Colman Domingo Says ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Rejected Him Because He Wasn’t Light-Skinned: ‘I Can’t Take It Anymore’

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Video

Colman
Domingo
is
giving
fans
some
insight
into
what
it’s
really
like
to
be
an
actor
trying
to
find
your
big
break
in
the
entertainment
industry.

Source:
Variety
/
Getty

During
a
recent
conversation
with

The
New
York
Times,
the

Euphoria
actor
opened
up
about
auditioning
for
“under-fives,”
roles
that
only
offered
him
a
just
line
or
two
of
dialogue.

Back
in
2014,
Domingo
was
hopeful
that
one
of
these
small
roles
might
lead
to
a
bigger
break, 
the
most
promising
of
which
being
a
part
on
an
episode
of

Boardwalk
Empire.

At
the
time,
the
HBO
drama
series
was
looking
for
an
actor
to
play
the
maître
d’
at
a
Black-owned
nightclub.
At
the
callback
audition,
Domingo
wore
a
tuxedo
and
apparently
impressed
producers
by
singing
and
tap
dancing–but
he
later
got
a
call
from
his
agent
with
some
bad
news.

“His
agent
began
that
call
by
saying
that
everyone
on
‘Boardwalk
Empire’
had
loved
his
audition. This
is
the
one
that’s
going
to
change
it
up
for
me, Domingo
thought.
This
is
the
one
that’s
going
to
finally
be
my
big
break.”

But,
that
wasn’t
all.

“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.”

“That’s
when
I
lost
my
mind,”
the
actor
said,
adding
that
he
told
his
agent:
“I
can’t
take
it
anymore,
I
think
this
is
going
to
kill
me.”

Luckily,
that
experience
didn’t
kill
him,
and
he’s
now
landing
roles
with
much
more
than
a
couple
lines.

This
year
alone,
Domingo
has
starred
in

Rustin
and

The
Color
Purple,
the
latter
of
which
opened
to
a
whopping
$18
million
on
Christmas
Day.

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