‘It’s any actor’s dream’: Colman Domingo talks ‘Rustin’ and ‘The Color Purple’

Actor Colman Domingo has captivated audiences in “Rustin” and “The Color Purple,” and now he’s looking to reap the rewards this awards season.

His portrayal of Bayard Rustin, the advisor to Martin Luther King Jr., has earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama.

Domingo told KTLA 5’s Sam Rubin that he’s looking forward to walking the red carpet this Sunday.

“I think it’s going to feel like heaven,” he gushed. “I’m going to feel good, look good and with the community of people that I love and admire. (I) have dear friends who were nominated. So I’m looking forward to all.”

Domingo is in good company as he’s nominated alongside Bradley Cooper, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy, Andrew Scott and Barry Keoghan.

“These are guys who I truly admire, I have seen all their films. I think they’re fantastic,” he said. “So to be in their company … that’s the gift already.”

The nominations don’t stop there.

Domingo is also up for Best Actor in the movie category at this year’s Critics Choice Awards.

The attention to the film is important as Rustin’s legacy is widely unknown.

“He was pretty much erased, marginalized in the history books because he was openly gay, Domingo explained. “He organized the March on Washington in 1963. He was a brilliant strategist and thinker. And, you know, highly respected. He inspired Martin Luther King (with) his ideology about passive resistance. He was a brilliant, brilliant American hero and it took someone like President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, to be a champion for this. Along with Bruce Cohen, Antonia Davis, these brilliant producers to make this film exist with the direction of George C. Wolfe, who I admire so much.”

The “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” actor called the film “inspiring” as it teaches the audience how to “take part in our democracy.”

“I think it’s what we need right now, to let people know that they can take part in any part of this to make this world a better place,” he explained.

Domingo recalled Obama telling him “There would be no President Barack Obama if there wasn’t a Byard Rustin because he admired Bayard Rustin because he was such a strategist and organizer and he used his life to do better for the world.”

Even after the movie’s release, some scenes still make the actor tear up as he understood Rustin’s overall mission.

“I (understood) what his whole purpose was and why he was doing everything he (could) to bend this country a little bit more towards justice. He devoted his life to it and and I wanted to be in service to not only him but other people who (have) given us all of our liberties so we can listen, sit at this table together. You know what I mean?”

Domingo also stars in the new iteration of “The Color Purple,” which hit theaters last month. The title is a cultural touchstone, but this version is based on the musical of the same name.

The “Fear of the Walking Dead” actor was immediately on board with doing the story again but with a slight twist.

“It struck me as fantastic because I love the way that it’s being told,” he exclaimed. “It’s going into Celie’s imagination, which is really expanding and showing how anyone who gets through any trauma has to have an imagination to see themselves out of it,” he said. “So it’s beautiful.”

These two high-profile projects have been the icing on the cake of Domingo’s long career in Hollywood.

“Starting the year off like this, in my wildest imagination, I could never imagine this especially these two gifts of ‘Rustin’ and ‘The Color Purple’ at the same time. These are films that I feel move the needle on our humanity. It helps people,” he said. “They’re entertaining, they make you think about the world and your place in it. I feel the idea that I’m in the center of both of these films is the true icing on the cake. It’s any actor’s dream.”

“Driving here (to KTLA 5) today and I thought ‘I’m really living in my dreams and what a blessing.'”

“Rustin” is currently streaming on Netflix and “The Color Purple” is in theaters now.

The 81st Annual Golden Globe Awards take place on Jan. 7 on CBS and will also be streaming on Paramount+.

The Critics Choice Awards take place on Jan. 14 and you can watch them live on KTLA 5.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.