Domingo was born and raised as the third of four children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[3] Domingo was raised by his mother Edith Bowles and her husband[4][5] in a working-class household.[3] His mother was a homemaker and worked in a bank;[6] his stepfather Clarence[7] sanded floors for a living.[3] Edith passed away in 2006, the day after Domingo's audition for the theater musical Passing Strange.[4][8] His stepfather had died a few months earlier.[8]
Domingo's biological father was from Belize with relatives from Guatemala.[9] He left the family when Domingo was nine years old.[3] Domingo had a speech impediment, a lisp,[10] as a child and was sent to speech therapy classes by his mother.[8]
Domingo is a 1987 Overbrook High School graduate[11] and later attended Temple University,[12][13][14] where he majored in journalism. Soon thereafter he moved to San Francisco, California, where he started acting, mainly in theatre productions.[13][15]
Domingo starred as Mr. Franklin Jones, Joop, and Mr. Venus in the critically acclaimed rock musical Passing Strange,[19] which, after a successful 2007 run at The Public Theater, opened on Broadway on February 28, 2008. He received an Obie Award[20] in spring 2008 as part of the ensemble of Passing Strange Off-Broadway and reprised his roles in the film version of Passing Strange, directed by Spike Lee, which made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. In 2010, Domingo's self-penned, one-man autobiographical play A Boy and His Soul premiered Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, for which he won a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show.[21] He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award[22] and a Drama League Award.[23] Domingo starred as a replacement role as Billy Flynn in Chicago, the longest running revival on Broadway.[24]
In 2015, Domingo began appearing in a recurring role on AMC's post-apocalyptic, zombie series Fear the Walking Dead, as a character named Victor Strand. In December 2015, it was announced that Domingo was promoted to series regular for Season 2 of the series.[29] That same year he had a recurring role as Dr. Russell Daniels in the Cinemax series The Knick. The following year he made appearances on Lucifer and Louis C.K.'s self-streaming show Horace and Pete. In 2017, Domingo joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a member of the Actors' Branch.[30] In 2018, Domingo joined the Directors Guild of America[31] as a director of episode 12 of season 4 of Fear The Walking Dead.[32] He is the first ever actor in The Walking Dead universe to helm an episode.[33] In 2020, Domingo signed a first-look deal with AMC Networks.[34]
Domingo starred as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the 2023 Netflix film Rustin directed by George C. Wolfe. Upon the announcement of his being cast in the lead role, the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, an LGBTQIAsafe-space, community activist center, and educational bridge dedicated to honoring Bayard Rustin through their mission and good works, voiced their approval directly to Domingo, espousing that "Your powerful voice helps amplify Bayard Rustin, Godfather of Intersectionality, Planned the March, Brought non-violence to the Movement, Inspired the Freedom Riders, Lost to history because of who he loved, Who he was. Angelic Troublemakers unite!"[36] For his performance he received nominations for the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor. The Academy Award nomination made him the first Afro-Latino to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor,[37] as well as the second openly gay man, after Ian McKellen, and the first American openly gay man, to receive an Academy Award nomination for playing a gay character.[38][39]
In 2024 it was announced that Domingo was cast to play Joe Jackson in the musical biopic Michael (2025) about the life of singer Michael Jackson.[42] It was also announced Domingo is set to direct and star in the leading role of an untitled Nat King Cole biopic from a script he co-wrote.[43]
Personal life
From 2009 to 2017 Domingo lived in the federally subsidized artists' building Manhattan Plaza.[44][45] Domingo is gay. He met his husband, Raúl Domingo, in 2005 and they married 9 years later, in 2014.[46][47]
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