#Colman Domingo on Why He Nearly Left Acting After Losing Out on ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Role

Colman Domingo is opening up about an experience that almost led him to walk away from acting forever.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, the Euphoria actor said during the early days of his career, he had a lot of hope following his audition for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Domingo wanted the role of a maître d’ at a Black-owned nightclub.

“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.”

The Emmy-winning actor even went all out for the audition, wearing a tuxedo and showing off his singing and tap-dancing abilities for producers. After, his agent called him and said everyone at Boardwalk Empire loved his audition, but it’s what he said his agent said next that didn’t sit right with him.

Following a callback, the actor recalled his agent telling him that the show’s historical researcher reminded producers that the maître d’s in those nightclubs were typically light-skinned, and Domingo was not, so Boardwalk Empire passed on him for the role.

“That’s when I lost my mind,” Domingo recalled feeling. “I can’t take it anymore, I think this is going to kill me.”

But, more than a decade later, Domingo has learned a lot and changed how he goes about auditioning, which helped him land lead roles in films such as Rustin and The Color Purple.

“I became an actor that was ‘offer-only’ probably sooner than the industry thought I should have,” he admitted. “But I decided I have a body of work. You can go and look at it, you can ask other directors about me, and you can make me the offer or not.”

Domingo is now reveling in his recent success and doesn’t want to “miss this moment,” adding, “All the films, all the lights, all the accolades, all the beautiful critical responses — I want to bathe in all of that right now.”