Long before the two starred together in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Boseman made sure a room full of Hollywood insiders knew Domingo’s name. Before Colman Domingo became a household name and a fixture on awards season ballots, another titan of the industry saw it coming and made sure everyone in the room knew it.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Domingo, 56, shared a memory that has clearly stayed with him, a Hollywood party during the peak of Black Panther‘s global box office run in 2018, when the late Chadwick Boseman stopped a conversation cold to publicly declare his belief in Domingo’s talent. It was a spontaneous, generous act that Domingo has carried with him ever since.
A chance meeting that turned into something much bigger
The two men were not strangers when they crossed paths at that gathering. They had done a few play readings together over the years and shared mutual respect, though Domingo has said they were not especially close at the time. When Domingo approached Boseman to congratulate him on the extraordinary success of Black Panther, Boseman redirected the moment entirely turning attention away from himself and toward Domingo, urging everyone nearby to take note of who was standing in that room.
It was a rare and telling move, the kind that speaks to a person’s character far more than any performance ever could. Rather than accepting the praise and moving on, Boseman used his moment in the spotlight to lift someone else into it.
From that party to a shared legacy on screen
Two years later, the two actors would find themselves on the same set, starring together in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the 2020 Netflix adaptation of August Wilson’s acclaimed stage play. Directed by George C. Wolfe, the film brought together a powerhouse ensemble and earned widespread critical praise. For Boseman, it would become his final film role.
Domingo has spoken warmly about their time making the movie together, describing an onset energy between them that felt like a long anticipated reunion. The camaraderie they had built over years of crossing paths in theater circles carried over into the work itself a chemistry that audiences and critics alike responded to when the film was released.
Losing a voice that could not be replaced
Boseman died in August 2020 at age 43 after a private battle with colon cancer. For Domingo, the loss carried a particular weight. He has spoken about how few people in his generation especially Black men who came up through similar experiences occupied the rare space that Boseman did in the industry.
Domingo described him as someone you could turn to with the kinds of questions that don’t have easy answers, how to navigate a career at the highest levels, how to advocate for yourself and for others, how to move through an industry that doesn’t always make room for the people who deserve it most. Boseman was one of the few people Domingo felt could speak to all of that with both authority and grace.
A legacy that continues to grow
The memory of Boseman publicly championing Domingo is more than just a warm anecdote. It points to something larger about the kind of person Boseman was generous, perceptive and committed to using his platform in ways that mattered, even in the middle of a party.
Domingo’s career has since reached the heights that Boseman seemed to see coming long before others did. With multiple award nominations and a growing list of acclaimed projects, Domingo has become exactly the figure Boseman told that room to watch for. That moment, it turns out, was less of a kind gesture and more of a prophecy.