Colman Domingo Says Agent Told Him ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Passed On Him For Role Because He Wasn’t Light-Skinned

Colman Domingo is opening up about his past experiences in his attempt to break into film and television.

Back in 2014, following his Tony nomination for The Scottsboro Boys musical, Domingo says he was stuck auditioning for “under-fives,” roles that have fewer than five lines of dialogue. In an interview with The New York Times, the Euphoria actor detailed a callback for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

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“This is the one that’s going to change it up for me,” Domingo thought at the time. “This is the one that’s going to finally be my big break.”

The role was for the maître d’ at a Black-owned nightclub, and Domingo wore a tuxedo to the audition, impressing the producers with his singing and dancing abilities.

“There was just one problem, his agent said. After the callback, a historical researcher on the show reminded producers that the maître d’s in those nightclubs were typically light-skinned, and Domingo was not. Boardwalk Empire had passed,” read the article.

Domingo added, “That’s when I lost my mind. I can’t take it anymore, I think this is going to kill me.”

This moment had Domingo thinking of quitting acting for good. Fast forward ten years and Domingo is at a different place in his career. There’s Oscar buzz around his acting work in Netflix’s Rustin, and is currently starring in the musical film The Color Purple.

Following his experience a decade ago, Domingo says he now is an “offer-only” actor.

“I became an actor that was ‘offer-only’ probably sooner than the industry thought I should have,” he said. “But I decided I have a body of work. You can go and look at it, you can ask other directors about me, and you can make me the offer or not.”

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