Domingo is having a major moment of success, having received best actor nominations for Academy, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for his performance as civil rights leader Baynard Rustin in the Netflix film “Rustin.” He also starred as Albert “Mister” Johnson in the 2023 movie musical adaptation of “The Color Purple” and is set to play Jackson family patriarch Joe Jackson in the Antoine Fuqua-directed Michael Jackson biopic “Michael.”

“It’s very important for me, especially after a film like ‘Rustin,’ that [Bayard Rustin] is pulled out of the shadows of history, and he’s taken his rightful place in the center of his own story,” Domingo told Deadline about his Oscar nomination. “It took people like Barack and Michelle Obama, and their production company, to say that this story is necessary and vital and potent.” 

He continued, “I know I’m existing in spaces that are unique in many ways. At the same time I was representing Rustin, I’m also playing the leading man in ‘The Color Purple,’ who has a very different experience. The way I’ve been able to see myself in this industry is that I can play anything, and it’s not limited by my own personal sexuality. People see me as I see myself, and being able to flex all these muscles and play all these different types of men, with very different experiences, hopefully moves the needle a bit more… I’m a strong representation for that now, and there’s many more folks coming up right behind me.”

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