Colman Domingo has had a busy last few years. He’s been in projects ranging from Barry Jenkin’s If Beale Street Could Talk to Sam Levinson’s Euphoria (for which he won his first Emmy) to the A24 crime drama Zola. Last year, in particular, was extremely exciting for Domingo as he earned his first-ever Oscar nomination for his leading performance in Rustin, wherein he portrayed the titular openly gay political activist Bayard Rustin. In addition to gaining nominations at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes for Rustin, he also starred in The Color Purple and shared an Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture nomination at the SAG Awards for that film. Colman’s next couple of projects are shaping up to be just as exciting as he’s slated to play Joe Jackson in the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic as well as directing and starring in a Nat King Cole biopic.
But, at the tail end of 2023, Sing Sing premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by A24. In Sing Sing, Colman Domingo plays John “Divine G” Whitfield, an inmate at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility and an actor in the rehabilitation through the arts (RTA) program they run within the prison. The film follows Divine G and his budding friendship with fellow inmate Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin as they must work together to stage their first original comedy with the prison’s theatre group while also facing possible parole. It’s an incredibly touching story based on true events with authenticity apparent in every frame, thanks to Clarence Maclin playing himself along with other actual inmates and the real John Whitfield receiving a story credit in the script. The movie was even filmed within the Sing Sing prison.
Serving as both an executive producer and lead actor, Colman Domingo describes Sing Sing as a true story of resilience, redemptive power, and the transformative power of art. Plus, with writer-director Greg Kwedar (Transpecos, Jockey) at the helm, Sing Sing goes above and beyond the stereotypes of your average “prison film.” DiscussingFilm recently had the opportunity to sit down with Colman Domingo to discuss the intricacies of working on Sing Sing and how it paints a necessary, tender picture of those in rehabilitation. Additionally, we get a little taste of what audiences can expect from him in future projects, including the highly anticipated Michael Jackson biopic.
Exclusive Interview with Producer and Actor Colman Domingo for Sing Sing
Sing Sing is a rare film in which every single cast and crew member was paid the same and received the same equity. Did this make it feel like, perhaps, a stronger community than some of your previous work?
Colman Domingo: The model was based on the community model. We built this as a true collaboration. Where one person’s work ends, another person’s begins — it blurs the lines. In the making of Sing Sing, people truly gave a part of their own story. It made sense to have ownership, literal and figurative ownership of your story. So, that made sense for this model. It created an atmosphere in which people owned their work. People came into it with that rigor — not that they were actors, writers, production designers, producers, or assistants for hire, but you have ownership. This is your film.
Taking place in one of the most notorious male prisons in the United States, Sing Sing touches on many themes of personhood and incarceration, but was there anything that resonated with you about how it tackles masculinity?
Colman Domingo: In every single way. The thing that is very important to me is to show tenderness, especially when it comes to black and brown men, because the world is set up to have all these ideas about us: that we don’t feel, that we’re not tender, that it’s a hyper-masculine world. I would like to deconstruct those ideas and images because, in my experience, I don’t find that to be true. Especially in a program like this, these brothers had to depend on one another and hold space for each other’s vulnerabilities as they were doing work in the process. This also helps to show the possibilities of what we can be when we take away these barriers and these things that are impressed upon us, especially as black and brown men.
A lot of the movie focuses on being in touch with yourself and being in touch with other people, especially as an actor. Did that shape your relationship with your co-stars? Because they were actors, too, but just in a different context.
Colman Domingo: At the end of the day, I’ve always believed that you can get your training from an institution like Juilliard or Yale. You can get it from working in the industry and building your craft like me, or you can also get it in the industrial prison complex with a program like RTA. As long as you have respect for the work, rigor for the work, and curiosity about the work. It’s all coming from the same place. So, I didn’t approach them as if they had such foreign abilities than my own. I was going to meet them where they were.
Usually, when you walk into a rehearsal room, you don’t know what school or what a person’s experience is, but they’ve been cast. So, you say “yes” to it and see how you can build a brain trust to assemble the film that you want to assemble together. It is an act of faith. You bring in all your superpowers from whatever your experience is and bring them into the fold as a true collaboration.
In Sing Sing, you are an actor who is playing an actor. Is there anything you must be conscientious of when approaching such a role?
Colman Domingo: Greg [Kwedar] and I collaborated very well together when it came to the theater part of it because I am a child of the theater. The monologue that I chose, Lysander’s monologue from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is about dreams deferred, believing in something beautiful, and it not happening for you. I went through a lot of Shakespeare monologues and things that I’ve even performed, and I thought this one really sets up our film because these are my character’s innermost fears and struggles that he is able to play out on stage. Then he masks up and goes out into the prison.
So, it’s really all about masks, wearing masks, and taking off masks in many ways. I wanted to definitely lean into that, and I know it leaned into the part of me that comes from the theater. I wanted to find how robust and potent a performance is when you’re out there in the world, and then we have to go back into the prison. There is a sense of loss and a place where you can’t be this other thing.
You mentioned Lysander from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but Hamlet was also a big Shakespearean influence in the film. How do you think Hamlet played into the larger themes here?
Colman Domingo: We’re fighting to play Hamlet, fighting for this powerful king, to express this, and Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin) comes in and usurps it. Literally, it is a battle over who’s above the king, and we find that in its central arguments and the underpinnings of the monologues.
How do you hope that audiences as a whole will resonate with Sing Sing?
Colman Domingo: My hope is for people to understand that there should be no fear going into this film, because it doesn’t suffer from the tropes of a prison movie. Sing Sing is not a prison movie. It’s a movie about our better angels and how we can find light in dark places. It’s about the human spirit and having faith in something. Right now, as polarizing as things are and how scary things around the world can be, we need more films that touch on the human heart and show that we’re more alike than unalike. I think it’s a balm of a movie that we need. I feel very proud to be a producer on Sing Sing, as well as the leading actor.
It’s a very sweet film. Just to throw in a random question, throughout the year so far, what have been your favorite movies that you’ve seen?
Colman Domingo: Of the more modern films, I saw Poor Things, and I really liked it. I loved The Holdovers; I thought it was a great film. I love small films with a lot of heart and characters that are real character studies.
Your next project will be the Michael Jackson biopic directed by Antoine Fuqua, which is already getting significant buzz. What can you say about your performance as Joe Jackson, as well as what Michael fans can expect from Jaafar Jackson’s performance?
Colman Domingo: They can expect a real dazzling performance from Jaafar Jackson, who embodies Michael with so much grace, with that same gift Michael had as an entertainer. They can expect, from me, a complex depiction of Joe Jackson, who is a very polarizing character. But my job is to always take on a person’s heart and soul. So, for me, I want to show the heart and soul of Joe Jackson.
Sing Sing is now playing in theaters!
Release Date: August 2, 2024.
Directed by Greg Kwedar.
Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar.
Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, & John “Divine G” Whitfield.
Based on The Sing Sing Follies by John H. Richardson & Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code by Brent Buell.
Produced by Monique Walton, Clint Bentley, & Greg Kwedar.
Executive Producers: Colman Domingo, Raúl Domingo, Michael Heimler, Larry Kalas, Larry Kelly, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, Nancy Schafer, Teddy Schwarzman, John “Divine G” Whitfield.
Main Cast: Colman Domingo, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, Sean San José, Paul Raci, David “Dap” Giraudy, Patrick “Preme” Griffin, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, & Sean “Dino” Johnson.
Cinematographer: Pat Scola.
Composer: Bryce Dessner.
Production Companies: Black Bear Pictures, Marfa Peach Company, & Edith Productions.
Distributor: A24.
Runtime: 107 minutes.
Rated R.
