Why Colman Domingo Feels Hotter At 55 Than He Did At 25
Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo is sharing why he feels more confident in his skin now than at any other point in his life. At 55, the Rustin and Euphoria star says he’s finally comfortable with who he is.
Aging like fine wine.
“I feel sexier,” Domingo recently shared in The New York Times. “I didn’t feel this way in my 20s or 30s or 40s. I feel I’m getting better at being in my body and being clear about what I do.”
The actor says confidence comes with age. “It’s a gift you’re given when you’re in your 50s, and no one tells you that,” he explained. “You just have to experience it for yourself.”
When people tell him he looks like he’s in his 30s, Domingo doesn’t accept it as a simple compliment. “I also say, no, this is what 55 looks like when you take care of yourself, when you are loved, when you are joyful,” he said. His goal? “I hope I look even better at 65.”
A Walgreens meet-cute for the ages.
So who’s behind that joy? His husband Raúl Domingo, whom he met in the most unexpected way back in 2005. The story is pure romance.
Colman was walking into a Walgreens in Berkeley, California, when he spotted a “beautiful” man with long hair and a lip piercing walking out. They locked eyes. But both were distracted. Colman was on the phone and Raúl was mid-argument with a friend.
“And he keeps looking at me,” Domingo recalled on The Graham Norton Show. But the moment passed. Raúl disappeared down the street.
Three days later, fate intervened. While browsing Craigslist for a used computer, Colman stumbled upon the Missed Connections section. There it was: “I saw you outside of Walgreens in Berkeley…”
“I literally jumped out of my chair when I saw the post,” he told GQ.
Love at 4am.
Colman responded with his own message: “To the sweet angel with the most arresting eyes…” They met for their first date at a bar in San Francisco. That night changed everything.
At 4am, while cuddling together, Colman thought Raúl was asleep. He whispered: “I think I love you and you’re about to change my life.”
Raúl heard every word. They’ve been together for 20 years now.
Their first summer together, Colman landed an acting job in Juneau, Alaska. Rather than do long distance, Raúl took a job as an assistant costume designer on the same production. That November, Raúl proposed. They married in 2014 at an intimate ceremony disguised as a house party with just 25 guests.
Out and proud from day one.
Domingo has been open about his sexuality his entire career. He came out to his family in his 20s. “I’ve been blessed with a loving family that has accepted me from the moment I came out,” he said, “so I was always able to be myself.”
In 2005, he wrote and starred in A Boy and His Soul, a one-man show about his coming-out experience in Philadelphia. The play premiered at San Francisco’s Thick Description theater and later won him a Lucille Lortel Award.
“There was never a big coming-out story and a heroic rise,” Domingo told Out magazine. He’s been quietly doing the work for three decades without fanfare.
His Oscar nomination for playing civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in 2024 made him the first openly gay Black American man nominated for Best Actor. But he’s frustrated by how his identity overshadows his craft.
“With Denzel [Washington], they don’t put the words ‘straight actor’ in his descriptive,” Domingo noted in The Advocate. “But when some write about Colman Domingo, they always seem to include ‘out actor.’ How about just actor?”
What age really means.
Now, as he approaches his mid-50s, Domingo has found something even more valuable than accolades. Peace.
The combination of self-acceptance, enduring love, and decades of lived experience has given him a confidence he never had when he was younger. He’s proof that the best years don’t have to be behind you.
At DNA, we reckon 55 never looked so good.
