Reigning supreme

THE HARD- WORKING STAR IS ENJOYING HIS MOMENT IN STYLE

- Jennie Noonan

After clocking more than three decades on stage as an actor, director and playwright, and racking up dozens of credits in TV and movies, Colman Domingo’s Emmy win in 2022 for Euphoria marked a turning point.

His performance as Ali, a Narcotics Anonymous sponsor and confidante to Zendaya’s struggling addict character, Rue Bennett, was a breakthrough.

“I think that was the beginning of people seeing me as a leading man,” Domingo, 55, told Vogue in May. “I’d been a supportive player for many long years, happily. And for a long time I thought maybe the lead was always meant for someone else ... while knowing that I could probably do well if I had the opportunity.”

The opportunities that followed resulted in back-to-back Best Actor Oscar nominations - first for his portrayal of gay civil rights leader Bayard Rustin in Netflix’s Rustin, then as a former inmate in fact-based drama Sing Sing. Beyond the acting accolades, Domingo’s red carpet run cemented his spot at the top of the A-list, frequently being singled out as the best-dressed man in Hollywood.

“I keep hearing that. And it’s funny because I never think of myself as that,” he told GQ in October. “I think it’s not just the style, it’s about how I feel, and I think that’s what people are seeing. I feel good in these spaces, and I’m OK with claiming my space. And I think that you sort of have to - what did Maya Angelou say? She said, ‘Your crown is already prepared and ready for you. All you have to do is put it on.’ I put mine on a while ago, so I think I'm walking with my crown on.”

It’s not just about looking the part. This year has seen Domingo co-host the Met Gala, star as a 1970s radio DJ in Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, play the host of a futuristic game show in The Running Man and lend his voice to the Cowardly Lion in Wicked: For Good.