Colman Domingo is disappointed about the lack of awards buzz for Rustin.
The actor plays civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the biopic and admits that he was left dismayed after hearing that so many people had not seen the flick despite its critical acclaim.
“Now, my question is this, Ava, because I always think is it about [sic] certain eyes that are able to land in our films? Because I literally went into a dinner party the other night, and I was struck by the amount of people that still hadn’t seen Rustin,” Colman said to filmmaker Ava DuVernay in a Vanity Fair piece.
“I’ve seen Oppenheimer; I’ve seen Killers of the Flower Moon; I’ve seen Saltburn. I’ve seen all these things because I think I’ve always been groomed knowing that I look at stories outside of my experience. But I think there’s a large contingent of people who need to be told — like, you’re saying with marketing dollars — that [t]his has something to do with you,” he continued.
Rustin is directed by George C. Wolfe and follows the charismatic activist as he organizes the famous March on Washington in 1963. Domingo had a “crisis of faith” about the movie launching during the SAG-AFTRA strike that left him “sidelined” by being unable to publicize the work.
“At some point, honestly, I really did have a crisis of faith where I thought it was lasting too long, where I could not talk about the film and why I care about it and how I led it and all that stuff,” The “Fear the Walking Dead” actor told IndieWire.
“And honestly, I got a little depressed,” he added. “And I thought, ‘Why me?’ This is such a momentous occasion and something I care about so deeply. My first leading role in a film, and I thought, well, why must I be sidelined?”
