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Colman Domingo sat down on set of his The Hollywood Reporter cover shoot to chat about his upcoming film 'Disclosure Day,' directed by Steven Spielberg, the success of his film 'Michael,' his work on 'Euphoria' and his journey to success in Hollywood.

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Transcript
00:00I think the truth about humanity, love, and listening, I think those are truths, actually.
00:08I think that's where we are really, and I think what Disclosure Day really is about, is it about welcoming
00:14in another truth.
00:16Hi, I'm Coleman Domingo, and we're behind the scenes of my Hollywood Reporter cover shoot.
00:27My favorite piece of direction that I got from Steven Spielberg, I don't even know if it was a piece
00:33of direction.
00:34I think it was in my first audition that I had for him years ago, where he got behind the
00:40camera, and he said to me,
00:42Your face is so expressive. It just keeps changing. That's a good thing.
00:48And so I know that when I'm on a set, he loves the story that I tell behind my eyes,
00:54and he's watching,
00:55because he knows that I'm always trying to tell the most complicated story, and it will change from moment to
01:01moment.
01:01And so I think that that's something, maybe it's encouragement that he gave me, that I knew that was everlasting.
01:25When I started on Euphoria, I just knew it was such incredible work that I had not seen on the
01:31page before.
01:32And I thought that as I got to know Sam Levinson, I did a movie with him called Assassination Nation,
01:37and I thought he was one of the most inventive and interesting directors I've worked with,
01:41and also Marcel, his director of photography.
01:44And I thought, well, whatever they make is going to be incredible, and I want to be a part of
01:47it.
01:48And then they were inviting this very young, interesting, gorgeous, talented cast to be an incredible ensemble together,
01:57led by Zendaya, of course.
02:00And I didn't know it would hit the zeitgeist like it did, but now it makes sense to me.
02:04It makes sense. Everyone's game. They're hardworking.
02:07But Sam lays out a playground of language and skill, and he really believes you can do the triple axel.
02:14So he sets up the room for you in that way.
02:27I think people are responding to our Michael film in a way that is extraordinary,
02:33because it really is a celebration of Michael.
02:36It's a celebration of his artistic impact, which one cannot deny.
02:40But it also has become a community event, that people are united because of the music,
02:44and they want to have this celebration of music and of life,
02:48and what his lyrics have been for people and touch people.
02:52I think that's why it's extraordinarily successful right now.
03:03I think I've set myself up to feel even more freedom as I've gotten more successful and more in the
03:11public eye.
03:11I think the genesis of my work, I come from the theater, and I come from, like, small professional theaters,
03:18where I was making and creating edgy work of my own.
03:23Then I was taking risks with theater companies, whether it's San Francisco or New York.
03:28And I feel like that's something that I've applied for the rest of my career,
03:31where I feel like I have to take a leap of faith.
03:33I have to feel like I'm not sure how to do it.
03:35And I put myself in that situation where I feel like, oh, I don't want a perfection in my work.
03:40I want to interrogate the work and make it new every time.
03:43And by doing that, you've got to take a leap of faith, and you've got to liberate yourself.
03:47I think we're all journeymen, and I think that we have to make agreements early on in our careers
03:54to know that we are craftsmen and journeymen, and you have to build, you have to create work.
04:01You can't sit by and just audition.
04:03I'm always telling my colleagues, it's just not, it doesn't make sense to me,
04:07especially in this day and age where you can craft work and make work in any way.
04:11I've never been more empowered than when I started to create my own work.
04:14And then the other work, the auditions and all, that would be icing on the cake.
04:19I became a playwright out of necessity because I wanted the work to be there.
04:22I became a director out of necessity because I wanted to stay close to the work.
04:26You know what I mean?
04:27I became a producer because I was concerned about how the work was being made.
04:30So I think the idea of sitting back in one lane is just not as useful.
04:34So that means you're just waiting for the phone to ring.
04:37So instead of waiting for the phone to ring, why don't you write your own number?
04:52So that means you're just waiting for the phone to ring.
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