Colman Domingo is hitting his stride in Hollywood at 56, just as he hopes Paris Jackson and others can ‘love’ the ‘Michael’ biopic

Dolmingo is preparing for another busy year in his career as he returns to HBO’s “Euphoria” and plays Joe Jackson in one of the more anticipated movies of 2026.

Colman Domingo considered quitting Hollywood after he didn’t land the role in one of HBO’s more critically acclaimed series, “Boardwalk Empire.” A decade later, the multi-time Academy Award nominee is enjoying arguably the most fruitful year of his career.

In a profile for WSJ Magazine, Domingo opened up about several topics, from fashion to returning for the final season of “Euphoria” to being directed by Steven Spielberg to portraying Joe Jackson in the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, among others.

“We live in a culture where everyone says, ‘If you manifest something, it can happen.’ I think sometimes that’s telling ourselves a lie. It’s not about manifestation, I think it’s about hard work,” he says. “I feel like putting something up on a dream board is fine; you need some creative visualization. But you need to do the work to get there. Nothing that I’ve built for myself has been manifested; it’s all been diligent work and a hard work ethic.”

One of the more intriguing questions posed to Domingo came when he was asked about taking on the role of the patriarch of the Jackson family, and he felt that his comments about the film in a prior interview with PEOPLE had been taken out of context, a situation the outlet later confirmed. Domingo reached out to Paris Jackson via a direct message on Instagram to explain the situation, and she replied with a heart reaction to the post.

“I hope that she eventually loves the tribute that we made about her father,” Domingo said.

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Last September, Paris Jackson took to social media to call out Domingo while revealing she had no involvement in the Antoine Fuqua-directed film.

“[Colman Domingo], don’t be telling people I was ‘helpful’ on the set of a movie I had zero percent involvement in lol that is so weird,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “I read one of the first drafts of the script and gave my notes about what was dishonest/didn’t sit right with me and when they didn’t address it I moved on with my life. Not my monkeys not my circus. God bless and god speed.”

Domingo, who once considered pivoting to taking headshots for other actors to make ends meet, has been locked in for nearly every role he’s been cast for since. On his 55th birthday, he became the lead for the first time in Netflix’s “The Madness,” and, as Joe Jackson, his transformation into the man behind the Jackson 5 scared the sh-t out of Fuqua, who said Dolmingo “melts into the character.”

Despite the headlines surrounding Joe Jackson and his history of abuse, Domingo says he opted for a different approach to playing him.

“For me, it was about finding his humanity. He created some of the most iconic artists that have ever walked this earth. What goes into the making of that man?” Domingo said, adding that Joe “chastised his children. It’s always going to be arguable what’s right and a great method.”