Colman Domingo Holds Back Tears While Discussing ‘Sing Sing’

Colman Domingo gave his all in his latest role as a wrongly convicted man.

In “Sing Sing,” Domingo plays John “Divine G” Whitfield, a real-life figure who served as a pacesetter in Rehabilitation through art program while in prison. RTA is a program that gives creative arts workshops to over 230 incarcerated men and ladies across the country. As Whitfield fights to be released from prison, he finds belonging with a gaggle of incarcerated men who create a theatrical production as a part of this system.

The role required Domingo to stretch himself emotionally and provides what he calls his most liberating performance yet. The Oscar-nominated actor had just wrapped filming “The Color Purple” and was preparing to shoot “Rustin” when he began production on “Sing Sing” in 2022. Domingo says in a brand new interview with theGrio that he had just 18 days to complete the film, which forced him to let go and go deep.

“I usually put myself through a very rigorous process of research and all these other details that can drive someone crazy, but that’s my process,” the 54-year-old actor shares. “But for this (film), I had to liberate myself in a different way. I just had to figure out what was human, what was deeply connected to me as just a black man in the world.”

“I could have been in that situation, or I could have been in that situation, and my life path would have been different,” he adds. “But holding on to life and hope and art in the way that (Whitfield) did, because I think that’s what he had to do, and that’s the true essence of the spirit.”

Domingo says he also had to interrupt free “from the company of men who may not have been professional actors but who respected their craft.” “Sing, Sing” features several formerly incarcerated actors and RTA participants playing past versions of themselves, including Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who received critical approval for his performance.

“I couldn’t come in with any preconceived notions about them or their process. I had to be completely free, and that’s the only way we could create a film that I think has more soul work than anything else.”

Domingo tells Grio that he was the “leader” on set among the many forged, but made sure the opposite actors, whom he calls “artisans,” felt supported and had “the space to do their job.”

“I trusted that these were men who had actually done the work when they were in these programs, when they were incarcerated, and some of them were doing the work outside of them,” he explains. “A lot of them had never done a movie before. I never looked at it as something that wasn’t great. I thought, ‘Oh, what a great opportunity that we can create something different.’ The texture will be different; the authenticity will be different because they have life experience.”

Domingo gets emotional during an interview with theGrio, talking about one scene where his character hugs Maclin after he gets out of prison. In that scene, Whitfield has an entire breakdown, sobbing and unleashing years of emotion as Maclin hugs him.

“That scene was rewritten at least 20 times,” Domingo says of the scene, which director Greg Kwedar shot in a single take.

“When we were going to shoot it, I asked Greg to give us a take where—we already have the skeleton of the scenes in us, but I think we just have to let them play out,” he says. “All I need to know about my character is that he’s been incarcerated for 25 years, wrongly convicted of a crime for 25 years. His last parole was seven years earlier, when he had to stay in prison. My own secret is that his mother had also died, so he had no one waiting for him at the end.”

“We shot that scene once and we knew that was it,” Domingo explains. Describing the scene as “organic and guttural,” Domingo says he had no idea he would “let out that wail” like that.

“It came from my brother Clarence hugging me. The shared story of ‘this man can carry my pain, my trauma.’ It became for me a little bow tied around our story of these two men who you never thought would get along, and suddenly they’re really accountable to each other on the outside. You have someone there — Oh, I’m about to cry — you have someone there who has your back.”

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Domingo, who was previously nominated for an Oscar for his role in “Rustin,” is already reaping the rewards for his role in “Sing Sing.” The actor says the accolades are nice — not due to the glamour and glitz, but due to the light they shed on the film and its significance.

“I think if it leads people to the film and its message, then great,” Domingo concludes. “I did it with love. I did it with respect for these men, believing that their stories matter. That’s why I produced the film. I think stories like that matter. That’s what I want to tell the world. And if we get the amplification and all the buzz and nominations and awards, I say go for it.”