The question is asked without notice: “Would you like to speak to Colman Domingo?” » Here, a little context is necessary. Invited to Washington to interview George C. Wolfe, the director of Rustinbiography of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, the critic of Duty is about to proceed when he is told that the star of the film is also available. The actors’ strike having ended the same day, the latter can resume the promotional exercise.
In this specific case, it is all the more fortunate that Colman Domingo is now one of the favorites in the race for the Oscar for best actor for his splendid interpretation of the organizer of the March on Washington, during which Martin In 1963, Luther King delivered his famous speech: I have a dream…”.
The film is produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, with a screenplay by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black.
“The first thing that struck me, and seduced me, in the script that I was given was that it was an intimate look at Rustin,” explains Colman Domingo during the impromptu face-to-face.
“There was an almost minimalist dimension, very beautiful, in this foray into the life of an activist, of an organizer, who is unaware that he is writing a page in History. »
History with a capital H which relegated Bayard Rustin to the margins for a long time because of his homosexuality. In this regard, like the activist who died in 1987, Colman Domingo and George C. Wolfe are both openly gay.
As for the chances of the actor, appreciated in particular in the series Euphoria and the movie Zola, to land an Oscar nomination, they are very real, especially since the Toronto International Film Festival. Indeed, Colman Domingo received the TIFF Tribute Award in the performer category: a distinction which often preceded an Oscar victory, among others for Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye/Tammy Faye’s eyes), Anthony Hopkins (The Father/The father) and Joaquin Phoenix (Joker).
That being said, during the filming, Colman Domingo did not have his head in laurels.
“There is the reality of people who knew and loved Bayard Rustin, and who are still in this world… I think especially of his life partner, Walter Naegle, who is portrayed in the film, or even of Rachelle Horowitz and Joyce Ladner: I wanted to do justice to Rustin on their behalf. Beyond the critical praise, it was their opinion that mattered to me more than anything. I had to succeed in summoning Rustin’s indomitable spirit, his essence, his soul, for Walter, for Rachelle and for Joyce. Receiving their approval gave me wings. »
More focus
Colman Domingo continues, the narrative approach that was more “micro” than “macro” helped him enormously. In this way, the story parallels revealing moments from Rustin’s private life and passages dealing, in an equally intimate manner, with the development of the future March on Washington.
Without forgetting the political cabal of which Rustin was a victim, his open homosexuality – a rare and courageous fact at the time – having upset many of the monks of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), including the executive secretary Roy Wilkins (Chris Rock). Here again, the narrative focus remains tight.
“It’s because, from the outset, I really didn’t want to make a biopica biographical drama by numbers,” specifies George C. Wolfe.
“You see, the genre “He came into the world, he grew up, this and that happened to him…” The initial version of the script, as exciting as it was, cast a much wider net,” continues the director, to whom we must Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (The blues of Ma Rainey), another return to an emblematic black figure too little celebrated by History. Moreover, Colman Domingo was in the credits of this film starring Viola Davis in an Oscar-nominated performance.
“In the initial version, we flew over several events. The March was one of those events, but I wanted to focus on that, specifically. As an example, J. Edgar Hoover [le patron du FBI qui faisait surveiller Rustin] was a key figure. However, I found it more relevant that he did not appear and that we instead focused on Rustin and his allies while they suffered the consequences of the Machiavellian maneuvers of a Hoover determined to stop the progress of civil rights”, summarizes the filmmaker.
Focusing on the genesis of the March on Washington also allowed us to dwell on the deep friendship that united Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King. Which, reverend as it was, accepted Rustin as he was (conversely, Roy Wilkins was opposed to Rustin receiving any credit whatsoever in connection with the March).
Do less
After judiciously narrowing the narrative spectrum, George C. Wolfe did the same with… the interpretation of Colman Domingo. Far from being offended, the actor was grateful.
“I come from theater, where I developed a process of research and rehearsal that I also apply to cinema,” reveals the main person involved.
“As far as Bayard Rustin is concerned, I have gone down the proverbial rabbit hole. I studied and reproduced his vocal inflections, even though his voice was three octaves higher than mine — I’m a baritone. I worked with a coach, and I managed to raise my voice that far. Same for his gestures. Now, the wonderful thing about George is that he is not afraid to take the actors back to the basics. He said to me: “OK, that’s good, it’s almost mimicry, but now you’re going to do less and bring the character a little more to you so that it lives in you in an honest way and true.” He was so right. »
The danger, adds the actor, is that by trying too hard to stick to reality, we sometimes end up doing too much. From then on, the interpretation moves in a mass of tics.
“We must aspire to subtlety; you have to let the composition breathe, so that it lives. In short, I developed something very big and perhaps false, to finally return to something very small and, I hope, true,” concludes Colman Domingo.
It was an all the wiser decision as it reflects the very image of the film.
After a limited theatrical release (read our review), Rustin arrives on Netflix on November 17. François Lévesque was in Washington at the invitation of Netflix.