The Times is speaking with nominees for the 78th Emmy Awards, to be presented on Sept. 14 on NBC. This interview contains spoilers for the final season of “Euphoria.”
Colman Domingo’s career highs seem to come in pairs.
He’s been nominated twice for a Tony and twice for an Oscar. This year he appeared in two blockbuster films: the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” which recently surpassed $1 billion at the box office, and Steven Spielberg’s extraterrestrial thriller “Disclosure Day.”
Now the actor, 56, has drawn another double. Last month he received two Emmy nominations for two wildly disparate parts: Ali, a recovering addict and surrogate father figure to Zendaya’s doomed drug mule in the third and final season of the provocative HBO drama “Euphoria”; and Danny, a dandyish architect in the bittersweet Netflix coming-of-middle-age comedy “The Four Seasons.” It is his second nomination for both roles; he won for “Euphoria” in 2022.
On a recent August afternoon, Domingo, a Philadelphia native, arrived at the midtown Manhattan office of The New York Times in what might be deemed low-key Danny mode (swinging silk-tasseled rope belt, red-bottomed Louboutin brogues in buttery cutout leather) to discuss both characters and his banner year. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Your character in “Euphoria” had been a kind of oracle figure, but he became integral to the action in the final season — he finds Zendaya’s character, Rue, dead from a fentanyl overdose on his couch and eventually kills the crime boss who engineered her death. How did you and the show’s creator, Sam Levinson, envision this story line?
I probably got more information than most because I would go to Sam’s house to pry. I would see on his desk incredible amounts of research, whether it’s about movies from the 1970s, our culture, the disease of addiction.
He gave me the beats of the first episodes. He said: “Yeah, you know how it’s usually narrated by Rue? Episode 7 opens, and Ali is narrating.” And I said, “What?” And he just looked at me, and I said: “Oh. Oh …” It took the wind out of me. He didn’t use the word “revenge,” but he said: “Ali’s trying to find his purpose now after trying to save Rue. He couldn’t save her, so he’s a little rudderless, and then he decides to be of service in a new way. It’s a western, and in westerns, you’re either good or bad. There’s no in between.” So I become “Die Hard With a Vengeance.”
Rue’s death happens mostly offscreen, but it’s still pretty devastating.
When she dies, we didn’t turn her to camera or anything like that. You never see her face, but I could see it. And I could see what the makeup department did. So when I turned her over — and I’m very in tune with my emotions — I thought: Ali shuts off. He does the opposite of me. He goes to zero, and then he wants to get information. It’s very quiet. He’s being very pragmatic about all of it.
What would you say to people who thought “Euphoria” was exploitative or just too much? Levinson and some cast members have undergone real-life struggles with addiction, and there was also the 2023 overdose death of Angus Cloud, who played Fezco in the first two seasons.
I know it’s been complicated for people to digest. They wanted certain stories or didn’t want a certain story. They get angry at Sam because he’s so on the pulse and really challenging people. But you have to go to these great lengths with character and story, and Rue’s character couldn’t possibly survive. She had run her course with her choices in many ways, and there was no other exit for her.
Your role in “The Four Seasons” is a world away from that: a successful architect who has a lovely Italian husband, played by Marco Calvani, and zingy banter with his best friend, the show’s co-creator Tina Fey. Had you played someone like that before?
No, never, which I thought was funny. Because when Tina approached me to play this character and help create it, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I just thought, OK, I want to make sure this queer man who lives in these heteronormative spaces — he has to be a citizen of the world. He’s a little snarky. He’s a little selfish. Yet he can be the life of the party, and I do think he’s kind. But also I think he has more aspects of me in him than I’d like to imagine. I’m a very loosey-goosey, relaxed person, and he’s a bit more tightly wound. But I also love that he’s very acerbic, and he’ll say the thing that no one else would say.
He also has a pretty great wardrobe. How much did you have to do with that?
[Laughs.] I had a lot to do with it.
The “Four Seasons” gang takes lots of trips, and in this second season you all went to Italy. Will you be using your passports again next season?
Yeah, we’re going to Iceland, to New Mexico and I believe some other places. I think the charm of the show is that it feels like a warm hug. It’s just about platonic and romantic relationships and what we’re all navigating.
And I love that people naturally have started to get drawn to me and Tina’s relationship, which is one I don’t think I’ve really seen. It’s very intimate, this deep friendship that’s as close as husband and wife. And we all have them, so it’s nice to represent that.
Between your past work, two shows this year and two movies as big as “Michael” and “Disclosure Day,” can you guess what strangers want to talk about when they approach you?
I used to be able to spot what people know me from. I think I’ve just been in the zeitgeist in many ways, whether it’s in fashion or branding, voice work. I’ve done Super Bowl commercials. But there was a guy in Italy — I’m still curious why he knew it was me. I was standing there just talking to someone, I wasn’t loud or anything. But four stories up, he looks down and he shouts, “Colman Domeengo!” And I’m like: “What? Hi.” He knew the top of my head!
You’ve also become known for throwing parties, like the ones you host every year before the Met Gala. Will you have one for the Emmys?
I don’t know. It’s funny, I threw a party for my first nomination because I just wanted to have a celebration, regardless if I won or not. For a boy who comes from the inner city of West Philadelphia, who had no access into this whole industry, who’s been in this for over 30 years — for me to get to the Emmy stage, even to get to a nomination, is just extraordinary.
I feel like I’m celebrating quieter now. This is a long career, and you meet a lot of people. So if you win, you want to dedicate it to the people who have done right by you — and sometimes the people who didn’t do right by you. Because you know what? I overcame that, I’m here. And what a blessing.
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