Colman Domingo, who is starring in the 2023 remake of ‘The Color Purple, reveals he nearly “lost his mind” when an agent reportedly told him that the producers behind ‘Boardwalk Empire‘ passed on him because he wasn’t light-skinned.
While Colman Domingo has achieved recent success with his latest features (‘The Color Purple‘ and ‘Rustin‘), the 54-year-old Philadelphia-born actor reveals he’s had his downs in Hollywood as well. Similar to the recent discussions sparked about pay for Black women in Hollywood, led by Taraji P. Henson and carried on by actresses like Gabrielle Union, Fantasia, and more, Domingo is now telling his own experiences with being a Black man in Hollywood.
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Recently speaking with The New York Times, Colman Domingo — who has won an Emmy for ‘Euphoria‘ and has starred in big Oscar contenders like ‘If Beale Street Could Talk‘ (2018) and ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom‘ (2020) — recalled being stuck auditioning for “under-fives,” which are roles that only gave him a line or two of dialogue. However, keeping the faith, Domingo said he went along with the process, figuring that one of these “under-five” roles would lead him to his big break. And one of those promising roles was a small part in the HBO drama series ‘Boardwalk Empire.’
The show was looking for an actor to play the maître d’ at a Black-owned nightclub. While attending the callback audition, Domingo wore a tuxedo and further impressed the producers when he began singing and tap dancing. Unfortunately, when his agent called and praised his great work, the call didn’t end how Domingo would have wanted.
The Times said, “His agent began that call by saying that everyone on ‘Boardwalk Empire’ had loved his audition. This is the one that’s going to change it up for me, Domingo thought. This is the one that’s going to finally be my big break. There was just one problem, his agent said. After the callback, a historical researcher on the show reminded producers that the maître d’s in those nightclubs were typically light-skinned, and Domingo was not. ‘Boardwalk Empire’ had passed.”
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In response to being rejected because he wasn’t light-skinned, Colman Domingo added, “That’s when I lost my mind.” He said he told his agent, “I can’t take it anymore, I think this is going to kill me.”
Since the ‘Boardwalk Empire‘ incident, Colman Domingo now says that he is no longer interested in “under-fives,” and is now seeking “offer-onlys.” He decided this after realizing that in order to attain the stature of a leading man, he would have to stop enduring the crippling audition process.
He added, “I became an actor that was ‘offer-only’ probably sooner than the industry thought I should have. But I decided I have a body of work. You can go and look at it, you can ask other directors about me, and you can make me the offer or not.”
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