Colman Domingo Reacts to ‘Extraordinary’ Oscar Nom for ‘Rustin’ (Exclusive)

On Tuesday, Colman Domingo received a 2024 Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his role in “Rustin.”

“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke to Colman, who shared his initial reaction to the news.

He said, “I get the text message that literally said, ‘Congratulations, Oscar nominee’ and I just put [the phone] down… I just, like, died for a second.”

While he’s normally an “animated” person, he didn’t have much of a reaction, saying, “Things that are so huge bring me to zero… My brain doesn’t know how to catch up.”

He finally processed what happened and started crying with his husband, Raúl Aktanov.

Colman called the recognition “extraordinary” and reflected on his long journey and putting in hard work.

He said, “I consider myself a journeyman. I’ve been doing this for 33 years… None of this is promised to you. When you get a moment like this, you lead films like this, you’re dedicated to the work, so wherever it is shown, I was going so long in my career, I didn’t realize that I was never a lead in a film… I was just doing work that was purposeful and that was needed. Suddenly, I’m leading these two incredible films as a leading man… It’s been a lot of hard work.”

Despite some “hard knocks,” Domingo “stayed in the work.” He commented, “As some point, the sun is shining in every area of my house and I didn’t know it would happen, but you do work and you trust that the good will you put in will come back someday… Here it is 33 years later.”

Colman also talked about representation and said it’s something he takes on as an honor. He noted, “I represent so many groups. I not only represent Black folks, I represent people who come from the public school system, people from West Philly. My father is Afro-Latino, so I represent the Afro-Latinos and queer folks. There’s a lot of hope and dreams that these communities have in me, and I know that when they see me, I represent myself and the world the way I show up… I know that I am doing this for all of us.”

Domingo isn’t feeling the pressure, explaining, “I take it as actually something that I am prepared to do. I feel like it’s an honor… It’s much bigger than me… This light shone on me right now says a lot for where we are in cinema.”

Colman also spoke lovingly about his late mother and how much she inspired him. He shared, “I had such a good mother, who inspired me to have such an imagination. She inspired that part of my heart, which is about service, especially with what I do… She passed in 2006. I knew that I had to take that love and pour it into everything I did.”