"Led by actor Colman Domingo, “Rustin” tells the story of Bayard Rustin, the unsung hero behind the 1963 March on Washington. Directed by George C. Wolfe, the movie brings to light the extraordinary story of a fearless activist who dared to challenge authority, leaving an indelible mark on history.
We caught up with Domingo, Wolfe, and writer Julian Breece to talk about bringing “Rustin” to life in this Netflix biographical drama.
"
We caught up with Domingo, Wolfe, and writer Julian Breece to talk about bringing “Rustin” to life in this Netflix biographical drama.
"
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00:00 I kind of wanted to just ask about transforming into him, having the teeth, wearing the outfits,
00:05 what was that like?
00:07 It was, I guess, as I did my research, and I researched and did my prep work for a good
00:13 six months, I thought it was important to find all this nuance and cadence that is specific
00:19 for him.
00:20 You know, whether, his voice is probably pitched like three octaves above mine, and so I wanted
00:26 to pitch my voice higher, I wanted to, I found imagery and photographs of the way he sat,
00:32 the way he thought, the way he leaned back in a chair, the way his tie was undone, sleeves
00:36 rolled up.
00:37 I wanted those details because they told me a lot about the character of Bayard Rustin.
00:41 The way he opened his arms up in small spaces, that for me, it was like little clues to say,
00:48 "Oh, he didn't mind taking up space and being full in who he was, in his truth," because
00:54 he was usually the smartest person in the room.
00:57 His teeth, the prosthetics that I had there, that was a very conscious decision because
01:01 I think, I believe he had three teeth knocked out, and we settled on two, so that it wouldn't
01:06 impair my speech as much, but it did give me a slight lisp, which is what he also had.
01:12 Also he spoke in this very interesting mid-Atlantic standard accent that he created himself.
01:17 So I wanted to find that nuance as well, and find out how much, for me, it was like, how
01:22 much can you dial in that an audience can still be in the journey and not think of it
01:27 as a caricature, but it's just a part of building this incredible composite of a human being.
01:32 So that's what the attempt was, and I wanted to make sure that no one saw the work, that
01:38 he was just a full, full person, that wasn't like myself.
01:42 - And you shared the screen with so many amazing people.
01:45 Did you have a favorite actor that you shared a scene with?
01:49 - So many, are you kidding?
01:50 Amel Amin, who plays Martin Luther King, is one of my dearest friends.
01:54 We've been working together for years, and I loved, I loved, I think, our scenes together
02:00 'cause they're so intimate, and it really shows the brotherhood of Rustin and Martin
02:05 Luther King, and it's tender and nuanced.
02:09 I love that.
02:10 And I also love working with Jeffrey Wright, his fiery take on Adam Clayton Powell.
02:15 My God, when he came into the room, the temperature changed.
02:19 So that was awesome.
02:20 And then you have like Audra McDonald and Glenn Turman and Michael Potts.
02:24 You have Gus Halper.
02:25 I have Johnny Ramey.
02:27 I have the lion chair.
02:28 George C. Wolfe built an incredible cast for me to play off of.
02:34 So I feel like the luckiest person.
02:35 I had to do my work and show up and respond, you know?
02:40 And we were sort of in the boxing room with each other.
02:45 I think that he was just intensely passionate about people, about taking on the causes of
02:53 people who needed to be protected.
02:55 He was a man of astonishing service, and he was a man of incredible dedication and focus
03:01 and brilliance.
03:05 I learned about Bayard Rustin really by chance when I was high school age, but not in my
03:11 high school classes, unfortunately.
03:14 You know, I was a teenager, a gay teenager, sort of coming to terms with my sexuality
03:19 at the time.
03:20 And I was just on the Internet looking for other signs of gay life.
03:24 And Keith Boykin, who is a media personality, he had a blog at the time that told the histories
03:32 of our gay black people throughout American history.
03:37 And one of those people was Bayard Rustin.
03:40 And I remember just being floored that, because I did know about Martin Luther King.
03:46 And just the idea that there was a gay man who was one of Martin Luther King's main mentors
03:54 blew my mind.
03:56 And he'd become a hero from that point on.
04:00 And so after film school, there was an opportunity that came up.
04:05 I heard that Dustin Lance Black was developing a film about Bayard Rustin, and he was looking
04:11 for a writer.
04:12 So I went after it.
04:14 I had my manager go after it.
04:16 I wrote Lance a long email just letting him know, you know, how much Bayard meant to me
04:23 and what kind of movie I felt like a film about him should be.
04:28 We met up and we hit it off.
04:30 And shortly after that, I started a research process.
04:33 And that was 10 years ago.
04:35 Yeah.
04:36 What are you really excited for audiences to take away after learning or just learning
04:41 more about Rustin?
04:42 You know, I hope that audiences will take away that Bayard was someone who, he was working
04:49 for the Black Freedom Movement in America from the beginning.
04:54 And you know, he ended up being pushed out because there was a fear that him being gay
04:59 could derail the movement.
05:01 But ultimately, he fought to be back in the movement because he knew that he had what
05:07 it took to effectuate change for all of us.
05:12 Thank goodness that he did that.
05:13 Right.
05:14 So and for me, it really is like we just need to think about the people who we are pushing
05:19 away because they're different.
05:21 Because those are the people that could really deliver us from a lot of the problems that
05:26 we're having right now.
05:27 Like right now, we are in a volatile moment, very similar to the moment that we were in
05:33 in the early 1960s, where any progress that was made at that point, toward equality for
05:41 all people was rolling back.
05:43 We see that happening right now.
05:46 And we might be pushing away the people that can actually help us get out of this mess.
05:52 That kind of goes along with what I was gonna ask.
05:54 I know that Bayard was out as much as you could be at that time.
05:57 So knowing that there's audiences that are going to be going into this who are now out
06:01 in 2023, how did you make it so that they would really connect with him?
06:05 Yeah, I mean, I think that for me right now, the importance of being out and being vocal
06:12 and supporting other people who may be struggling to come out is so important because we all
06:18 have to stand up right now.
06:20 Because the things that are happening, we're seeing these book bans, we're seeing extreme
06:26 violence against trans women in this country that people continue not to take seriously.
06:34 They are trying to create a chilling effect that makes us go back into the closet, that
06:39 silences us.
06:41 And now we have to be louder than ever.
06:44 So those of us that are out, it's a privilege, right?
06:49 And now is the time for us to take the privilege that we have and to get a little uncomfortable
06:54 and maybe do things that frighten us.
06:58 But that, those that came before us had to do for us to be here.
07:01 It's our time now.
07:05 Can you just say, I know that you were sitting on this for like 10 years.
07:07 Do you have another project that you can tease out that you're waiting to come out?
07:11 Yeah, I'm working on a movie now that is set in Chicago.
07:16 And I can't say exactly what it is, but it's about a musical form that was created by young
07:23 gay black men in Chicago.
07:26 And I'm really excited about it.
07:28 And that's going to be a project that I'm directing and want to be in production in
07:31 that next year.
07:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]