Colman Domingo is playing two of music’s biggest daddies

2024 is the year of Colman Domingo and his upcoming projects prove it.

Domingo is quickly becoming Hollywood’s biggest star. As an Afro-Latine gay man, The Color Purple and Rustin actor is making waves in an industry in dire need of diverse representation, especially with his historic Oscar nomination this year.

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Well, the brighter his Hollywood star shines the more opportunities are thrown his way. And his latest projects prove he’s truly in his acting bag.

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On Thursday, it was announced that Domingo would join the Michael Jackson biopic cast as Jackson patriarch Joe. Michael, slated for an April 10, 2025 release date, follows the music icon’s meteoric rise to superstardom with Jackson’s nephew Jaafar portraying him in the lead role.

Joe Jackson, while a performer on his own, is best known for managing the careers of his über talented children, including his sons within the Jackson 5, and the solo careers of his daughters, Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet from the 1960s to the 1970s. Joe Jackson’s influence continues to resonate throughout the music industry today and this biopic will encapsulate this.

“I’m excited to be a part of a film that explores both the complicated soul of the legendary Michael Jackson as well as his impact on music and culture as a global icon,” Domingo said in a press release. “Not only am I fortunate to have a rich, complex and flawed character to portray in Joe Jackson, but I also have a front row seat for Jaafar’s incredible transformation. After seeing him in rehearsal, my mind was blown. There is something divine about the way that Jaafar is channeling his late uncle. His talent and embodiment of Michael’s essence is simply on another level.”

But if you thought Domingo was stopping with there, think again. The same day, it was announced that Domingo would be not only star as famed crooner Nat King Cole in his biopic, but that he would also co-write and make his directorial feature film debut.

“I’ve been working on it quietly for a few years,” Domingo said for Variety Awards Circuit Podcast. “It’s something I’m looking forward to putting together with some great partners.”

Cole was a jazz pianist, singer, and actor whose career spanned three decades and garnered numerous accolades after starting in the 1930s. Cole influenced the jazz, pop, and R&B the growth of the music landscape and continued to grace the Billboard charts with songs like “Unforgettable,” “Smile,” and “Let There Be Love.”

While Cole and Jackson have left their marks in the music industry, their legacy is also tied to their children. With Jackson’s tied to managing his famous children and Cole’s daughter, Natalie, becoming an accomplished, award-winning entertainer like her father.

With this trajectory, Colman will be booked and busy for the foreseeable future, especially when you consider Marvel eyeing him to replace Jonathan Majors as big bad Kang. Not to mention, he’s leading the pack, along with Ayo Edebiri, when it comes to NAACP Image Award nominations, an iconic feat for two Black queer actors.

2024 is the year of Colman Domingo.

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