Colman Domingo is everywhere.
The new season of Netflix comedy series The Four Seasons, which launched on Thursday, has Domingo’s Danny and his husband Claude (Marco Calvani) questioning the next phase of their life. Meanwhile, he’s also returned to HBO’s Euphoria for another turn as Rue’s (Zendaya) sponsor Ali. Or maybe you caught him on the big screen playing Michael Jackson’s father in the biopic Michael.
A few lucky college grads from Temple University even got to witness the multi-hyphenate recently receive an honorary doctorate degree and deliver a stirring commencement speech this spring on the Philadelphia campus.
In some ways, he told Deadline, he’s been training his entire career for this kind of whirlwind.
“I feel like I’m sort of built to keep leaning into different genres, and I’ve been doing that for years, from theater work, musicals, you name it, that I feel like anything where I feel like it’s a challenge and something I haven’t done before, I want to lean into it,” he said.
Domingo has been acting for more than three decades, but it is a bit of kismet that amid this massive breakthrough he’d also be able to revisit a character he calls “one of the greatest gifts, I think, in my career.” He thinks stepping back into his Euphoria role over the years has given him the ability to infuse more depth and wisdom into Ali each time he plays him.
“I am, I’m sure, growing in a different direction and bringing that into my work,” he added. “I hope so.”
In the interview below, Domingo opens up about both The Four Seasons and Euphoria, his recent honorary degree from Temple University, his next career moves, and more.
Spoiler alert! This interview contains a few details from the new seasons of The Four Seasons and Euphoria.
Colman Domingo as Danny in ‘The Four Seasons’
Netflix
DEADLINE: I know you’ve been talking a lot about The Four Seasons today. How are you feeling about Season 2?
COLMAN DOMINGO: I feel so good about it. I think it’s just such a sweet show. It’s simple in form, and I think it’s just something that we need in our space of television right now. It’s really dealing with relationships, platonic and romantic, and putting us in different scenarios and locations, and just seeing what happens to this group of friends who are mostly in their 50s and talking about life and dealing with very practical things about relationships and what happens next, death, love and family. I think that’s what the draw of the show is for people right now. It’s just a great reflection of our hearts and our minds.
DEADLINE: What was your favorite part of Danny’s arc this season?
DOMINGO: It’s funny, I didn’t think that Danny was going to be the kind of guy who wanted a child. I just love the complexity of human beings in that way. [The writers] leaned into that, that he was questioning what’s next for him and his adventure, especially when it’s a same-sex couple without any children. He’s like, “Well, what’s next?” Because usually you have markers to know what’s next in your life. He didn’t want to just renovate his kitchen again and again. So, I thought that was great, and I loved exploring that part of him. We even leaned into that when it comes to his wardrobe. He’s trying to find the father in him and the other person he’s supposed to become, in some way. So I think that he’s examining that, which is a great examination, which is actually very different than mine, personally. I’m not interested in being [a parent], so it helped me just really put a lens on that, people who want more than just the two of them.
DEADLINE: There were a lot of storylines this season that didn’t go the direction I expected them to go, but in a great way, and that was one of them. They don’t end up adopting a child by the end of the season, but I feel like the growth that they have in their relationship is really great in other ways.
DOMINGO: Maybe that’s what I think Danny was searching for — someone or something else to care for. That’s why they’re experimenting with getting the dog. They want something else to think about besides themselves. Think, by the time he gets to the end of the season, he’s caretaking for his mother. It starts to make more sense. I think it’s also part of his value to feel like he’s needed in some way, so I think that that’s what he’s exploring.
DEADLINE: What made you want to direct this season as well?
DOMINGO: I loved directing last season, because it’s such a different muscle. Before I’d directed one-hour drama, like Fear the Walking Dead, and the idea of a half-hour comedy was interesting, because it’s really about all these other subtle things, but it’s also timing when it comes to comedy. Where does humor lie in a frame?
So I’m very interested in that, and I love that I directed the first episode, because I was able to set the tone of the season. Since we experienced Season 1 together, and we really finally understood what we were making, I can create a great blueprint for the season to follow. So, even all my frames were about keeping the cast in close quarters together, so that when there’s complicated nature of relationships, and they’re more dispersed, remember that feeling you had when they were all together? So, for me, that’s what I was experimenting with.
DEADLINE: I’m glad you mentioned that. How was it to, like you said, really understand what you were making and get to really dig in creatively with that cast this season?
DOMINGO: We all have such an ease with one another. We’re all multi-hyphenates, each one of us. We’re all writers and directors as well. So, everyone’s coming up with [ideas]. No ego, and you’re just wanting to use whatever tools you have to tell a good story. So, that’s what feels good. I feel like no one’s trying to get anything out of this. If anything, trying to give something, give some of your experience, and create something that’s really beautiful and impactful in a sort of small way, but you believe it can reach large audiences.
Colman Domingo as Danny in ‘The Four Seasons’
Netflix
DEADLINE: You have been doing such a range of projects recently. I’m curious if there’s any genres that have been piquing your interest or if you’ve been really enjoying just trying a little of everything?
DOMINGO: I feel like I’m sort of built to keep leaning into different genres, and I’ve been doing that for years, from theater work, musicals, you name it, that I feel like anything where I feel like it’s a challenge and something I haven’t done before, I want to lean into it. I think that’s why I joined The Four Seasons. I had never done half-hour comedy. I think the people who know me know that I have natural instincts of being funny and having good humor, but I never put that muscle to real good use in this form. So it feels good. I know that now that my work is really being seen a lot. I like to keep people guessing on what, because for me it’s like, how do I keep myself guessing, too? What else am I interested in? So, even when people ask, “Well, what are you interested in next?” I’m like, “I don’t know. Maybe it hasn’t even been written yet.”
DEADLINE: How has it been to be able to return to some roles, like for Euphoria, as you’ve still been growing in your career in these last few years, and experimenting, and then getting to go back and implement some of that?
DOMINGO: It feels good, because also I think, especially anytime you step away from any of the projects that you have deep roots in…I know that I’ve attained other skills and other perspectives to bring to the character. So I feel like slipping back into Ali in Euphoria feels like second skin. I am, I’m sure, growing in a different direction, and bringing that into my work. I hope so. Even doing another season of Four Seasons, I was hoping that it would deepen, and I would find things that are new about Danny that surprised me. The writing did surprise me, and I feel like I’m able to lean into that. I will always raise questions with every role that I already have good roots in to up the ante, up the challenge, [and] go deeper.
DEADLINE: You and Zendaya both have gone away for these periods and just continue to do great work, and then periodically come back to these roles. How do you feel like your on-screen chemistry has developed over the seasons together?
DOMINGO: I’ll tell you one thing for sure is that I can see it. We have some episodes [in Season 3] that feel very lived in. We started to become more, instead of big brother [or] sponsor-sponsee, it’s become more like father-daughter, because that’s the nature of our relationship — the way we are in our conversations, how much we trust each other on set, how much we listen to one another has its own intimacy. I think that shows. You see the characters developing that we’ve been shooting. Yes, yes, it’s only been three seasons, but it’s been over six years. You see the depth of it. You could probably even feel that Z and I have had dinners together, conversations outside of work, which is deep in the characters as well.
DEADLINE: What has been the most fulfilling part about this role overall?
DOMINGO: Ali truly has been a blessing. I think Ali embodies a lot of things that I hope I could find useful in a character. Someone who’s trying to be of service to other people, but also has a past and a history, and he’s working on himself and working on others. Ultimately, he’s like a prophet. He’s like the conscience of the show. I think he’s the moral center in many ways, because whenever you’re in scenes with Ali, the world starts to slow down a bit, and raise important questions. It sort of has a pause and a reset button, then the characters are off running again.
So that’s what I love, that Sam has given me a gift — one of the greatest gifts, I think, in my career — to be honest, putting Ali for me. He’s written material for me that I know that it’s changed the way people perceive me in this industry, to be very honest, because he’s given me, I mean, who gets a 60-minute episode just at a diner doing what you do? And someone believing you can deliver and deliver an engaging performance with Zendaya in 60 minutes? That’s one of my favorite episodes. Sam wrote that for me and Zendaya, believing that we could deliver something so impactful and potent and propulsive. I think people will look back in history and really revere Euphoria as a real groundbreaking series. Euphoria has a lot of opinions about it. I see it online, how people feel about it or don’t feel about it, but they can’t deny that it’s something that has smashed the zeitgeist with one of the most incredible young casts that have gone on to become incredible artists in their own right. I think the genesis of it is we’ve had this work in Euphoria, which has changed all of our careers.
Colman Domingo as Ali in ‘Euphoria’
HBO
DEADLINE: You mention the fan reaction to Euphoria. Over time, how has your perception and your relationship with other people’s opinion of your work evolved?
DOMINGO: To be very honest, maybe it’s because I’ve been doing this work for 35 years, I have sort of divorced myself from my work in a healthy way. I read reviews like anyone else, because I want to see how things are impacting audiences, but also I take them with a grain of salt. I know I have my opinion. I know I have my idea of what I wanted to do or what we wanted to do. Every piece of art you make is a leap of faith, and not everyone will love it, and one has to understand that. But there are some people, maybe that one person, it really turns them on and really makes them think in a different way, and that was the intention. It all depends on how people come into the show, where they’re coming from, what their perspective is on that film or that subject matter. It’s all subjective.
For a long time, as artists, we’re hungry for the feedback. We’re hungry for that, but I feel like I set out to do what I want to do…I also think that great art is polarizing, to be honest. I think it should not be down the middle. Nothing I’ve ever done has been overtly [noncontroversial]. It’s usually conflicting opinions, and I think that’s the work that I’m drawn to. If it’s polarizing in some way, it’s getting a feeling, and I feel like it all depends on what lens you’re on and how it appeals to you. I think that’s what makes great art.
DEADLINE: I also recently learned you were pursuing a journalism degree at Temple University. What did it mean to you to get that honorary degree recently from Temple and be able to speak at their commencement?
DOMINGO: That was deeply personal, because I did not finish school at Temple University. I’m an inner-city kid who went to school, supported himself with grants and some minimal scholarships, but I had two jobs, and I was struggling by the time I was in my junior year. I moved to San Francisco, got into the theater and became a performer, but there was always something about my parents that always…they really wanted me to have a college degree. It’s very aspirational, especially from where I’m from.
It was something that I feel like sort of honored the legacy of my parents, because they really wanted [me to have] what they would call “that piece of paper, because if you have that piece of paper, no one can take it.” The idea that not only that I have a I don’t have a bachelor’s or master’s, I have a doctorate from a top university is extraordinary and meaningful. I labored over those words for a good month, because I really wanted to respond to the times. I didn’t want young people to feel downhearted. I wanted people to find joy and purpose out in the world. I didn’t want it to be a speech about terrible things and what they can do to make a difference. I’m like, “No, I want you to find joy and love, and that’ll make a lot of the difference.”
DEADLINE: What sensibilities drew you to journalism that you can trace to these creative aspirations you’ve come to?
DOMINGO: Oh, I can draw a huge line in everything that I do. I think that every role that I’ve taken, everything that I’ve written, and many things I’ve directed have a journalistic heart. It’s inquiring and raising questions. I can see it in my portrayal of Joe Jackson in Michael right now. It’s journalistic. I go deeper to find out what the truths are, you know? I mean, that’s what we’re doing. We’re seeking the truth. When I went to school at Temple University my journalism classes were about seeking and distilling the truth and the facts. So I think that I’m just very attracted to that. I think it’s very purposeful. I just have questions about people and the times we’re living in and the why of it all. That’s a journalistic heart.
