Colman Domingo transforms into civil rights icon Bayard Rustin in new George C. Wolfe film ‘Rustin’
Emmy Award winner Colman Domingo has his biggest film role yet in the upcoming George C. Wolfe film “Rustin.”
On Tuesday, Netflix revealed the first images from the forthcoming biography about civil rights icon Bayard Rustin. The streaming giant plans to release “Rustin” in theaters on November 3 before it becomes available to subscribers on November 17.
Written by Julian Breece and Oscar-winning “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, and based on a story by Breece, “Rustin” is about “the architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington” and “one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known.” As relayed in the official film synopsis, Rustin “challenged authority, never apologized for who
he was, what he believed, or who he desired. And he did not back down. He made history, and in turn, he was forgotten.”
“He was this big thinker and an incredible organizer, and he was influential to not only Dr. [Martin Luther] King, but all these other young people as well,” Domingo told Vanity Fair in an interview published Tuesday. “We owe a lot to Bayard Rustin. I think it’s part of my mission to make sure that hopefully, come this fall, there will never be that question again, who Bayard Rustin was.”
“Rustin” is a huge project for Domingo, the first film in which he’s appeared as a lead. “I knew it was my charge to empower every single person on that set,” he said of that responsibility. “I’m the center of this production, and the way you succeed or fall apart is because of me.”
“Right now, at 53 years old, I can look at the body of my work and I see it’s legacy work,” he added. “It’s work that I know that I feel really good about and the imprint that I’m making in the arts.”
Domingo is an early favorite to land among the 2024 Oscar nominees for Best Actor, at least according to the Gold Derby combined odds.
Wolfe’s last project with Netflix was “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which received five Oscar nominations – including Best Actress for Viola Davis and Best Actor for Chadwick Boseman – and won two awards, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
In addition to Domingo, “Rustin” features an all-star supporting cast that includes fellow “Ma Rainey” actor Glynn Turman, Chris Rock, Audra McDonald, Jeffrey Wright, CCH Pounder, and Aml Ameen as Dr. King. Among the film’s executive producers are Barack and Michelle Obama through their Higher Ground productions shingle.
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