The actor Colman Domingo had recently finished back-to-back shoots for the films “Rustin” and “The Color Purple.” He was not looking to star in a series, let alone a series in which the main character seemingly never stops talking. “I’ll be very honest,” he said. “I was trying to rest.” But when his agent sent him the scripts for “The Madness,” he couldn’t help himself.
“I thought, Yeah, this is just too good,” he said.
This was on a recent evening, and Domingo had joined a video call to discuss “The Madness,” an eight-episode thriller that premieres Thursday on Netflix. Domingo stars as Muncie Daniels, a CNN pundit who has become increasingly alienated from his family, his community and even his own beliefs. When a white supremacist is murdered and Muncie is falsely accused of the crime, he goes on the run, embarking on a journey that reconnects him with what he values. (It also connects him to television’s current favorite villain: a shady billionaire.)
A suspenseful series, set largely in Philadelphia and the Poconos, “The Madness” is a showcase for Domingo and a meditation on the dangers of misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories, though some of those theories turn out to be true. Domingo, who is currently shooting a new project in Beacon, N.Y. (he is bad at resting), joined the showrunners Stephen Belber, based in New York, and V.J. Boyd, who called in from Los Angeles, to discuss conflict, repair and why cable news is never the answer. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
Why did you want Colman?
STEPHEN BELBER I’ve been a fan since his theater days. I wanted this weirdly beautiful blend of grace and force that Colman brings to everything he touches. It was what Muncie required. There’s a certain bombast to him, but there’s a certain vulnerability. And then remembering that Colman is from West Philly, the universe was speaking to us.
V.J. BOYD It was very important that we had someone who had great presence, because this is a show where the protagonist is front and center.
And Colman, why did you want to do the series?
COLMAN DOMINGO I had questions about our society, about who’s pulling the strings, about disinformation, about why we’re so divided. All these questions that I had, they were uncovering. They were saying, “Let’s bring this to the forefront.” I wanted to be the instrument. I understand this character deeply.
When we meet Muncie Daniels, what does he value?
BELBER His father was a grass-roots activist back in the West Philly of the ’80s. Eventually he shot a redlining landlord. For Muncie, coming out of that, he formulated himself as a very put-together man who’s going to make a very distinct choice to work from within the system.
DOMINGO Muncie lives in this landscape where he’s sometimes not Black enough or too Black. It all depends on what room he’s in. He code switches all day long. But at some point he starts to say, “Who am I actually? What am I really about? What do I really believe in? What’s really animating me?” Once he acknowledges that, then he can fix the things inside him; he can fix his family; he can fix his relationship to his community.
Where does he fall on the political spectrum?
DOMINGO I think he’s a bit centrist. His father was more radicalized, but I don’t think he’s that. I’m sure he’s voted for Jill Stein once or twice. He’s probably someone who could go either way.
BELBER He likes being a contrarian and not getting boxed in. He’ll take on any argument for the fun of it.
BOYD If you’re someone who saw your father dragged away by their commitment to a cause, you’re probably going to be like, I’m going to be more thoughtful about things. I’m going to be the adult in the room. Eventually, you can find yourself unable to commit to a point of view.
What are his strengths and what are his weaknesses?
DOMINGO He can talk to anyone. He can have a conversation with someone very blue collar and someone very blue blood. But I think he forgot who he is. I know guys like this who think that their station in life, their education, their celebrity trumps being Black. He has access and he can walk into spaces, but he almost forgets he’s Black doing that. That’s a tremendous weakness and what gets him in trouble.
What does he learn from this experience?
DOMINGO He realizes that he was just a circus barker and it is time for him to unplug. I studied journalism at Temple University. I wanted to be a journalist. News was about the facts. Then at some point, news became a lot of other things. He’s been part of that noise. He starts to feel a bit like a whore.
BELBER I was a journalist for three or four years. I hit a dead end in terms of the noise. You’re not contributing at the emotional level that we as artists aspire to. Muncie realizes that the noise is actually damaging his soul.
BOYD Steve and I talked about that a lot because Netflix would challenge us, rightfully, like, What are you trying to say about misinformation? What are you trying to say about the madness? Everything that Colman said makes perfect sense, because we are all confronted by the madness. It’s very easy to think, If I can get famous and be rich and be on TV, then I can say something and people will listen. But that may not be right for you. You may feel like a hack.
I’m going to try not take any of this personally. So let’s define “the madness.” What is it?
DOMINGO It’s this whole world we’re living in with everything coming at you left and right. It’s this flood of not knowing what to believe, exacerbated by the fact that we have access to the sum of human knowledge in our pocket. And we are being thrown pieces of information about parts of the world and groups of people we will never have contact with. Muncie is trying to make sense of it; it’s maddening to do it.
What does it mean for the show to arrive now? Would it have played differently if the presidential election had gone a different way?
BELBER There’s going to be a sense of fatigue. I think a lot of people are turning off their TVs, in terms of cable news, in favor of escapism. So maybe we have that going for us.
DOMINGO I think that people want a character who’s trying to get some answers. They want to get behind something. Muncie is an Everyman. He’s sent down the rabbit hole to uncover some truths about the world that he lives in. He’s got to get out there in these uncomfortable spaces. He’s got to take that journey. I feel like people want to get on board with that.
People say to me, “What am I going to do?” I tell people, “Get out. Get up and keep going.” Muncie is that man. He’s going to get up and keep going whether people want him to or not.
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