscars?
Domingo: I have, actually. I thought about a color. I won’t tell you the color because you’d be surprised. But something about it, I just can’t stop thinking about. I’m trying to think of history. There’s so many moments, iconic moments in history — it could be like 18th century London or it can be like the 1940s and zoot suit or it can be like some Dapper Dan style or something like that. But I feel like I want it to represent many people and many things. Because even when I went to the Met Gala last year for the first time, I referenced André Leon Talley and Chadwick Boseman. I always want to bring — maybe that’s it — I always like to bring other people with me.
Villarreal: You can bring me.
Domingo: This is my lesson for shy people. If you think there’s more people with you than just you, then it’s not about you anymore. Maya Angelou says something like that — it’s not just me, it’s all my ancestors, all these other people giving me strength and courage to speak.
Villarreal: Well, now I’m really looking forward to what you’re going to deliver on that red carpet.
Domingo: It’s going to serve.