One mesmerizing Colman Domingo performance at a time, people, please!
Or no more than two, thank you! But the Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama, for his uncanny portrayal of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in Rustin—who is also stealing all his scenes as Mister in The Color Purple—can't help that he's high on the list of stars whom fans would love to see join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
And while they aren't the circumstances anyone wanted, there's an opening now that Jonathan Majors is no longer playing super-villain Kang following his conviction on misdemeanor assault and harassment charges. (He pleaded not guilty and denied the accusations against him.)
"I don't know what to say about any of it!" Domingo exclusively told E! News' Keltie Knight on the red carpet ahead of the 2024 Golden Globes. "I've heard all the rumors—of course I would love to be a part of the MCU. What actor wouldn't want to be?"
That being said, he acknowledged that it was a "complicated" situation. (And even if the contract was signed, sealed and delivered, the spoiler-averse MCU would have long since sworn him to secrecy, naturally.)
"I don't even know what to say," he reiterated, stressing with a laugh that he was blinking, not winking, as Knight teased him to do as a tacit yes gesture. "But I love the fact that I'm in all these conversations, that's a beautiful thing."
The 54-year-old, who's also in the Oscar conversation for his gripping turn in The Color Purple (Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks constitute the film's sole Globe nominations), is unequivocally enjoying a moment, one that's been years in the making.
Domingo, clad in custom Louis Vuitton, told Knight that he likes to think he's persevered when the going got tough in his business with the spirit of his parents. "My parents both passed away in 2006," he explained, "and they gave me nothing but love, support and encouragement. And by 2006 I was still an actor who would bartend here and there and work in the theater. But I know that they gave me a lot of love and a lot of faith, and to believe in things that I couldn't see. I think that that's how I'm here."
"Here" being at the Globes and starring in a feature musical that counts Oprah Winfrey and Barack and Michelle Obama as producers.
Winfrey "pours all the love into her cast at all times," Domingo shared. "When I tell you I couldn't feel more supported, she looked at me as being a leader [on The Color Purple] and would call me at least once a week and ask what we need...We would talk about the soul of how we make it. So that's what she's concerned about."
And if it were up to Winfrey, everyone in the cast would get a Globe.
Just to be there, though, was "a career achievement," Domingo marveled. "Just to be in the room, to be nominated with my colleagues—whether it's Leo DiCaprio or Bradley [Cooper]—it's incredible."
Scroll on to see all the stars in attendance at the 2024 Golden Globes (and don't miss complete coverage of the show on E! News Monday, Jan. 8, at 11 p.m.):