Coleman Domingo shares how Barack Obama helped him in playing the lead in 'Rustin'

Colman Domingo has been on the rise in Hollywood after playing some stellar characters on-screen, and his most notable role of Bayard Rustin in the 2023 film "Rustin" has touched a chord with former President of the United States Barack Obama. In the critically acclaimed film, Domingo played the titular character of Rustin, who was the advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and spent his life fighting for racial equality and human rights as an openly gay man of color.

In an episode of TODAY's "Sunday Sitdown" episode with host Willie Geist that aired on January 21, Domingo elaborated on the character of Rustin he played in the biopic, which is available for streaming on Netflix. Playing the civil rights icon who was almost removed from the history he was a part of was a challenge for Domingo even though Obama and his wife Michelle served as the executive producer of the biopic.

"President Barack Obama told me backstage when we were in D.C., 'You know, Colman, there would be no Barack Obama if there was no Bayard Rustin,'" Domingo recalled in the interview. "That's my Barack Obama. I didn't even know that this could happen to me. I didn't know. I just wanted to do good work. And then suddenly, I'm in this space where all the lights are brightly shining on me. It sorta takes my breath away when I think about it, honestly. I don't know if I could dream this big. I almost feel like it's too much. Because it feels so incredible, in a way that I never imagined."

Domingo admits that the growing limelight and recognition can be "overwhelming" at times, but he believes that it is his karma paying off after he did years of hard work and good deeds while serving others. "I think maybe that's hopefully the goodwill that—I don't know, I've been conscious of — that my mother wanted me to do in being of service to other people (and) that it's coming back," he said. "And especially when it comes to Rustin, I mean, this unsung hero, someone who's been hidden in the shadows of history."

"I know that I gave everything I possibly could, all the years in regional theater, off-Broadway, crying on the side of the Public Theater, all of it went into this work," Domingo added. "I'm a 33-year-old overnight success. This is what it looks like." Obama posthumously awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. The film, released on Netflix in November 2023, took place during the weeks leading up to the historic march and explored Rustin's identity as a gay Black man, per The Hollywood Reporter.

"Every so often someone would say, 'Hey, when there's a biopic about Bayard Rustin, this has to be you,'" Domingo continued in the interview. "I've always been exactly who I was as an openly gay man in this industry from the very beginning. I trust that the universe sees me the way I see myself, without limitation and that's something Bayard did." Before snagging the role of Rustin, Domingo was known for his roles in "Euphoria" and the recent screen adaptation of "The Color Purple."

However, his performance as a civil rights activist has turned him into a household name and earned him nominations for the Academy Awards, BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards. Rustin's contribution and story were buried deep in history due to his LGBTQ identity despite him working side-by-side with King Jr., being an active participant during the series of demonstrations in the 1960s to protest against economic inequalities of African Americans in the country, per TODAY. Thankfully, Rustin has been getting his appreciation and recognition lately, which was long overdue.