Colman Domingo: On Water Ice and Walgreens

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Colman Domingo: On Water Ice and Walgreens"

Introduction

In this engaging episode of Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, host Kelly Ripa and co-host Mark Consuelos delve into an intimate conversation with the acclaimed actor, writer, producer, and director Colman Domingo. Released on March 5, 2025, the episode offers listeners a candid glimpse into Domingo's illustrious career, personal anecdotes, and heartfelt reflections.

---

Colman Domingo’s Esteemed Career

The conversation begins with Mark Consuelos introducing Colman Domingo's impressive portfolio, highlighting his roles in projects like Rustin, The Color Purple, Zola, Euphoria, and Fear the Walking Dead. Mark aptly describes Domingo as "one of the greatest actors to grace this podcast" ([02:00]).

Notable Quote:

"It's unbelievable. Cause you're like, you just have to really take some stock... what I'm doing artistically and creatively is impacting the world in that way, too." – Colman Domingo ([09:03])

---

Behind-the-Scenes Stories: Interactions with Lenny Kravitz and Oprah

Domingo shares delightful stories about his friendships with music legend Lenny Kravitz and media mogul Oprah Winfrey. He recounts attending Lenny's 60th birthday celebration in Paris, highlighting the warmth and camaraderie shared between them.

Notable Quote:

"He flipped out. I love Kelly so much." – Colman Domingo reflecting on his interaction with Lenny Kravitz ([07:57])

When discussing Oprah, Domingo delves into the heartfelt connection sparked by his late mother's persistent letters to her. This serendipitous bond led to Domingo directing Oprah in his play Wild with Happy, blending personal history with artistic collaboration.

Notable Quote:

"It was almost surreal. We both stood there... we just continued to walk." – Colman Domingo describing a pivotal moment with Oprah ([23:31])

---

Deep Dive into the Film "Sing Sing"

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to Domingo’s latest project, Sing Sing. He elucidates the film’s origin, inspired by his interactions with Clint Bentley and Greg Queed, who run a rehabilitation-through-the-arts program. Domingo emphasizes the film's focus on redemption, brotherhood, and the transformative power of art within the prison system.

Notable Quote:

"This film is not a prison drama at all. It is actually just about human beings, the human experience." – Colman Domingo ([40:14])

Mark Consuelos praises the film's potential impact, mentioning the impressive recidivism rate of the featured program at less than 3%, compared to the national average of 60%.

---

Personal Life: Meeting His Husband

In a heartfelt segment, Domingo narrates the romantic and serendipitous story of how he met his husband nearly two decades ago. From a missed connection outside a Walgreens in Berkeley to rekindling their encounter through a Craigslist "missed connections" post, their journey culminated in a surprise wedding celebration coinciding with the anniversary of Domingo's mother's passing.

Notable Quote:

"I felt like, oh, I really belong to someone and they belong to me. We have a commitment that we're building our lives together." – Colman Domingo reflecting on his marriage ([58:56])

---

Reflections on Spirituality and Success

Domingo shares his spiritual beliefs, attributing his life's blessings to a combination of hard work and an almost magical alignment of intentions. He speaks passionately about the humility and generosity embodied by figures like Oprah and Bob Iger, emphasizing that their successes are products of relentless effort rather than privilege.

Notable Quote:

"Whatever energy, magic, whatever people want to call it, I'm like, it was already set that the dreams, the intentions of my mother that she had on me more than what I could see." – Colman Domingo ([25:34])

---

Conclusion

The episode wraps up with light-hearted banter among the hosts, reflecting on the depth and warmth of the conversation with Colman Domingo. Mark Consuelos encourages listeners to watch Sing Sing and commends Domingo's work, setting a positive and appreciative tone as the episode concludes.

Notable Quote:

"Don't forget to check out Coleman's movie, Sing Sing. It is fantastic. You're going to win an Academy Award." – Mark Consuelos ([59:15])

---

Final Thoughts

Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa successfully offers a profound and personable portrayal of Colman Domingo, blending his professional achievements with deeply personal stories. Listeners gain not only insight into Domingo's creative endeavors but also an understanding of his values, relationships, and the serendipitous moments that shape his life.

Transcript

[Kelly Ripa]

Welcome to the home of Florida's finest everything. Naples, Marco island and the Everglades. They call it Florida's paradise coast for a reason. Bask in 30 miles of soft white sand beaches, luxurious hotels and stunning beachfront resorts with delectable dining experiences. Take advantage of warmth, relaxation and endless outdoor adventures. When you want a Florida vacation that's exceptional in every way, only paradise will do. Naples, Marco island and the Everglades. Florida's Paradise Paradise Coast. Plan your Visit [e-mail] Summer's here and the sun is shining.

[Mark Consuelos]

You need powerful sun protection that feels light on your skin. Meet Neutrogena Ultra sheer sunscreen. This SPF 70 lotion absorbs fast with a smooth, dry touch finish, so you'll forget you're even wearing it. It blocks 97% of burning UV rays and is water resistant for up to 80 minutes. Lightweight, effective and perfect for sunny days. It's just what your summer needs. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen. You can't feel.

[Kelly Ripa]

Shop now at Target.

[Mark Consuelos]

So Jan tells me that you used to do an impersonation of Oprah. Can you still do it?

[Colman Domingo]

Hello, everybody. That was my whole gag. I just did that during the whole episode. I was like.

[Mark Consuelos]

Somebody gotta cue me or do I cue myself? Cue yourself.

[Kelly Ripa]

Okay.

[Mark Consuelos]

Hey, everybody. We're back with another episode of let's Talk off Camera. So let's get talking. Jan Albert. Today we have one of the great, greatest actors to grace this podcast. And I mean, of our generation. He's an Oscar nominee. I think he's going to be another Oscar nominee, quite frankly, very soon. An Emmy award winner with a three decade career of stunning performances with Rustin, the Color Purple, Zola, Euphoria and Fear of the Walking Dead, just to name a few. You heard of any of those projects, Albert? That's right. Actor, writer, producer and director Colman Domingo will be joining us. I'm very excited. But before he logs on, let me check in with my long suffering producers, Albert and Jan, AKA Jan Albert. Jan Albert. We had a big recording yesterday.

[Colman Domingo]

Huge.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah.

[Jan Albert]

We're back in Michael's bedroom now.

[Mark Consuelos]

Back in Michael bed.

[Jan Albert]

Yesterday we went on a field trip.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's right, yesterday. We could not subject the head cheese of the Disney company to being stuck stuffed in the corner of my son's bedroom. It was unsuitable for broadcast. So we went to this fancy, very fancy, very fancy. Schmancy.

[Jan Albert]

I know.

[Mark Consuelos]

I'd say schmancy.

[Jan Albert]

Do you think Bob Iger was impressed? Do you think he.

[Mark Consuelos]

I can't tell if he was impressed. Or if he was like, we're still in this building. Didn't we sell this building? I think that's. I think the general overall atmosphere was Bob saying, why am I doing this? How did I get here again?

[Jan Albert]

Did I agree to this?

[Mark Consuelos]

Yes, it was fun.

[Jan Albert]

You were so good.

[Albert Bianchini]

It was amazing. You with him, Mark, later on, when I talked to him, like, Kelly was like a mastermind in that interview.

[Mark Consuelos]

No, no, no. Mark came home and he goes, Albert sent. It went great. And I go, oh, Pollyanna. Al who thinks everything went great.

[Albert Bianchini]

I know it went great.

[Mark Consuelos]

No, it did well, but Bob is great. I know, but he texted you.

[Jan Albert]

I told Albert, he said, yeah, well.

[Albert Bianchini]

I want to hear it.

[Mark Consuelos]

4:30 in the morning and saying how great. He had a great time and he thought. He seemed genuinely surprised with my interview skills.

[Jan Albert]

So next week you'll be listening to the Bob Iger interview.

[Albert Bianchini]

We can't tease anything that he said.

[Mark Consuelos]

We can tease. We can tease.

[Jan Albert]

It's airing next week.

[Mark Consuelos]

It's airing next week.

[Albert Bianchini]

I was very taken aback by when he said that he has to approve the Legends every year. And when he saw your name on it, his first reaction was, why hasn't she been one sooner?

[Mark Consuelos]

I thought that that was my first.

[Colman Domingo]

Like.

[Mark Consuelos]

But you know me, like when I. When I got the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it was the same like Bob telling me that I got this thing. And I thought, same with the legends thing. I thought you had to be Dade to get a story. So I. Because I don't, you know me, even though I've been in show business for 35 years, I actually don't know how show business works. I think it's what's kept me sane and fairly normal all of these decades. I am not that invested in the entertainment industry. I like talking to interesting people, and so I'm fortunate to make a career of it. But I don't read the Hollywood Reporter or Variety. I don't sign. Sign up for that newsletter that everybody goes crazy about. I don't know about any of it.

[Colman Domingo]

Right.

[Jan Albert]

Well, just to tease this interview a little bit for next week, there is a point where Bob Iger turns to Kelly and says, kelly, I am still your boss.

[Mark Consuelos]

There was a point where he pushed back over my line of question.

[Albert Bianchini]

He said, well, this took a turn.

[Jan Albert]

So definitely listen next week.

[Mark Consuelos]

Well, because people. I feel that people were. People in house were questioning whether or not I would have the cojones, the stones, the balls, if you will, to ask a very specific question.

[Colman Domingo]

And you did it.

[Mark Consuelos]

I did it because I know Bob, and I think Bob would answer honestly and practically, and he did.

[Jan Albert]

Here's the thing. If he doesn't want to answer something, he's not gonna answer it.

[Mark Consuelos]

He did not answer it. There were many things he did not answer that we tried to even. We tried to backdoor him into answers. We tried to.

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, you were. You.

[Mark Consuelos]

We climbed in through the window trying to drag him up the.

[Albert Bianchini]

You proclaimed a few things that he wouldn't answer.

[Colman Domingo]

I did.

[Mark Consuelos]

I proclaimed certain things that may or may not be true because I just.

[Albert Bianchini]

In front of him.

[Jan Albert]

Yes, it's a great interview. But wait. Albert has a surprise for Kelly.

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay.

[Colman Domingo]

Okay.

[Albert Bianchini]

So we've been talking about this forever, and every time I think about it, I'm like, I never can find this Paul Rubens clip. So I finally reached out to my friend who was a producer on the show, and I got the clip, and yesterday, and I played it, and I need to play it. And we can use it in this thing, too.

[Colman Domingo]

Here we go. I like.

[Mark Consuelos]

I love this story.

[Michael Halpern]

I love that story. Is a good one. If you're ever in the middle of a real story in real life, this comes in handy all the time. Tell me if you've ever been here. You're telling a story. Halfway through the story, you realize this story has no ending. There's no punchline. So if you're in that situation ever, all you do is you just wait a bit, you finish the story, you wait a beat, and then you say, okay, I love that story. It works every single time.

[Mark Consuelos]

I mean, you have to send that to Mark like, three times today.

[Albert Bianchini]

Mark Rubin's a genius.

[Mark Consuelos]

Three times today, Mark. Mark said, I love that story at least three times today. And then Gelman backstage said to me, boy, you love an awkward silence, don't you? And I go, I do, as a matter of fact. You've never been to one of my Thanksgivings, Gelman. But I will milk awkward silences like nobody else's. I mean, to the point where I'm.

[Colman Domingo]

Like.

[Albert Bianchini]

Well, I reached out to Chris, who was the showrunner of the Tonight show, and I said, chris, I know you're gonna. It's gonna sound crazy, but, Kelly, Mark and I talk about this Paul Rubens interview from 2016, please. And then he got it for us.

[Mark Consuelos]

And he found it.

[Albert Bianchini]

Yeah, we needed it.

[Kelly Ripa]

I love that story.

[Mark Consuelos]

He really was the best.

[Albert Bianchini]

He loved you. Cause I was telling these guys that I met him outside of a park party in la, and I ran up to Him. And I told him that I work with you and I was friends with you, and he flipped out. I love Kelly so much.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, we love each. We loved each other. I mean, he. He was the only person that would. On my birthday, he would send me. However, whatever the age I was. When I would turn 50, there were 50. When I was 51, there were 51. When I was 52, there were 52. But memes of people having cakes smashed in their face. Genius. One after another after another would come.

[Albert Bianchini]

Genius.

[Jan Albert]

All right, speaking of genius, our genius guest is ready. He's ready to get started.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah. Okay. There's Coleman. Hi.

[Colman Domingo]

Hi, Kelly. Hi.

[Mark Consuelos]

You're so gorgeous.

[Colman Domingo]

You're gorgeous. How are you?

[Mark Consuelos]

I'm so happy to see you, and I appreciate you taking time for our humble podcast. Now, listen, last time I saw you, you were being honored at the time 100.

[Colman Domingo]

That's right.

[Mark Consuelos]

So explain to me what that feels like, the acknowledgement, being in that room with so many extraordinary people. I was. My head was on a swivel the whole time.

[Colman Domingo]

You know, same here. You know what? Being in that room and you're watching people who are doing advancements with medicine and science and, you know, women's rights and political things, and, you know, you're just like. The idea. Even just the idea that you are possibly in this in the same list as them is unbelievable. Cause you're like. You just have to really take some stock. You're like, well, what am I? Guess you can't deny it. But you're like, okay, I guess what I'm doing artistically and creatively is impacting the world in that way, too.

[Kelly Ripa]

It is.

[Colman Domingo]

But I just sort of bow down to anybody who's doing anything that I feel like. I'm like, oh, no, you're.

[Mark Consuelos]

But I will say that, like, the performers in the room kept the room alive because, like, we were the only people applauding and cheering for Taraji, who was busting her ass hosting that show.

[Colman Domingo]

We have social skills, right? Exactly.

[Mark Consuelos]

I was like, yes, you may be finding a cure for cancer, but you're not laughing at any of the good jokes.

[Colman Domingo]

But you're dead in the room.

[Mark Consuelos]

You're a dead audience. I'll tell you that much.

[Colman Domingo]

This is where we shine.

[Mark Consuelos]

Exactly. Do you know what was really great about that night? So Mark and I used to live in that building where it was. Where the event was held in the Time Warner center. And so the kids all used to come trick or treating in the Time Warner Center. Jan, you remember? So how Good are the. How good are the treats?

[Colman Domingo]

Wait a minute. Wait. What was that like?

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna tell you. Okay, so it's.

[Colman Domingo]

I'm going to get some good ass candy.

[Mark Consuelos]

Forget candy. Like, the CEO of Parker Brothers was in one of the penthouses. So you would go up, bing bong, you, you know, ring the doorbell and they open the door and on the dining room table are just board games. And so the kids are like walking out with a board game.

[Colman Domingo]

What? That's wild.

[Mark Consuelos]

Or like the head of Mars candy. So I'm not talking large size candy. I'm not talking full size movie theater size. I'm talking like gigant. Right? It's like the greatest.

[Colman Domingo]

Like the size of a head.

[Mark Consuelos]

The size of a head.

[Colman Domingo]

I feel like I'm gonna put on a costume and come to that building.

[Mark Consuelos]

It's the best building to trick or treat.

[Colman Domingo]

Yes. Just to see what the fuck it was like. I feel like I missed out.

[Mark Consuelos]

It's insane. It's really. It's insane. Because trick or treating in New York is wild, but trick or treating in the Time Warner center, wild. And I kept saying to the kids, you will never have another Halloween like this. So live it up because this will be the greatest Halloween of your life. So Lenny Kravitz wrote your Time 100 tribute.

[Colman Domingo]

He did.

[Mark Consuelos]

Which, you know, Anderson Cooper wrote mine, and I thought mine was the coolest ever. And then I was like, oh, wait, Lenny Kravitz, now that's.

[Jan Albert]

That's cool.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's actually cooler than mine. Have you known Lenny a long time?

[Colman Domingo]

I've known Lenny for, I guess, 12 or 13 years. We did the Butler with Lee Daniels together. And we. And we didn't even have many scenes together, but we were shooting down in New Orleans and we became just buddies. We were just hanging out everywhere. And anyone will tell you that for some reason, New Year New Orleans brings out the bro in me. And I'm taking people to strip clubs and I don't know what happens to me. It comes over me. It's like a whole different me in New Orleans. So I was, you know, constantly trying to get Lenny out to do crazy and wild things, but he was a good boy most of the time. But then we would just go and chill out and we just got to know each other as castmates and friends. And then I'll tell you this, because it's actually pretty funny to me because so I got to know him just as, you know, my castmate, my buddy. And then I Go back to New York. When I used to live in New York and Lenny was in town, he said, hey, I want to take you out for sushi for your birthday. I was like, great, wonderful. I'll be downstairs. I thought, you know, I don't know what I thought. Like we're going to, he was going to pick me up for my rent stabilized department and we were going to go get the A train or something. He comes by and picks me up and of course he has like security detail and suv. And I'm like, oh fuck, I forgot that my friend is a fucking rock star.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

I was like, oh. Like it dawned on me, I was like, I was like, oh fuck, I forgot. Since we were out in real world again. Yeah, so, yeah. So we've been friends. So we've really been friends and brothers for that long. I'm so like very close. We were really, our family. I was at his 60th birthday celebration in Paris recently and by his home in Paris. And he's just, he's a, he's a good, good soul.

[Mark Consuelos]

I walked by his home in Paris. I mean, I didn't ring the doorbell or anything. I just walked by, I walked by and people were like, this is where Lenny Kravitz, you know, Lenny Kravitz, he lives here and it's like such a beautiful, I mean he really looks like.

[Colman Domingo]

It looks like an embassy.

[Mark Consuelos]

He knows architecture.

[Colman Domingo]

He really, he has such incredible style. And the beautiful thing is on I'll just tell you this, and I'm sure it's been photographed, but like in his home, he has such great statements about family and legacy. So that's what's important. Like in his dining room, the thing that I was so taken with was he has this huge portrait of his grandfather and say this is all because of him and this very humble man who sent his mother to New York to study acting, you know, who was, you know, he just had many jobs and really worked with his hands. And he did all of this for. He says, so this I understand why I'm here. And so I make sure that I acknowledge that. So that tells you right there who Lenny is. And so when, so when he wrote that tribute for me, like, I didn't know you could, you know, you didn't know he was going to write yours, right?

[Kelly Ripa]

Suddenly you haven't.

[Mark Consuelos]

They don't tell you, they don't tell you.

[Colman Domingo]

I don't know. It's going to be, it's going to be like, you know, hopefully somebody who likes me, right?

[Mark Consuelos]

Exactly, exactly. In this industry, you never know because you never know.

[Colman Domingo]

Somebody said, oh, yeah, I'll write it. That owes me $20.

[Mark Consuelos]

1984, right.

[Colman Domingo]

Exactly.

[Mark Consuelos]

Exactly.

[Colman Domingo]

But no, but, but he wrote, I was so. I want to know how you felt because I was so overwhelmed by that. It was just many levels to it. You know, you're going to be one of the time, 100, and then suddenly you're gifted with these beautiful words from.

[Mark Consuelos]

Somebody that you'll have, that you'll have forever. Like, that's a forever, you know? And Lenny, like Anderson, beautiful writers, wordsmiths, both of them. And so we got the. I feel that we got the luckiest.

[Colman Domingo]

I think we kind of did, too. Yeah, I think we really did.

[Mark Consuelos]

So, okay, you and Lenny Kravitz hang out together. I also understand that you've been in Oprah's home.

[Colman Domingo]

I have. I've been in two of her homes. Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

Tell me which two and describe lemons everywhere.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah. Because I know you love architecture. Yeah. Let's see. I've been to the home in Montecito that I went there for.

[Mark Consuelos]

It's the premier home.

[Colman Domingo]

It's called the Promised Land. And it's really, I'll tell you this about Oprah. It's about both of her homes. The one in Hawaii as well.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, my God.

[Colman Domingo]

There's nothing ostentatious about her homes. They all feel comfortable and livable, you know, just beautiful. Like, she's got impeccable taste, but it doesn't feel like, you know, oh, look at this person who has billions of dollars. You're like, oh, this is very tasteful and elegant and, like, necessary. Yeah, that's what I say. I feel like light, light, warm. It always makes you really, you feel like you want to stay there forever. Like, you know, like if she did want me to stay there forever, I'm like, yeah, I'm moving in.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yes, that's the goal. The goal is to be Oprah's roommate.

[Colman Domingo]

I know you don't know that that's a life goal until you're, you're that close and in her home and you're like, you know, I can do this. Wow.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, she's just, she's got it figured out. Like, she's living on another plane of elegance that I like, I strive for that. But I realized she had it at my age. So I'm not going to get there. Like, I've reached peak elegance. For me, this is the best I can hope for. This is all there is. My fold out card table from Amazon. And this is pretty much what I got going on.

[Albert Bianchini]

What food is Oprah serving?

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, what food does Oprah serve when you come to stay with her?

[Colman Domingo]

Okay, there's a couple things I gotta tell you this, okay? When I went there for, it was Ava DuVernay's 50th birthday party.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, my gosh.

[Colman Domingo]

And Oprah hosted, I want to say, maybe 50 of her friends. So basically, we flew out there, and it was beautiful. And you go to Oprah's pretty much mountain. She pretty much owns a mountain right in Maui. And it's really. I'm telling you, it's lush and beautiful and elegant. And she's always. She had. For the birthday party, I think there was. There were two chefs and, you know, really comfort food. I mean, the morning we all kept marveling, there was truffles everywhere. She loved truffles.

[Kelly Ripa]

She loves truffles.

[Mark Consuelos]

I know that she loves truffles.

[Colman Domingo]

She loves truffles. And just, you know, but let's see. Fried chicken and things like that. It was all, like, comfort food. You could tell, like, things that are, like, from her Southern roots, but also very elegant. You know what I mean? And then the thing that I think we all love is that she loves a beautiful sip of tequila.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yes, I do know that. I sent her a basket of tequila for her birthday. Do you remember that? Jan, at the time, Mark was super into tequila. So we were like tequila connoisseurs in this house. So I sent her a basket of his favorites and then a basket of limes. She liked that.

[Colman Domingo]

You know what the best thing is, is that when she. When she. Because she's very much a host, so we're all hanging out by the pool and laughing and talking, and then suddenly Oprah comes out with a tray full of shots, and you're like, you're naughty. You're trying to get everybody, like, you know, to have a good time.

[Mark Consuelos]

Everybody loosened up. Now, do you bring Oprah a hostess gift? And if so, what is your. The hostess gift?

[Colman Domingo]

I did. And you know what I did bring?

[Kelly Ripa]

What?

[Colman Domingo]

I decided to bring a book because she has a library. And I think most of the bedrooms that when guests are staying in guest houses, there's always a library. And apparently the books. Apparently the books get sort of swapped out based on the guest hoping that the guests may like, you know, the idea that someone's being thoughtful about, oh, maybe they'll like to read these books when they have a moment. So I bought a book to go into a library. I actually bought it. Doesn't sound too weird, but I actually bought some. A playwright. I bought a couple of my plays for her.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, that's incredible. That's an incredible gift. I'm sure.

[Colman Domingo]

Just to add to your library. Yeah. So. Because you think, what am I going to bring her? That she, you know, she can get anything she wants. But I thought something personal. What would you bring over?

[Mark Consuelos]

So it's funny. I was thinking about that. I think I would bring her one of those fluffy footed chickens, because I'm assuming she has, like, a chicken coop, you know, and, you know, those fancy chickens with the fluffy feet.

[Colman Domingo]

Wait, I love that you thought about this. You're like, that's exactly my.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, Like, I would be like, here is a chicken for the coon. Like a fluffy footed. This chicken lays blue eggs or something. You know, something to lay deer. Be fried chicken, not to fry. This chicken is not for frying. This chicken is for laying. Laying blue eggs. You know what I mean? The fluffy. You know what I'm talking about?

[Albert Bianchini]

I know exactly what.

[Mark Consuelos]

Pull up an image so that color and doesn't think I'm insane.

[Colman Domingo]

A fluffy chicken.

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay, so. So Jan tells me that you used to do an impersonation of Oprah. Can you still do it?

[Colman Domingo]

I do. Jan, you know this.

[Jan Albert]

I do know this.

[Mark Consuelos]

God knows everything.

[Jan Albert]

Does Oprah know you'd do it?

[Colman Domingo]

You know what the thing is, I'm not sure, you know, I think Lee Daniels stumbled upon that episode because I was. I used to be on the big gay sketch show. We did all these parodies. Me and Kate McKinnon and Nicole Pound. We did all these sketches, and they were like, you cannot air these sketches anymore.

[Mark Consuelos]

Right? No, no, we can't air anything anymore.

[Colman Domingo]

They are buried now. Because it was like, you know, I played. But also I played everyone from Tyra Banks, Beyonce, Nick Cannon, Kelly Rep. And I didn't play Kelly Repp.

[Mark Consuelos]

I would love to see you play me. That would be the biggest thrill of my life. That way I wouldn't have to. I wouldn't have to wax off my facial hair finally.

[Colman Domingo]

But then I played Oprah and I played Oprah and Gayle. It was really. It was just silly. Me and Erica Ashe were sort of doing Oprah's road trips, and I played Open up. Hello, everybody. But that was my whole gag. I just did that during the whole episode. I was like.

[Mark Consuelos]

But that is what their road trips were like.

[Colman Domingo]

Yes, exactly. And she's always yelling at Gayle to stop singing. They're doing lots of food stops. And it was just Insane. It was just pretty insane. But also, you know, it's like I'm wearing Oprah's hosting outfit. It's really silly, actually.

[Mark Consuelos]

Tell me these fluffy chickens aren't the cutest things you've ever seen.

[Colman Domingo]

Kelly, if I saw you giving us Oprah, I think I would just expire.

[Mark Consuelos]

Tell me these are not. These are not regal chickens. These are.

[Colman Domingo]

They're regal.

[Albert Bianchini]

Coleman's showing up with his plays, and you show up with these two chickens.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, sure, sure. Coleman wrote a great play. Okay, we know he can write. But look at these chickens. Can Coleman's play lay an egg? I don't think so.

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, my God. They just. They are very fluffy. I don't know what I expected with that chicken.

[Mark Consuelos]

I told you, they're very fluffy. And their eggs are blue. They're like bright blue eggs.

[Colman Domingo]

Where do you purchase one of these, Albert?

[Mark Consuelos]

Where did you.

[Albert Bianchini]

I found it on some. On Grubby Farms.

[Mark Consuelos]

Grubbyfarms.com Shout out to Grubby Farms.

[Colman Domingo]

Grubbly Farms. Not Amazon. One of those. How about Amazon? One of those. Probably.

[Mark Consuelos]

You could probably Amazon it. I mean, you could probably buy anything on Amazon. Is it true? Jan also tells me that your mom used to write letters to Oprah.

[Colman Domingo]

Jan has all the tea I love.

[Mark Consuelos]

Jan used to be on the CIA.

[Colman Domingo]

Yes. I think Jen's in my closet right now trying to find out more information. Jen? I did. My mother used to write to Oprah. She wrote to Oprah at least six times. Because I remember, I was like, mom, why are you writing Oprah again?

[Mark Consuelos]

What did she write to Oprah?

[Colman Domingo]

She would write, she said, because I was a struggling artist and she believed in me, and she would every so often, especially if I was down and I was bitching about auditions or not getting things. And she said, well, you know what? I wrote to Oprah? I was like, why? Well, because Oprah helps people. I was like, and what does that mean? Well, she can help you. I just want. She gets joined the show and she knows how fantastic you are. She can help. And I was, you know, bitter, disgruntled. Mom, what are you talking. Get out of here. Oh, there's no way, shape or form I'm going to get on the show, and Oprah does not care. And then the wildest thing is in my life how I've gotten to know Oprah. And I was out in Maui and we were going for a hike. So now this is like my mother had been. Has been passed since 2006. This was a couple. Thank you and this was a couple years ago, and we're walking, and we're just having this beautiful hike, and suddenly I was like, oh, my God, I have to tell you something. My mother wrote to you over and over again. And I think I realized that her letters got to you. And she, we both stood there. She stood there and clutched her chest, and she didn't even say anything, just took my hand and we just continued to walk. Now, to even make it even more surreal, I wrote this play called Wild with Happy. Right. It's actually now out on Audible right now. You guys. Wild with Happy. And in the play, it's about a guy who loses his mother and he's grieving. But it's a dark comedy, and at some point, the mother. I recall this conversation of mom writing to Oprah. So I'm casting this for Audible, and I thought, wouldn't it be, has anybody offered Oprah anything as an actress in a while? So I decided to offer her to play the role of the mother, and she accepted. And so Oprah literally says, do you want me to write Oprah? So I directed Oprah in this. And she. So it's very meta in many ways.

[Mark Consuelos]

It is so meta. And it's like your mom put this all into action long ago. Like, I don't believe in accidents. I believe it's all, like, it's all like a divine thing happening, you know?

[Colman Domingo]

Kelly? I do. I do, too. Yeah, I, I, I do, too. How we're supposed to. I, I think, listen, I, I think I'm not a religious person, but I'm very spiritual. And I do believe in magic, and I believe in energy, and I believe that whatever, energy, magic, whatever people want to call it, I'm like, it was already set that the dreams, the intentions of my mother that she had on me more than what I could see. And then maybe I started to believe that. But also, I look at the things and the people that I've been working with and the rooms that I'm in. I didn't, I couldn't see that far ahead. I don't know about you. I feel like I could see. I just wanted to be a working artist, and I wanted to do work that was respected.

[Mark Consuelos]

Right.

[Colman Domingo]

I could not, I could not imagine, Like, I didn't have dreams of thinking, oh, I want to be on Broadway or, well, like a television show and film. I didn't know that.

[Mark Consuelos]

I don't know.

[Colman Domingo]

What about you?

[Mark Consuelos]

No, I'm the same. My dad was a bus driver. We're not, like, there was no, show business. We didn't know show business people. So it was like, you know, it's one of those crazy. I'm like, you did not ever think that I would get to interview people such as you? It's not. It was something so far outside of the scope of what my mind could dream. Because you're just trying, when you start out, you're just trying to, you know, I was just trying to get a job on a soap opera and keep it for as long as I possibly could. I didn't think it would lead anywhere or that I would, it would take me someplace.

[Colman Domingo]

I, I agree. It's the same here. I just thought, you know, if I get a good gig, I do well, I save some money. You know, my goal was to get, and I did eventually get one, was to get a rent stabilized apartment in Manhattan. And I got that and I was like, I was cool. I'm like, great. I can create art. I can do. I can go for a meal every so often. That was fine, right? And then keep things, keep going. I tell you, like looking at the blessings that you're, you're gifted in this life because of showing up and doing the work and then suddenly you're like, wow. I mean, I feel like I don't want to not be in awe of like, wow. I live here, I do that I'm able to do these things and I don't want to take it for granted or be callous about it, you know?

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, it's interesting. We interviewed Bob Iger yesterday and he had this very. Like you, he said in all the years, you know. Cause he's been with the company for 50 years. He's been the CEO for what, Jan, 20 years? Yeah, something like that. And he said he's still in awe of everything, of all of it. Because, you know, he didn't, he didn't grow up fancy. He never dreamed of even going to Disneyland or Disney World as a kid. It was just like out of the realm of possibilities. And the fact that he's been with this company for so long, but he's not jaded in any way. Like, he still is in awe of all of it all the time. And I think that's like a really unique skill set to keep when you're in like a quote unquote fancy business or you're around fancy people.

[Colman Domingo]

I think so. You're so right. I think, I think the more that I, I get to know sort of these people in these beautiful positions, like Oprah, I, I actually want to tell You. The thing that I know for sure is what got her there. She's extremely generous and extremely kind and thoughtful. And that's the thing. And I know she's very humble, too. And I think I always want to make sure people don't forget that. That these people come from very humble places and they work their asses off to attain any and all of it. There's nothing that was given. There's not privilege on Oprah or something like Bob Iger as well. You know, they've earned it.

[Mark Consuelos]

It's funny. People get. They get confused. They look at the person. Person now, and they don't realize there's an entire background of grinding and working and rejection and. And. And in Oprah's case, all kinds of. She had to deal with sexism, racism, poverty.

[Colman Domingo]

Poverty, exactly.

[Mark Consuelos]

You name it, they threw it at Oprah, you know, and. And now everyone acts like. Like, somehow she was handed a mountain in Maui, not that she built.

[Colman Domingo]

It's as if people have, like, their own sort of dementia when it comes to that, you know, like, they're like, oh, no, we're going to forget that any of that existed. And just look at this person who has so much now, and suddenly they become villainized.

[Mark Consuelos]

I don't know if you remember, she did a very special episode of her show where she took on. Viewers were complaining that Oprah had lost weight and that she had changed. And she had these people that wrote these letters in the audience. She invited them in and she. It was such an interesting episode. I remember I was riveted. And she said, what is it about me that has changed? And they couldn't name it. They couldn't actually name it. It was their perception.

[Colman Domingo]

It was them.

[Mark Consuelos]

It was them.

[Colman Domingo]

Well, that's. Well, that's exactly it. I mean, please, Kelly, I get this. And I'm sure you've gotten this, too, where because of whatever career successes I have, I will run into someone who says, hi, do you remember me? So I'm like, do I remember you? Yeah, Janice, what are you talking about?

[Mark Consuelos]

You're my neighbor. You're my neighbor. You mean from this morning?

[Colman Domingo]

Why are you acting strange like I don't know you? What are you talking about? So then you feel like, oh, it's not me, it's them.

[Mark Consuelos]

Right? It's not me. I didn't. I'm not acting weird. You're being weird. Don't be weird.

[Colman Domingo]

Right. I just saw you this morning, Janice.

[Mark Consuelos]

So I want to talk to you about Sing Sing.

[Kelly Ripa]

You want to know what makes a great gift. Something people actually use and that makes them smile every single day. The Feather Snap Smart Bird Feeder brings the wild to your window. Combining clever tech with nature's little surprises, the FeatherSnap Smart Bird Feeder has a built in camera that captures high quality photos and videos every time a bird stops by. Motion detection sends real time alerts to your device so you can enjoy watching your feathered visitors from anywhere. Plus, the Feather Snap app identifies the.

[Mark Consuelos]

Feathered visitors at your feeder and even.

[Kelly Ripa]

Gives you fun facts about the species. Whether it's for birthdays, holidays or just a thinking of you surprise. This is the perfect gift for anyone who loves nature. We just got one and it was so easy to set up. It's so cool to watch the live.

[Mark Consuelos]

Feed of the feeder and we can.

[Kelly Ripa]

Request videos at any time. It's amazing and the quality and sound of the videos are really clear. Check out the Feather Snap Smart bird [e-mail] Summer's here and the sun is shining.

[Mark Consuelos]

You need powerful sun protection that feels.

[Kelly Ripa]

Light on your skin.

[Mark Consuelos]

Meet Neutrogena Ultra sheer sunscreen. This SPF 70 lotion absorbs fast with a smooth, dry touch finish so you'll forget you're even wearing it. It blocks 97% of burning UV rays and is water resistant for up to 80 minutes. Lightweight, effective and perfect for sunny days. It's just what your summer needs. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen. You can't feel Shop now at Target.

[Kelly Ripa]

You know Albert, I was browsing Quince's website because I'm already starting to think about what to wear to this year's sausage fest.

[Mark Consuelos]

Jan, they have the cutest suede clogged.

[Kelly Ripa]

Mules that are a third of the price of what I've seen in the stores everywhere.

[Mark Consuelos]

We've gotta get those asap. We gotta get a pair for Audrey.

[Kelly Ripa]

She's the queen of clogs. As temperatures climb, you know it's easy to fall into the same old routine.

[Mark Consuelos]

Familiar tanks worn in shorts and the usual lineup.

[Kelly Ripa]

My threadbare leggings. Quince offers an effortless upgrade. Elevated, easy pieces that instantly refine the everyday uniform without the extra effort. The best part? Everything with quince is priced 50 to 80% less than what you find at similar brands. Treat your closet to a little summer glow up with quince. Go to quince.comoffcamera for free free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com off camera to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quinn's.com off camera.

[Mark Consuelos]

So I. I want to talk to you about Sing Sing, your new movie, which I think I speak for all of us here. You're going to get another Academy award nomination. Hopefully you win this time because my money was on you. We have an office pool at work.

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, great.

[Mark Consuelos]

And I thought you were going to win this year. So backstage you thought he was going to win. I called it backstage. I called it on the red carpet when people were like, who are you predicting? I was like, colman Domingo and Rustin is winning the Academy Award. So you owe me $20.

[Colman Domingo]

Basically that. That's the whole ruse of this whole podcast.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's exactly my money back.

[Colman Domingo]

You're like, I need my money back. So this.

[Mark Consuelos]

This movie. I know about this organization very well. Two friends of mine are fundraisers for this. The project, the rta. Rta. So tell me about how you came to learn of it, developing this person that you play. Divine. G. Tell me everything.

[Colman Domingo]

I'll say it's kind of divine because my. My agent and my publicist both kept telling me about these two guys. Clint Bentley and Greg Queed are like, oh, you know, we feel like you should get to know them at some point. They did this movie jockey that was out, you know, some years ago, and it's just really good guys, and we just think you guys would work well together. Okay, cool. We'll set that up at some point. And then I ran into them at Film Independent. They were like, oh, they were really. Just lovely. Like, really lovely people, like, almost feel like they almost didn't belong in this business. You're like. You're like. You're just too sweet.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

Regular dudes from Austin. Okay, nice. And then they reached out because they wanted to meet with me and talk about something they've been trying to figure out for years. They have been teaching artists at Sing Sing and for the Rehabilitation through the arts program for, like, six years. And they were so affected by the stories of these men who were using theater to do healing work and, you know, put themselves in some other shoes. So it's been a real great therapeutic tool. And I was like, oh, that sounds cool. I said. I said, so, can you send me a script? They were like, no, we don't have a script. We actually, whatever we wrote, we don't think it's useful, but we want to see if you'd like to come on board. We can help create something together. I said, okay, well, do you have anything? They said, we have an article from Esquire magazine that was written a few. A few years ago about the program. So I read that. Fascinated again. I said, great, let's. I was loosely like, you know, yeah, let's see. Let's get on Zoom and talk about these things. And then they said, you know, be interesting. We would love for you to meet Clarence Divine. I Macklin, who is someone who's got a great story, and I think he'd be great to play off of. I was like, great, let's set it up. So we set that up on Zoom. We engage, we become fast friends, and really sort of like, just. I don't know, we just really, really vibed. So we. This goes on for maybe six weeks. Then they said, okay, so when do you think we could do something like this? I said, well, that's all of the story because, you know, I'm busy. I'm. I'm down here doing Color Purple right now. And then I go back to do pickups for Rustin. I just finished Rustin, so I was looking forward to taking a break, right? And they said, wow, we really. We really think this is something that we. We think we can get it done this year if you have any time. And really, when you meet these creatives, there's something so honest and pure about them. The whole time, my agents and managers were thinking, like, really? What is this and what are you going to do? I said, I just have a feeling about it. And I said, well, Listen, I have 18 days in between both projects. And Greg said, we'll take them. I said, wait, what? You can't do this film in 18 days, and it's in Covid. And I was like, this is crazy. And I literally looked at Clarence Divine Eye Macklin's eyes and his smile. He's got this big, toothy smile. And I just. He said, come on, Coleman. Come on, we can do it. And I was like, okay, you're right. We can do it. So I just wanted to go with that energy. And so we started to build this film very organically. They even said, you know, we would like to cast a lot of the guys who went through this rehabilitation to the arts program, formerly incarcerated men to play their co stars. I was on with that. I said, that's awesome, too. So everything about it, I was like, let's do it this way and make sure that everyone feels good and participates. And I was like, so that's why I felt like something. How can I say? It felt like a way more purposeful. You're like, oh, we're going to change the way things are created. So I got behind that, and we did it in 18 days without any Covid problems.

[Mark Consuelos]

It's like a miracle. A miracle.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah, it was a miracle. But I tell you, there's something beautiful around it.

[Mark Consuelos]

The story, you know, is too important to not be told. So maybe that's why the universe was working in your favor, because I think the program itself is so successful. I mean, the recidivism rate for less than 3%. Less than 3%. And what is the normal recidivism?

[Colman Domingo]

60% nationwide.

[Mark Consuelos]

Right. So it's really. I mean, you have to understand, it is doing the work that people inside the prisons, you know, they. They have. Prisons are big business. And so you've got, like, these prison consultants and psychotherapists and psychoanalysts.

[Colman Domingo]

It's a whole business.

[Kelly Ripa]

The whole business.

[Mark Consuelos]

And they could not figure it out. They couldn't figure it out.

[Colman Domingo]

No, they couldn't. But what's awesome is, like, this. This gift has come into these institutions of art, and these guys are hanging on to it and protecting it and really holding each other accountable with it so that they actually can do. They're doing the work and this. And that's the most beautiful thing. They're like, oh, no, no, the system's not going to work for us. We have to do it for ourselves. So the. The film that we've built is not a prison drama at all. And I think that's what we've always been fed. It is actually just the prison is the container for the story, but it really is just about human beings, the human experience.

[Mark Consuelos]

Redemption.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah, redemption.

[Mark Consuelos]

Hanging on to hope, finding brotherhood, understanding Shakespeare. Finally a movie makes me understand Shakespeare.

[Colman Domingo]

Exactly. This is the one for you.

[Mark Consuelos]

Literally, I said, if you have difficulty understanding Shakespeare, you. You watch this movie. And then I'm like, wait, that's what it means.

[Colman Domingo]

You know, it's.

[Mark Consuelos]

Finally I understood it. You know, in the film, one of the acting exercises is the inmates have to think back to, like, the most perfect time, most perfect place. What is yours in real life?

[Colman Domingo]

Well, the funny thing is, is we all sort of had to find it in a sort of devised improv based on our characters and then also connecting with something personal and some. Since my character did grow up, you know, in New York, and I thought, well, this is a memory that possibly he would have had too. And mine was about water ice. The water ice truck coming down the street, you know, because I'm from Philly, and who doesn't like summertime and the idea of running outside when it's hot, and you hear that bell and you ask your mom or dad for, you know, $0.25 to go and get one. And you line up and for somebody, that. That is like, one of the happiest places. Like those hot Philly.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

Summer. Summer afternoons and running outside, and suddenly you're getting this cool, beautiful water ice. Probably Moroni's or something. And. And it's just. Yeah. And then your tongue is red for the rest of the night. Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

I just took my niece. I took my niece to University of Minnesota for her freshman orientation. And we're from South Jersey, like, right over the bridge from Philly. You know, Philly was like our backyard. We would look at the lights of Philly, and that was our New York City growing up.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah, exactly. You went into the city.

[Mark Consuelos]

That was the city. And she goes, do you know the people here don't know what water race is? And I go, what do you mean? She goes, they've never heard of water ice. They don't have it here. And she's like, they don't have it here. And I go, they're not going to have a lot of things here. Send me out all kinds of things that they don't have here that you're used to.

[Colman Domingo]

That is too cute.

[Mark Consuelos]

But that's a great memory.

[Colman Domingo]

What is yours? What is your memory?

[Mark Consuelos]

I think it would probably be. There was this place in Camden called Nardi's Deli. And when we would go, we would get hoagies there before we would go see my grandparents.

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, my God. You said hoagie's.

[Mark Consuelos]

We'd get the hoagies. But when you opened the door, the bell rang, and it had a smell. It had a smell of like, you know. You know, the smell. It's like pickles in the barrel.

[Colman Domingo]

Amoroso's Rolls.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yes. Right. Those rolls. Those rolls were right there. The. That all the cold cuts were laid out in front of you. It just had a very specific smell. And I think that's probably like a very. Like, it can suck me right back home at any time and place. And then, like, I don't know if you did. We never went on vacation.

[Colman Domingo]

No. There was no vacation. No. So other people did that.

[Mark Consuelos]

Right. So we would watch the prices. Right. When school was out, like, that was our big thing. The price is right. But at the end, my dad would have, like, two days off. He was a bus driver, so he would have two days off. And we would drive down to the Jersey Shore. With my dad cursing the entire time. And we stayed. We would go to Sea Isle City in this apartment over a garage and. And we spent these two days at the Jersey Shore. And there was a place called Mac and Mango Pizza. And we would get Mac and Mango pizza. We would get a Bob's Lemonade, and we would get saltwater taffy from the Fudge King. The Fudge King? Yeah. And we like it. You would think that we were going to Paris for six months.

[Colman Domingo]

The page around it, going down the shore.

[Mark Consuelos]

Going down the shore was like a rite of passage. And it was the greatest. It was just the greatest thing.

[Colman Domingo]

When I was a teenager, my neighbors, they had a house in Cape May.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

It was the first time I would go down there with their family, with the story family. And we go down to Cape May, and we were literally the only black family there, basically. But it was just incredible. But the thing that I remember it so well was picking muscles off of the rocks and taking them back in a big, big old bowl and, like, cooking the mussel. The fresh mussels.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

Incredible. That was like the best thing.

[Mark Consuelos]

People don't even understand how great the Jersey Shore is.

[Colman Domingo]

What about pork rolls? It's pretty great.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah. Taylor, Pork roll.

[Kelly Ripa]

Oh, my gosh.

[Mark Consuelos]

Forget it.

[Colman Domingo]

It also can be a place that smells like vomit.

[Mark Consuelos]

I mean, especially. I was just gonna say it, like, no disrespect to Wildwood, but Wildwood is like a whole other.

[Colman Domingo]

Exactly.

[Mark Consuelos]

So are you playing Joe Jackson?

[Colman Domingo]

I am. I'm playing Joe Jackson. I am.

[Mark Consuelos]

So have you started shooting that?

[Colman Domingo]

We finished it and everything. It's in its edit right now.

[Mark Consuelos]

Have you met any of the Jacksons?

[Colman Domingo]

I've met a lot of the Jacksons I met.

[Mark Consuelos]

Which. Which one?

[Colman Domingo]

Prince Jackson, Michael's son, is one of the producers, so he was on set every day. And also I met Marlon Jackson. I believe Katherine Jackson has been to set. I didn't get the chance to meet her, but a lot of people who were even around the Jackson family, who worked for the Jacksons, they were around a lot, which is great. So it really is. We have the family's blessing. And they sort of didn't get in the way of, like, you know, whatever story we're telling. And I think it's going to want to tell you the big discovery is going to be Jafar Jackson, who is Jermaine Jackson's son. And when I tell you he's the spitting image of Michael, he sounds like him. It feels like a spiritual connection because it's like Anytime you're listening to him speak, he speaks in that sort of softness that Michael's spoke with. He's just a lovely, lovely human and an incredible performer. Incredible.

[Mark Consuelos]

I'm so excited about this. This, by the way, Jafar Jackson. I always thought Jermaine Jackson's kids had the best names.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, yeah, Your Majesty.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah, exactly.

[Mark Consuelos]

I was like, why did my parents not name me Jermajest?

[Colman Domingo]

Exactly, exactly, your Majesty. Ripa, I think.

[Mark Consuelos]

I mean, it rolls off the tongue.

[Kelly Ripa]

So did you love.

[Mark Consuelos]

Wait, did you love the Jackson 5? Did you love Michael Jackson?

[Colman Domingo]

Oh, who didn't? I was Die Hard. Absolutely. I mean, every. I remember the. The Victory tour in particular.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

Because that album, it was. Suddenly they were on space. I still remember that whole album cover and the way they were dressed and it was sexy. And suddenly they weren't kids anymore. They're grown men. And they're, like, hot. And they're like, you know, just performing their asses off. Oh, yeah. I love them.

[Mark Consuelos]

I remember trying to win tickets on the radio station. We couldn't afford tickets, so my sister and I would sit by the phone and every time they were giving away tickets.

[Colman Domingo]

Power 99 FM.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, of course. We would sit there and just like, dial.

[Colman Domingo]

Exactly.

[Mark Consuelos]

And keep dialing. And keep dialing. It was so.

[Colman Domingo]

Isn't that some wild. The fact we used to keep dialing and we. Listen. We kept dialing, but we didn't have a push. A push button. We had no.

[Mark Consuelos]

We were dialing. So we were at a disadvantage. We were disadvantaged. So the last four digits was 1771. So, yeah, the one is great. But you had to get through the 7:1.

[Colman Domingo]

Do you remember when phone numbers were always like, GR2 or.

[Mark Consuelos]

Of course.

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

Very quickly, while we're on the Jacksons, do you feel the way I feel that Ribi Jackson is the unsung Jackson?

[Colman Domingo]

I completely feel that way because she dropped Centipede on us.

[Mark Consuelos]

Thank you.

[Colman Domingo]

And then went away.

[Mark Consuelos]

Thank you.

[Colman Domingo]

She was like, mic Drop, Centipede. How about that, bitches?

[Mark Consuelos]

She's like, mic Drop, and I'm leaving the business.

[Colman Domingo]

She said, fuck everybody. I can sing my ass off. Goodbye. I still don't know what the song Centipede is about, though.

[Mark Consuelos]

Nobody does and nobody can. And if you watch the video, it is even more perplexing.

[Colman Domingo]

Video is crazy, though. It's crazy town.

[Mark Consuelos]

My prom dress is an exact replica of B. Jackson's red dress in Centipede.

[Colman Domingo]

That video is. I've watched it maybe about six months ago, and I was like, what the. No, no, no.

[Mark Consuelos]

We watch it three times a week at work. There's my prom dress.

[Colman Domingo]

That beat. It's so fucking hot.

[Mark Consuelos]

Here comes tigers, tarantulas.

[Colman Domingo]

What does any of this mean?

[Jan Albert]

Beat is hot.

[Mark Consuelos]

No, it doesn't. It has no meaning. Yeah, it doesn't. It has no meaning.

[Colman Domingo]

Centipede is crawling. You'll be crying through the night. So many tears and it's crawling like a centipede. What the fuck does that mean? What does any of that mean?

[Mark Consuelos]

Who cares? Who cares? The greatest I. Please. There was a day on our show, on the talk show on live tv, that I can't remember the subject. It was like we were talking about Michael Jackson. For whatever reason, Regis was still alive, and Regis was still, still on the show. So this is. I'm talking 20 years ago. And I said to him, the greatest Jackson song ever written was Ruby Jackson's Centipede. And he was like, what are you talking about? There was no Google. But I was like, it's an amazing song. I have to go home to South Jersey to find my old Maxi album. Maxi single.

[Colman Domingo]

The sad thing is that no one ever knows a Latoya song. Do you know a Latoya song, though?

[Mark Consuelos]

No, I don't know a Latoya song.

[Colman Domingo]

I don't think Latoya had any hits. But she did wear good headbands. That's what she's giving us. Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

So tell me this story about how you met your husband, because Jan sort of gave me, like, the backstory, but it doesn't sound real. It's May, and that means it's Asian.

[Kelly Ripa]

American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Macy's is celebrating by recognizing the diverse identities and valuable contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Discover a range of AAPI owned brands available at Macy's. And for a limited time, you can show love to AAPI scholars by rounding up in store or donating online. The money raised supports student success and access to higher education. Celebrate the AAPI community at Macy's this May. Visit Macy's.compurpose to learn more. Whether you're all about simple mascara and gloss, or you love to play with bold shapes and colors with Thrive cosmetics, there's always a favorite for your every look. Like their Infinity waterproof eyeliner that comes in bold and classic neutral shades to complement every eye color and skin tone. And the best part, for every product purchase, Thrive donates products and funds to help communities Thrive. So while I would already have bought their makeup, this makes it so, so much more satisfying. Knowing that some of the money goes to a good cause, try your new trusty favorites with an exclusive set for our listeners. New customers can get the liquid lash extension mascara and a mini size brilliant eye brightener at a special set price with free shipping. Available at thrivecosmetics.comoffcamera or save more with 20% off your first [e-mail] offcamera that's Thrive Cosmetics. C A U S E M E t I c s.com off camera for 20% off your first order.

[Mark Consuelos]

So tell me this story about how you met your husband. Because it doesn't sound real, you know.

[Colman Domingo]

Because it doesn't feel real, to be honest. It's.

[Kelly Ripa]

Tell me.

[Colman Domingo]

First, first of all, we're celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary in two days.

[Mark Consuelos]

Amazing.

[Colman Domingo]

Thank you guys. But we met almost 20 years ago. Next year will be 20 years. We literally met in the stone ages of technology because, and I say that because I was really minding my business. One night I was, I was, I lived in New York, but I went to Berkeley Rep to do a show. So on Sunday night, I decided to go to go to Walgreens to get a mask. I wanted to get like a Queen Helene mask, like get my pores together. So I go in there and walking out of Walgreens was this beautiful, beautiful man with hair down past his shoulders and a lip piercing. And I was like, what? And he had the greenest eyes. I don't know, he just looked like something out of a fairy tale. And we just locked eyes and I was just awestruck by. So then I came back outside. I didn't even go inside. I came, came back out. And I'm looking at him, he's looking at me. He's with this girl. And this girl seems to be pissed off about something, but he keeps looking over at me. And I was on the phone with somebody who was just gabbing away. I said, okay, I need to go, I need to go. I want to talk to this guy. And I finally hang up. By the time I hang up, he, he and this girl there, she's dragging him down the street down Shadduck Avenue in Berkeley. And he keeps looking back at me. And I raised my hand to say, come back. He doesn't come back. And so I was like. So then I'm really. I was, I'll tell you the full story. I was so kind of dazed about all of this. I go back outside and I think, will he come back? And I thought, well, maybe he felt the same way. And I'm a romantic. Maybe he'll meet me back here next Sunday at 8 o' clock if he felt the same way. So I put that away. Three days later, I'm trying to buy a used computer on Craigslist because I got a grant to help out with my writing. You know, I was a struggling artist. I was on Craigslist like a good hour and then I was just staring at the home screen and I remember reading all those Craigslist missed connections and I thought, well, what if I wrote one of those?

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh my gosh.

[Colman Domingo]

So I started just reading them and then I get to the second page, third from the top, and I see it says, saw you outside of Walgreens, Berkeley. I literally jumped the up. And I was, get the fuck out of here. That's me. I click on it. I almost clicked on it. Like I was scared. Like I clicked it. And he described me and my faux hawk because it was 20 years ago when I had a faux hawk. And he described me to a T and said, I'm sorry. We were lost and my friend was rushing off. I hope this finds you. Apparently he posted that just an hour before. He tried to post it three times before, but it go up until like an hour before I reach out to him by email. We agree to meet up two days later in San Francisco at this bar named Dalva, called Dalva. I go in there, we have a beautiful night. I trying to be a good boy. He wants me to go home with him. I'm like, I'm trying to, you know.

[Mark Consuelos]

Make him earn it a little bit more.

[Colman Domingo]

I'm trying not to be a whore. Yes, exactly.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yes. I got it. I'm with you. I understand. Understand.

[Colman Domingo]

You understand. So I was like, you know, I'm trying to practice some good behavior. So I, I, I was like, well, how about this? I, I'll go home with you, but we can just, let's just cuddle tonight. Because I really something about him I really liked. I just really liked him. And so we're laying there and I couldn't sleep. It's about 4 in the morning and I just say this quietly. I didn't think he was awake or anything. I just said, I think I love you and you're about to change my life. Oh my God. And he heard me, but he didn't say anything. And so we've been together ever since. Like when I tell you, God. And then get this, here, here's the coda to the story. There's another, there's a coda we believe we were supposed to meet two, two years before because we started to find out. I was like, oh, my agent is in the building on Gary street in San Francisco. Oh, really? I used to work on Gary Street. I used to work at a. For Gucci. I was a tailor at that same building. I was like, really? Oh yeah. What floor was it on? I said, my agent was on the sixth floor. He's like, oh my God, I worked on the fifth floor. And then we both remember this one moment because it was one of those old buildings that had one of them old timey elevators.

[Kelly Ripa]

Elevators that you.

[Mark Consuelos]

Hold it.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yeah, yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

And I remember it was a packed elevator and I was going up to my agent's office and this guy comes in with bolts of fabrics and big bags. And he was really kind of interesting and beautiful. And he comes in real quickly and then turns around with his back towards me. And I thought, oh, wow, who's this? And then he gets off on that floor on the fifth floor. And I thought there was something energetically with him. And then I get up there. He remembered that. He said, I remember getting on Elvie and I thought there was a guy. I didn't look back, but I thought he was so beautiful.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh my God. And so when did you get married? 10 years ago. You said?

[Colman Domingo]

Yeah. So we became domestic partners first. Six months later, he got down on his knee and proposed to me in our living room of my illegal sublet in Harlem and asked me to be his partner. And so we went to City hall and became domestic partners back when you couldn't get married. And then we were together. And then 10 years ago we decided, actually, the most beautiful thing is I wanted to make a change the day of my mother's passing and make it something very special. So the day of my mother's passing is the same day as our wedding anniversary.

[Kelly Ripa]

So it's a happy occasion.

[Colman Domingo]

It's a happy occasion.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah.

[Colman Domingo]

And so, yeah, so we did that and we did it. We got married in our rent stabilized apartment in Manhattan at Manhattan Plaza. We didn't tell anybody it was our wedding. We had a cake from Whole Foods, we had fried chicken from Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, oh my gosh, all the red flowers from Trader Joe's. And we said on a Friday afternoon before a lot of our friends went to half hour call in the theater, we had people over and just say, hey, welcome to our wedding. They were like, when is it? We're like, now. So we surprised everybody with our wedding.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's amazing.

[Colman Domingo]

And then we just we hung out, people went to the shows, came back. We partied till like four in the morning. It was just the most beautiful thing. It wasn't expensive, it wasn't crazy. My husband doesn't like a fuss. He doesn't want to put people out, so. So he's like, let's just surprise people. And if they can be there, they can be there. If they want to celebrate us another time, they can do that.

[Mark Consuelos]

It's incredible. And do you feel. Did you feel different having the wedding versus the domestic partnership? Did something feel different?

[Colman Domingo]

I did. Something felt different. And I think I felt like, oh, I really belong to someone and they belong to me. And we have a commitment that we're building our lives together. I look out for that person's well being. Something changed and it just. And we've been together for a long time, but it's something really changed where you're saying, oh, I have a husband now.

[Mark Consuelos]

Very, very special. Coleman, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. I love you. I adore you. We're determined to have a family rooftop dinner.

[Colman Domingo]

Done and done. That sounds good.

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. And listeners, don't forget to check out Coleman's movie, Sing Sing. It is fantastic. You're going to win an Academy Award. I'm going to win 20 bucks. It's very exciting.

[Colman Domingo]

Thank you.

[Mark Consuelos]

Thank you so much. Bye.

[Colman Domingo]

Bye.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, that was great.

[Colman Domingo]

We did it.

[Kelly Ripa]

That was special.

[Mark Consuelos]

We did it. Well, look, guys, what more do you want from me? Bob Iger, Coleman, Domingo. I mean, what more? I'm just one woman.

[Albert Bianchini]

These are great.

[Mark Consuelos]

Don't forget to listen and rate and review us on Apple podcast.

[Kelly Ripa]

Jen, how many stars?

[Jan Albert]

Five stars.

[Mark Consuelos]

Five stars. Thank you very much, Albert.

[Albert Bianchini]

Oh, it's a full five.

[Mark Consuelos]

A full five. This podcast deserves six stars.

[Jan Albert]

And upcoming guest news alert. Maybe.

[Kelly Ripa]

Yes. Joe Ripa. Oh, Joe Ripa.

[Jan Albert]

By popular demand.

[Mark Consuelos]

You know, speaking of South Jersey, you know what's great? What's great is we'll do it with my dad, but trust me, we'll hear my mother's mouth in the background. I can't wait. My mother will be disputing things.

[Jan Albert]

This is what people said they wanted to hear. We're gonna bring it to our fans.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, we're definitely doing it. Maybe. Hopefully my Uncle Romeo will be there with them because essentially they're like the new Janet Jack and Chrissy. So. Janet Jack. I mean, it's so bizarre. It's like my dad, my Uncle Romeo and my mom are living next door to each other in like side by side one bedroom condos at the Jersey shore.

[Albert Bianchini]

You need to be downstairs in one of your ropers.

[Colman Domingo]

There you are.

[Mark Consuelos]

My dad's always like, he's like, why don't you come see us at the Jersey Shore? And I'm like, sure, you tell me when's good for you. When's good.

[Kelly Ripa]

I want to go.

[Mark Consuelos]

You know, I'll come, I'll get a hotel. They're like, you don't need a hotel. You'll stay with us. And I'm like, where? Oh, no, we have a Murphy bed. I'm like, no, dad. God, I. I am an established person.

[Albert Bianchini]

Can we go, please? Yeah, we'll go stay at a hotel.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah.

[Albert Bianchini]

I would die.

[Jan Albert]

I'm just going to say bye, everyone. Can't wait to talk.

[Mark Consuelos]

Up next.

[Jan Albert]

Cue myself.

[Albert Bianchini]

Cue yourself, Jan.

[Kelly Ripa]

Let's talk off camera.

[Mark Consuelos]

With Kelly Rapa is a production of.

[Kelly Ripa]

Malojo Productions with help from Goat Rode. Our theme song is Follow Me from.

[Mark Consuelos]

Apm, Music from Melojo. Our team is Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Albert Bianchini, Jan Chalet, Devin Schneider, Michael Halpern, Jacob Small, Roz Therian, Seth Gronquist and Julia Desch from Goat Rodeo. Our team is Kara Schillen, Megan Nidolski, Max Johnston, Isabel Kirby McGowan and Rebecca Seidel.

[Kelly Ripa]

Additional sound design by Terence Bernardo. This show is powered by Stitcher.

[Mark Consuelos]

Have you ever noticed how celebrities have brighter, whiter looking eyes? Their makeup artists have a little secret in their kit. Lumify Redness Reliever eye drops. Lumify dramatically reduces redness in just one minute. It literally happens right before your eyes. It helps your eyes look brighter, whiter and more awake for up to eight hours. No wonder Lumify is so loved by influencers, celebrities and makeup artists and has over 6,000 five star reviews on Amazon. Lumify is also the number one eye doctor recommended redness reliever eye drop and it's FDA approved. No bleach, no dyes, just incredible results. Plus, it's made by the eye care experts at Bausch and Lom. So whether you're on set, on a date or running on just a few hours of sleep, Lumify can help your eyes look brighter and whiter. When you try it, you'll see that it's what your eyes have been looking for. Check out lumify eyes.com to learn more.

[Devin Schneider]

Change is always happening. But no matter what changes in five years, there's one thing that will stay the same. The price of your Internet with the Xfinity five year price guarantee. You get five years of the most reliable WI fi with our best equipment included for a price that stays exactly the same. Restrictions apply. New residential customers only. Taxes and fees extra and subject to change. Most reliable WI Fi based on Open Signal Awards USA Fixed Broadband Experience Report August 2024.