With his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in Rustin, Colman Domingo has made history twice over: The 54-year-old actor has become the first Afro-Latino to be nominated in the category, as well as the first openly gay Black man to be nominated for an Oscar for playing a gay character.
The nod marks Domingo’s first Oscar honor, which is well-earned given his breathtaking depiction of Bayard Rustin. The long-overlooked civil rights icon was a close advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the driving force behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The biopic, released in November, focuses on Rustin’s organization of that ambitious protest, which united an estimated 250,000 people, making for the largest nonviolent demonstration in the U.S. up until that time.
“It meant everything to me, man—it really truly meant everything,” Domingo told LEVEL of his role in Rustin, which also stars Chris Rock, Aml Ameen, and Jeffrey Wright. “I wanted to give it everything that I had because I knew it was a great responsibility.”
What sets Rustin apart from most period pieces of that era is how the titular character navigated life as an openly gay man—and the ways he fought for acceptance within his own community of civil rights leaders. When asked about the throughline to intersectionality issues within today’s freedom movements, Domingo says the connection was top of mind as he was leaning into his performance.
“I absolutely thought about that, because [Rustin] was fighting systems within his own communities,” he said. “Black men are talking about, ‘But he's queer. That's not a part of it.’ He takes them to task; he raises the question, they either believe in freedom and justice for all or they do not. What do you actually stand upon?”
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The actor continued: “That's a major question that we still have to this day about trans lives. Black trans lives matter. If it's about Black Lives Matter—we have to do this together. We don't have the luxury to separate. I think that's something that he was working through as well.”
Domingo reacted to his historic Oscar nomination yesterday via Instagram: "Overflowing. Thank you dear Bayard. Thank you @theacademy for this nomination. Trying to find the words. Today it is pure gratitude. For everything. The journey. The company. The highs. The very lows. The staying with it. Faith. Love. Light. Joy. Rejoice."
Rustin was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions and based on a screenplay by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black. The George C. Wolfe-directed film is now streaming via Netflix.