Colman Domingo Reacts to Earning Film Independent Spirt Award Nomination for ‘Zola’ (Exclusive)

Colman Domingo has earned his share of recognition over the last few years for his work in film and TV shows. Recently, the 52-year-old actor was nominated for an Independent Spirt Film Award for his role as X in the movie Zola. PopCulture.com recently caught up with Domingo, who talked about earning the nomination. 

“It is like the space that I live in, which is innovative,” Domingo exclusively told PopCulture. “I don’t know, I feel like cutting edge cinema and the spirit of independent cinema. I come from a theater. And so I feel like that’s really, truly where I live. I do live in commercial spaces as well, but this is a space where I feel like I feel most proud. These are the independent spirits Oscars, in a way. My colleagues that I truly respect are really pushing the form. So I feel very proud, especially recognized two years in a row. That’s pretty awesome, I think.”

Domingo was nominated for Best Supporting Male. The awards ceremony was on Sunday, and Domingo lost to Troy Kotsur, who played Frank Rossi in the critically acclaimed movie CODA. Last year, Domingo was nominated for his role as Culture in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and lost to Paul Raci in Sound of Metal. 

For Domingo’s role in Zola, he played a mysterious man who takes two strippers to Florida to earn money, which leads to a ton of drama. Zola was nominated for seven Film Independent Spirt Awards and won two, including Best Female Lead for Taylour Paige. “I built a character around a series of tweets,” Domingo said when asked about his experience filming Zola. “I wasn’t actually interested in going down the rabbit hole of representing the real guy. I think that there’s patience with that. And I also want to respect him. I think that’s what we do as artists. We interpret the work. And I thought we weren’t trying to make a documentary; we were trying to create a piece of cinema helmed by Janicza Bravo and her fantastic mind.”

Along with being nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award, Domingo was celebrating the evening with the help of Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, a major sponsor for the ceremony for several years. “I think that they’re very interested in being a part of great conversations about cutting-edge film and artists in every single way. … It’s been a very joyful partnership because it goes with a lot of my ethos of what I believe about cocktail culture, what it can do, how the brands can support conversation that is meant to be, hopefully, thought-provoking and challenge us in every single way. Who doesn’t do that over a great cocktail?”