Colman Domingo stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday to discuss the new film Sing Sing, which centers on a group of incarcerated men who participate in a program called Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). In the movie, they put on plays together and, through this creative endeavor, find communal and individual healing.
In the film, Domingo plays “Divine G,” a participant in the program. “I’ve always learned that you’ve got to give a little bit of your soul in your work,” Domingo says of his approach to acting. “That film, in particular, I wanted to give even more than my soul because it was about humanizing these men who are incarcerated and they’re doing the work through this RTA program to heal themselves.”
Many of the actors who appeared in Sing Sing were formerly incarcerated themselves and RTA program members during that time.
“I wanted to take them from where they were,” Domingo said of working with his co-stars. “It’s not only rehabilitating yourself but rehabilitating a community as well.” Sing Sing will be in theaters nationwide on August 23. Watch the full interview now.
In the A24 drama, Colman Domingo plays Divine G, a man imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit. He finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men, including a wary newcomer (Clarence Maclin), in this stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, starring an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.
Colman Domingo has been nominated for an Oscar, BAFTA, Tony-nominated, Critics Choice Awards, Independent Spirit, Gotham Awards, Lawrence Olivier, Drama Desk, Drama League and NAACP Image, and Black Reel Award. He was recently seen as “Mister” in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical The Color Purple.
Domingo is known to Broadway audiences for acclaimed turns in The Scottsboro Boys, Passing Strange, Chicago, and as book writer of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. He has also co-produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated play Fat Ham.