Colman Domingo felt “great weight and responsibility” on the film ‘Rustin’.
The 54-year-old actor plays civil rights activist Bayard Rustin – who helped Martin Luther King Jr. and others to organise the historic 1963 March on Washington – in the biopic and felt under pressure to bring the relatively unknown historical figure to life in the picture, which is produced by former US President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama’s company Higher Ground.
In conversation with Jacob Elordi for Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors’ series, Colman said: “I thought it was such a travesty that we didn’t know anything about Bayard Rustin, his story and his influence on the Civil Rights movement.
“Then the idea that someone like President Obama and Michelle Obama were making sure this story is told, there’s a great weight and responsibility.”
The ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ star continued: “You want to do all you can to show a living, breathing soul, an ordinary human being trying to do something extraordinary.
“It’s my first leading role in a film. I wanted to do all that I could to get the nuances of his body, his voice and his mind, but also his soul.”
Jacob and Colman have both featured in the TV series ‘Euphoria’ and the ‘Saltburn’ actor gushed about his colleague’s “transformation” to play Rustin.
Elordi said: “Your transformation was everything. Starting with your voice. There’s not many videos of him talking, but you nailed it.”
Read the full Variety ‘Actors on Actors’ interview with Jacob Elordi and Colman Domingo at https://variety.com/2023/film/features/jacob-elordi-colman-domingo-euphoria-elvis-saltburn-1235821132/