Colman Domingo

Colman Jason Domingo (born November 28, 1969) is an American actor, playwright and theater director.

Prominent on both screen and stage, he has received various accolades, including a nomination for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award win, and two nominations for Tony Awards.

He made his television debut in the police procedural Nash Bridges in 1997 and made numerous appearances on the series.

He took a small role in Clint Eastwood's True Crime (1999) and acted in the independent films Desi's Looking for a New Girl (2000), Kung Phooey (2003), and the crime drama Freedomland (2006).

He also took minor roles in Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

Domingo's early Broadway roles include the 2005 play Well and the 2008 musical Passing Strange.

Domingo starred as Mr. Franklin Jones, Joop, and Mr. Venus, in the critically acclaimed rock musical Passing Strange, which, after a successful 2007 run at The Public Theater, opened on Broadway on February 28, 2008.

He received an Obie Award in spring 2008 as part of the ensemble of Passing Strange Off-Broadway and reprised his roles in the film version of Passing Strange, directed by Spike Lee, which made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.

He also acted in the sketch series The Big Gay Sketch Show from 2008 to 2010.

Domingo collaborated with Spike Lee appearing in his films Miracle at St. Anna (2008) and Red Hook Summer (2012).

In 2010, Domingo's self-penned, one-man autobiographical play A Boy and His Soul premiered Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, for which he won a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show.

He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Drama League Award.

Domingo starred as a replacement role as Billy Flynn in Chicago, the longest running revival on Broadway.

During this time Domingo also acted in numerous television series.

Domingo earned acclaim in the final collaboration by Kander and Ebb of The Scottsboro Boys, directed by Susan Stroman on Broadway in Fall 2010.

He gained acclaim for his role as Mr. Bones in the Broadway musical The Scottsboro Boys (2011), for which he received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical nomination.

For the latter role, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in May 2011.

He was nominated for the Fred Astaire Award for Best Principal Dancer on Broadway in 2011.

Domingo's film appearances include supporting roles in Lincoln (2012), Selma (2014), If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020).

For his role as a ruthless pimp in Janicza Bravo's Zola (2021), he received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male nomination.

His portrayal of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the Netflix film Rustin (2023) earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Domingo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

His father is from Belize and his family is from Guatemala.

Domingo attended Overbrook High School and later Temple University, where he majored in journalism.

Soon thereafter he moved to San Francisco, California, where he started acting, mainly in theatre productions.

He appeared as Private Harold Green in Steven Spielberg's historical epic Lincoln (2012).

When The Scottsboro Boys opened in London in Fall 2013, Domingo was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical in April 2014.

The following year he appeared in the civil rights films 42 (2013) playing Lawson Bowman and The Butler (2013) as Freddie Fallows.

He reprised the role in the 2014 West End production, receiving a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical nomination.

In 2014 he appeared in Ava DuVernay's civil rights film Selma portraying activist and Baptist minister Ralph Abernathy.

After early roles in various incarnations of the Law & Order series and as part of the main cast for The Big Gay Sketch Show, he had his breakthrough playing Victor Strand in the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead (2015–2023).

In 2022, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as the recovering drug addict Ali on the HBO series Euphoria.

In 2015, Domingo began appearing in a recurring role on AMC's post-apocalyptic, zombie series Fear the Walking Dead, as a character named Victor Strand.

In December 2015, it was announced that Domingo was promoted to series regular for Season 2 of the series.

That same year he had a recurring role as Dr. Russell Daniels in the Cinemax series The Knick.

The following year he made appearances on Lucifer and Louis C.K.'s self-streaming show Horace and Pete.

In 2017, Domingo joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a member of the Actors' Branch.

In 2018, he wrote the book for the Broadway musical Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

In 2018, Domingo joined the Directors Guild of America as a director of episode 12 of season 4 of Fear The Walking Dead.

He is the first ever actor in The Walking Dead universe to helm an episode.