Colman Domingo Started His Career in Circus and Bartended for 5 Years While Waiting for Career to Take Off

Colman Domingo’s resume before his acting career took off includes a few odd jobs.

Speaking with moderator Mel Ottenberg for the Swarovski in Conversation panel on Thursday, July 24, the 55-year-old actor reflected on acting, fashion, and what he learned from one of his earliest jobs before making it big — performing in a circus.

“One of my first jobs was being in the circus and I did aerial web work and then trapeze and juggling and stilt walking because I was game,” Domingo shared during the panel, after explaining that early on, he focused on absorbing as much information as possible wherever he worked.

“I think my career mostly started in regional theater and I started my career in San Francisco, and really I really just want to be a respected actor,” Domingo said. “Everything I’ve learned was from being in rooms and rehearsals. I have no little to no formal training in anything that I do. I learned everything by showing up, doing it, asking questions, reading books, showing up for rehearsals that I wasn’t called for.”

The Sing Sing actor also shared that despite landing roles in theater productions, he held onto bartending gigs make ends meet.

“Even when I was doing early shows in New York, I would take a bow and I know I was wearing thousands of dollars of clothes… I would literally run backstage, tear off my clothes, hop in a cab and go over to the 55 Bar that used to be next to Stonewall, where I used to bartend for five years,” Domingo said.

“I constantly had bartending jobs, I needed to pay my bills,” the actor added.

Domingo’s upcoming projects include a Michael Jackson biopic where he plays Joe Jackson, and a Nat King Cole biopic, which he will also direct. Additionally, he will be returning to Euphoria for its next season.

He is also involved in the film Strange Arrivals with Demi Moore, and will be directing a film about Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr. titled Scandalous!.