- 14 hours ago
Hot Ones - Season 29 - Episode 08: Colman Domingo Escapes the Jaws of Darkness While Eating Spicy Wing
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00:00It's coming in. Yeah. Yeah, okay. It's starting to smack me in the face. Just a little bit.
00:13Hey, what's going on, everybody? For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans, and you're watching Hot Ones.
00:17It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings. And today we're joined by Coleman Domingo.
00:21He's an actor, playwright, and director coming off of back-to-back Academy Award nominations for Best Actor
00:25and into an incredibly busy year, from the final season of Euphoria, which premieres on HBO April 12th,
00:30to the return of the four seasons on Netflix later this spring,
00:33to the Spielberg-directed sci-fi film Disclosure Day in theaters June 12th,
00:37and finally, he plays the Jackson family patriarch in the long-awaited biopic Michael,
00:41which is set to hit theaters on April 24th.
00:43Coleman Domingo, welcome to the show.
00:45Wow, that was good, man. I sound really busy.
00:49Well, you are very busy. Thanks for taking the time. I know that you're booked.
00:52What's going through your head as you prepare to take on the Hot Ones gauntlet?
00:56I know that you do have a particular fondness for condiments.
00:59I love condiments, like, dearly.
01:01Like, I'd marry condiments if I wasn't married already.
01:03My whole side of fridge is filled with condiments,
01:06and I'm not—I think I'm feeling a little bit more confident, though,
01:10than I was maybe an hour ago.
01:12I was—I got really nervous. I don't know why.
01:38It's already on the—oh, on this one.
01:41Oh, good. Okay. Garlic Delight.
01:47Mmm, that's nice.
01:53That's good. It's a delight in my mouth.
01:56So, the music in this film spans some of the most joyful recordings ever made,
02:00from ABC to Billie Jean to Thriller.
02:02Was there a performance sequence that was most mind-blowing to watch on set as a spectator?
02:07Oh, man, there was.
02:09I would say when he does the Motown 25 performance,
02:12the first time you see the moonwalk, Jafar is a revelation.
02:16I mean, you've never seen anything like it.
02:18I mean, he goes frame by frame and beat by beat
02:22to really be really exacting on Michael's dance,
02:25and that's extraordinary.
02:27I feel good.
02:28Are you ready to move on here to wing number two?
02:30Sure, why not?
02:31All right, so up next is a pickled garlic sriracha here at the two spot.
02:34I like pickles, I like garlic, and I like sriracha.
02:37So, here we go.
02:43That's good.
02:44That's good.
02:49That's nice.
02:50It's light.
02:51They're trying to psych me out.
02:54You're like, oh, we're going to do a little dance with it.
02:56It's pretty good.
02:57So, I've heard you refer to yourself as a child of the theater,
03:00and then talk about these storied institutions,
03:03like the public theater, downtown Manhattan as church.
03:06Do you have a favorite moment in the day-to-day of a stage production?
03:10Like, is there more magic in the pre-show buzz or the curtain call for you?
03:14Hmm.
03:16I think the pre-show buzz is great because I feel like you're about to go take a leap of
03:20faith
03:21with a bunch of people who are here to be, to experience something honest and raw and exciting.
03:28Those, you get a lot of nerves.
03:30Sometimes you're singing with your castmates.
03:32You're getting in the mood of it so you can prepare yourself for the audience.
03:36It's just amazing.
03:37Reflecting back on early performances at places like the Brooklyn Rep or Campo Santo or the California Shakespeare Theater.
03:44Wow!
03:44You went way back.
03:46Is there a production that you look back on and think of as most impactful or paradigm-shifting in your
03:52journey as an actor?
03:52Oh, yeah, for sure.
03:53It's Passing Strange.
03:55It's a show that I did that was a co-production between Berkeley Rep and the public theater.
03:59And anything that I've ever done on Broadway actually started out in a regional theater
04:03and with some wily way of figuring out we're going to make some crazy art.
04:07And then it becomes commercialized in some way.
04:09So, Passing Strange was that for me.
04:10It was a show that came to me literally right after I lost my mother.
04:15And it was the art to sort of like, I'd say, it saved my life.
04:19It gave me somewhere to put that heartache.
04:21It gave me somewhere to put all the characters that were inside of me to build a company.
04:26And we really just like, we stood on the edge creating a new musical.
04:32And then it moved to Broadway.
04:33And then it became successful there.
04:35And then Spike Lee filmed it.
04:37And so it's one of those special things where I'm like, oh, this absolutely changed all of our lives.
04:46White hot mustard sauce.
04:50Oh, that smells so good.
04:52Taking a hit.
04:53You don't know if it's a connoisseur.
04:54It's a wine.
04:55I can tell.
04:56This is a sauce man right here.
05:01Oh, that's really good.
05:04Hits.
05:06That's nice.
05:07That's really nice.
05:09And sounds like we're three for three here with the sauces, like in your wheelhouse.
05:12That's good.
05:13And it has a little kick.
05:14Mm-hmm.
05:14It has a little kick that comes in a little later.
05:17And let's not underestimate the cumulative effect here.
05:20You know what I mean?
05:21We're three down.
05:22Mm-hmm.
05:23We're all starting to close in, but nothing we can't handle.
05:25No, we're doing good.
05:26We're doing good.
05:27What's the experience like for an actor when you're playing a hero and a villain almost simultaneously?
05:33Like in a year when you go from Mr. and the Color Purple to then Bayard Rustin and Rustin,
05:39does that create like a kind of Stanislavski method vertigo in you as an actor?
05:43Does it really not work like that?
05:45You know what?
05:45I don't know.
05:46But I feel like I know how to tap into those things in very strange ways.
05:50So I constantly have that in my career, which is wild.
05:54But also that speaks to the work that I do.
05:56I keep challenging myself.
05:57And so for me, I know that heroes and villains live in every human being.
06:02And I want to see how I can make them the most complicated versions of themselves.
06:06So I'm game.
06:07And then as a talk show host, I'm just curious how you built out your character as a dystopian
06:12game show host in The Running Man.
06:14Like, was there anything that you were particularly drawing on to find like the cynicism in hosting?
06:18Yeah, I went through down the rabbit's hole of like show hosts.
06:23So I went through, whether it was Steve Harvey or whether it was a talk show host, it could
06:26have been Oprah, it could have been, you know, Wendy Williams, whatever.
06:29And then eventually I was like, what kind of show host or talk show host is this person?
06:33And then literally the day before I started rehearsals, they just released the Jerry Springer
06:39documentary.
06:40I started watching it.
06:41I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
06:43I think I have something here.
06:45Here's someone who is absolutely stirring people up and their ugly selves and then feels
06:52like, I have nothing to do with it.
06:54I sit back.
06:55I'm chill.
06:55I didn't do anything.
06:56Someone who can rest easy, but then also stir it all up.
07:01And I thought, well, that's who he is.
07:02It says in the script that I'm the most famous show host in the world.
07:06And I thought, well, what does that look like?
07:08So I wanted to create that character who was just like rich and fabulous and a little showy,
07:14but also someone who, you know, he sleeps well at night.
07:17Yeah.
07:18There's no blood on my hands.
07:19No blood on his hands at all.
07:21Exactly.
07:26Oh, that smells good.
07:27Oh my God.
07:29When I walked in here, it just smelled like hot sauce for like everywhere.
07:32Yeah.
07:32Yeah.
07:32You know, that's, that's an aggregate, you know, but once you start taking them out piece
07:35by piece, you know, a lot of beautiful colors in here.
07:37Hmm.
07:38That's good.
07:40A little smoky.
07:41Mm-hmm.
07:41Mm-hmm.
07:42Peachy.
07:43And then I think it has that kick at the end.
07:45You know, you're an experienced sauceman.
07:47So, you know, sometimes they can be a little deceiving at first and then.
07:51Exactly.
07:51Mm-hmm.
07:52I think I'm doing all right.
07:53You're doing great.
07:54Yeah.
07:54I'm judging myself right now.
07:56Like, how am I doing?
07:58It feels good.
07:59You're doing great.
08:00Take it from me.
08:02So whenever I hear you talk about food in an interview,
08:04it's clear that you're someone who knows exactly what you're talking about.
08:07If you could travel at hyperspeed for breakfast in London, lunch in Philadelphia,
08:13and dinner in LA, how would you break down like your three perfect meals in a food day?
08:18Oh, that's good.
08:20Breakfast in London.
08:22I think I would just go for a simple English breakfast.
08:25You know, very simple.
08:26You know, with the beans and all that good stuff.
08:28Lunch in Philadelphia.
08:29Oh, man.
08:30I would go for a messy, nasty cheesesteak with like some...
08:34Ishkabibble?
08:35I would go to Ishkabibble.
08:36That's my jam.
08:37I know.
08:38Ishkabibble is everything.
08:39It's messy.
08:40It's greasy.
08:41You can either give it a provolone or whiz.
08:43I always change it up.
08:44My order is with salt, pepper, ketchup, pickles, and sweet peppers.
08:48Sometimes I get fried onions.
08:49It all depends on what I like.
08:50But I love a good cheesesteak.
08:52And then dinner.
08:53I would go to LA.
08:55And I would go to...
08:57You know what?
08:58There's a really good place called Clark's Seafood.
09:00And it's fantastic.
09:02It's just really good oysters.
09:03I love a good oyster.
09:04An oyster always tastes like a celebration to me.
09:07Yeah, I agree.
09:07I celebrate with oysters every birthday.
09:12This one, I feel like it's going to mess me up a little bit.
09:15Dangerous.
09:16Dangerous smelling.
09:17It does.
09:18You know, because I feel like your body knows it chemically.
09:20You know what your body likes and what it doesn't like.
09:23And I'm like, I don't know about this.
09:25My brain's like, be careful.
09:28Let's see.
09:36There's a little chicken on there blowing fire out of its mouth.
09:39I know.
09:40All right.
09:40Solid disclaimer.
09:44Don't give it to your chickens.
09:46Is it true that you choose a unique scent for each character you play?
09:50And if so, can you talk me through how you would define maybe a scent for, like, Victor Strand in
09:56Fear of the Walking Dead?
09:58Like, can you talk us through the process?
09:59So good, man.
10:01Not that I'm surprised, but I'm like, you've done a deep dive.
10:04I love scents.
10:05Well, I'm going to have you eat these scorching hot chicken wings.
10:07I got to meet you halfway in some way.
10:08I love scents.
10:09For Victor Strand, because I was in the apocalypse, I don't think I used that much scents with him.
10:15Do you have any foundational advice for how one can find their own signature scent?
10:19Like, are there certain personality traits or style proclivities that make somebody more, say, like, woodsy than citrusy?
10:25I feel like you can do a character analysis and say, oh, you're more like this.
10:29I bet you're like this as a person.
10:31Like, I like fresh, grassy.
10:33I like a little oud.
10:34I like, um, so the scents that I love are, like, a little playful.
10:38And, um, but also I'm not afraid of floral either.
10:41Like, I love a good gardenia.
10:43I love, like, something heavy, but not rose.
10:45Rose is...
10:46What's wrong with rose?
10:47Rose, there's nothing wrong with rose, but rose you just got to be very careful with because it can be
10:51overpowering.
10:51It could dominate anything.
10:53You can't really layer rose.
10:54You know, I like to layer.
10:55I will wear, like, three or four scents at one time.
10:58I put a little right here.
10:59I have something different here, and I may put something different on the back.
11:02Whoa!
11:02So, you know, you can smell me when I'm leaving.
11:05Yeah.
11:08You got a full three-act structure here.
11:10Exactly, exactly, exactly.
11:18Homegrown hell.
11:19Okay.
11:21Sauce leopard.
11:22Hitting it with this...
11:23Oh, whoa, whoa.
11:24Now, calm down.
11:26This is...
11:26You're going to put that on you?
11:27Okay, there we go.
11:30Wow.
11:30Okay, this is...
11:38This is another one that I think, a couple seconds down the line.
11:41Oh, wow.
11:42Okay.
11:42Yeah.
11:43It sits.
11:45Okay.
11:46Oh, wow.
11:47Okay, wait.
11:50That's a sneaky little...
11:51You got to watch him.
11:52Oh.
11:54Yeah.
11:57So maybe this is a naive question, but is there anything uniquely challenging about a trained
12:02actor playing an amateur one like you did in Sing Sing?
12:05Like, do you have to unlearn things?
12:07Are you actually acting better because you're capturing a raw version of the form?
12:11It's just, from the outside looking in, it just seems like such a galaxy brain endeavor.
12:16You know what you have to do?
12:16You have to make a decision on the kind of actor that you think that your character is.
12:22Is he a good actor or not?
12:23And I made a choice that he was fine.
12:28I was like, yeah, you can make a choice.
12:31I'm playing an actor.
12:31I'm like, he's really good at what he does.
12:33I'm like, he's fine.
12:35He's good enough.
12:36Because I also feel...
12:38Wow.
12:41Something happened.
12:43It's the road we're on going forward, right?
12:45It just came back.
12:46It's just like...
12:51It just hit something in there.
12:53It was like, I'm not done.
12:57It was saying, you could talk, but I'm not done.
12:59But I think that you really have to make a decision.
13:01And my co-stars, I love them.
13:03They were all men who went through the Rehabilitation of the Arts program.
13:06And they were good actors.
13:08But I think that they had a rawness to them, which was also their appeal.
13:12They should not have been expected to be Meryl Streep.
13:16But they had the integrity and the heart to achieve greatness in that way.
13:31Ooh.
13:32Yeah.
13:33Funky.
13:33Who's Funky?
13:35Yeah, well, see, because it's in the Possessives.
13:37There is a Funky in there somewhere, you know?
13:41This one's kind of the one that knocks me back a little bit.
13:45Ooh.
13:47Ooh.
13:49Ooh.
13:50Ooh.
13:51Ooh.
13:54Ooh.
13:55Yeah.
13:57Okay.
13:59This is, uh, yeah, this one is, um, to be desired.
14:04Yeah, this is, uh, this is, uh, this is hitting.
14:07Yeah.
14:08Yeah.
14:08It's hitting a little bit.
14:09We're up in the clouds at this point.
14:11Yeah.
14:11So you just try to get some breaths.
14:14It's tough in this altitude.
14:15Yeah.
14:16You just saw it.
14:16Yeah.
14:16Find it.
14:17Find it.
14:18Right there.
14:18Right there.
14:19What's your approach to handling a director's note that feels off base to you?
14:23Like, are there any, uh, rules of engagement when it comes to onset diplomacy?
14:29I think you have to, I know that I've had a practice of, let's see if there's a note
14:35from a director that you're just not sure of.
14:38Sometimes I think the job is to just, like, look and say, hmm, okay, great, got it.
14:41And then you go and do what you're supposed to do.
14:43But I think it's also important to try something.
14:46Why not?
14:47Try it.
14:48You don't know what's in your head.
14:50And same here.
14:50But I will always ask as well as an actor, say, can I try one or I'll always get one
14:55for me if I want to try something really wild and off-putting in some way, you know?
15:05You did a great job of just eloquently nailing that answer and then we just kind of let it
15:11out, you know?
15:12Yeah, exactly.
15:13Just lose a notch on the belt.
15:15That's it.
15:16It's zen, man.
15:17That's right.
15:17As the actor, I mean, I just go to a zen place, a quiet place, yeah, and reset.
15:22Well, you know, you're really going to need it for this next one because we have to bomb
15:28beyond insanity.
15:29Yeah, I've seen that before.
15:36It doesn't even smell right.
15:39Okay, just, all right.
15:56You were saying?
15:57Yeah.
16:01Look at that actor in you.
16:02Look at that zen.
16:03Look at you finding the balance right now.
16:05Listen, I've worked with zombies, I've played Joe Jackson, listen, I've, you know, listen.
16:10No fear.
16:10No fear.
16:11You just, you've got to go for it.
16:12You're like, this is tough, but I've been on 16-hour sets that are tougher than this.
16:17That's right.
16:18Woo!
16:18But you know what?
16:18As far as press goes, as far as interviews go.
16:21It's coming in.
16:22Yeah.
16:29Do you have any foundational tips for aspiring actors when it comes to taking proper headshots?
16:36I think I don't even know what you just said.
16:38I think, um, I think, listen.
16:46First of all, you should always try to dress like the job you want to get.
16:50Plain and simple.
16:51You want to just show yourself.
16:53You don't want to do like, back when I was coming up, you had to have a shot with some
16:56glasses hanging from your mouth, showing you you're smart, looking at a watch, you're
17:02concerned about time, and it's something when you're a thug wearing a leather jacket, you
17:06know, like me, trying to look like a thug.
17:08Because I'm a tough guy.
17:10A tough guy.
17:10But you needed to have like four.
17:11That was the thing.
17:12And that was back in the day when you had to staple the headshots together.
17:15We don't do that.
17:16Thank God.
17:16But I think you just always have to present yourself as like, really, in the way that
17:20the job that you want to get.
17:22What's the biggest mistake young actors make when picking an audition monologue?
17:26Like, are there any lessons that you had to learn the hard way?
17:29There is actually.
17:30I would, I've gone into colleges and I would do sort of monologue slams.
17:35I would ask a student to show me a monologue that presents you and what you want to do.
17:41I remember we had this one time, it was at SCAD in Savannah.
17:45And this young woman presented with a monologue from Neil Lebut's Fat Pig.
17:51And she was a big girl.
17:52And then I said, so why did you choose that monologue?
17:55And she said, well, I think that this is the way that industry will see me.
17:58And then I just said it.
18:00And I didn't know that it would lead to this sort of a reawakening.
18:07I said, well, how do you see yourself?
18:09I said, because when you walked in, when I talked to you, I saw a queen.
18:13I saw Juliet.
18:14I saw all these things.
18:16And I said, so don't limit yourself.
18:18And she burst into tears.
18:20Everyone burst into tears.
18:20I burst into tears.
18:22But I realized that that was part of, I knew that that was my journey.
18:24It was like, in order for me and any young person to say, how do I want the world to
18:28perceive me?
18:30You got to perceive yourself first.
18:35I feel above my lip, like Whitney Houston, how she used to sweat.
18:41Oh, man.
18:42I know.
18:42That smells like it hurts.
18:47Oh, why a big piece?
18:49No.
18:50You know how the last one was super hot and then had no redeeming culinary qualities to speak of?
18:56Yeah.
18:57It's almost like the worst is over.
18:59That's what I'm talking about.
19:00This is actually good.
19:01I'm good.
19:02What you got for me?
19:04This is good.
19:06Which pre-fame job do you remember most fondly?
19:08Working customer service at Macy's, slinging drinks at the 55 Bar, or your time as an aerial performer in the
19:14circus?
19:15Man, you do good.
19:19Sling and drinks at 55 Bar.
19:21I worked at this famous jazz bar in the West Village.
19:24It's no longer there.
19:26But, dude, I've got to listen to the best jazz musicians from around the world every single night.
19:30You know, I'm a people person.
19:31I think that was the best side hustle gig for me.
19:34I've bartended for 15 years.
19:36From Nash Bridges to True Crime, Law & Order, and its various spinoffs, is there a bit or guest role
19:42from early on in your career that you think of as, like, the most interesting character to play, even if
19:47the screen time and lines were limited?
19:49Oh, yeah.
19:50I know exactly what that is.
19:51It was this role.
19:53I wish I remembered his name, but it was on Nash Bridges.
19:56And I played this criminal who kidnapped Don Johnson's daughter.
20:02He busts in to get me after he finally finds out it's me.
20:07And I'm bench pressing in a Coogee sweater.
20:12It's the weirdest thing you've ever seen in your life.
20:14If I'm dressed in, like, one of those Bill Cosby Coogee sweaters, and I'm bench pressing, then I'm like, he
20:19busts in.
20:20I'm like, oh, he's, he's, I throw the weights off.
20:22And then, and then I run towards a, a, a door.
20:30And he kicks me in the butt through the door.
20:33Then he turns me around in this heavy-ass Coogee sweater.
20:36And he's like, where is she?
20:37I'm like, I don't know.
20:38He's like, where is she?
20:38And he smacks me.
20:39Whatever.
20:41And I just remember, that was the weirdest thing in the world.
20:43They usually didn't cast people each season.
20:46Once you did, did that show.
20:47That was it for you.
20:48But I kept coming in.
20:49I was like, with a hump on my back or something.
20:51I don't know.
20:52But I just kept transforming.
20:53And they never, they never found out it was me.
20:56Mark of a great actor.
20:58All right.
20:58All right, Coleman.
21:00What is this?
21:05Last dab.
21:09Why pinky up?
21:10I mean, what am I doing?
21:11I'm like, I'm like, what am I doing?
21:15You're a sophisticated.
21:17Yeah, why is that?
21:18You're sophisticated, that's why.
21:19You're sophisticated.
21:21Here we go.
21:22Last dab.
21:23Ready?
21:24Cheers.
21:32And with that, Coleman Domingo, the wings of death are behind us.
21:37Pinky out.
21:39Delicate napkin touch.
21:41Yeah.
21:42All right.
21:42And, you know.
21:45I paint shots of this out of my mouth for no reason.
21:48This has been a wonderfully spicy journey through your acting career.
21:52And I've heard you talk about how theater trained you to find the truth, even in the most extreme of
21:58circumstances.
21:58And you know what?
22:00There's nothing realer than what we just did, eating ten scorching hot chicken wings.
22:05Uh-huh.
22:05Is there a monologue or a line from a play that comes to mind that best distills the kind of
22:12truth that you're feeling right now?
22:15For all that I could ever read, I could ever hear by Taylor History.
22:20The course of true love never did run smooth, but either it was different than blood, or else misgraphed in
22:25respect of years, or else it stood upon the choice of friends.
22:27Or, if there were a sympathy in choice, war, death, or sickness did lay siege to it, making it momentenny
22:32as a sound, swift as a shadow, short as any dream, brief as the lightning in the collied night that
22:36in the spleen unfolds both heaven and earth.
22:39An air a man has power to say behold.
22:43The jaws of darkness do devour it up.
22:46So quick, bright things come to confusion.
22:50The jaws of darkness stood no chance, and look at you, Coleman Domingo, taking on the wings of death, living
22:56to tell the tale, and now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
23:00This camera, this camera, this camera, let the people know what you have going on in your life.
23:04Uh, what?
23:08I have, um, ooh.
23:10Ooh, okay, hi.
23:13My name is Coleman Domingo.
23:14I have a few things going on besides that pain shooting around my mouth.
23:20It's like dancing around, doing figure eights and stuff.
23:24I am, um, I have a, uh, second season of, uh, four seasons coming out on Netflix.
23:31And then I also have the third season of Euphoria coming out.
23:36And then I have, uh, a little biopic about Michael Jackson called Michael coming out.
23:41So I really hope to, uh, see you in the movie theaters on the small screen.
23:46Mm-hmm.
23:47Ah, sweet.
23:49Jesus.
23:51Oh.
23:53It keeps going.
23:56Oh, I did it.
23:57I did it without, that was my goal, to see if I can get through it.
24:00It was...
24:01No water, no milk?
24:03No.
24:04I was like...
24:05See, I'm crazy like that.
24:07I feel like I'm putting myself...
24:07If Will Forte can do it, I can do it.
24:09You know, Will Forte.
24:09Yeah, because Will Forte did it, and I went to set, and I'm like, you're a maniac.
24:15Thank you so much.
24:16Dude, this is great.
24:18You had a great time.
24:19I had a great time, Sean.
24:20This is great, man.
24:21Thank you so much.
24:23Ooh.
24:27Hey, what's going on, Hot Ones fans?
24:29This is Sean Evans, and I want to introduce you to the new kids on the block.
24:33Say hello to the season 29 Hot Ones hot sauce lineup.
24:37And if you want a chance to taste the show, it's easy.
24:41Just visit HotOnes.com.
24:43HotOnes.com.
24:44That's HotOnes.com to get your hands on the season 29 Hot Ones hot sauce lineup.
24:50Keep milk on the ready.
24:52Ice cream not included.
24:53But most importantly, I believe in you.
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