Colman Domingo juggles Danny, Ali, and his new degree

Colman Domingo says the new season of Netflix comedy The Four Seasons is built around adult relationships—while he returns to HBO’s Euphoria as Rue’s sponsor Ali. In an interview, he also reflects on receiving an honorary doctorate from Temple University and d

Colman Domingo’s schedule has the clean momentum of a career that refuses to sit still. The new season of Netflix comedy series The Four Seasons launched on Thursday. and Domingo is back as Danny—pushing through uncertainty with his husband. Claude (Marco Calvani). as they question what comes next for their life together.

But the same week also brings Domingo back to HBO’s Euphoria for another stretch as Rue’s sponsor Ali. And if you’ve seen him on the big screen lately, you might know him as Michael Jackson’s father in the biopic Michael.

Then came another kind of milestone—one that wasn’t on a set. A few lucky college grads from Temple University recently witnessed Domingo receive an honorary doctorate degree and deliver a stirring commencement speech this spring on the Philadelphia campus.

Domingo frames the whirlwind as something he’s been preparing for, even if the moment feels sudden. “I feel like I’m sort of built to keep leaning into different genres. and I’ve been doing that for years. from theater work. musicals. you name it. that I feel like anything where I feel like it’s a challenge and something I haven’t done before. I want to lean into it. ” he said.

In his view, the breakthrough isn’t just a new chapter—it’s also a return. He calls revisiting Ali “one of the greatest gifts, I think, in my career,” and says stepping back into the role over the years has helped him bring more depth and wisdom into the character each time he plays him.

“I am, I’m sure, growing in a different direction and bringing that into my work,” he added. “I hope so.”

Domingo’s enthusiasm for The Four Seasons is rooted in what the show does on the surface—and what it asks beneath it. When asked how he’s feeling about Season 2. he said he feels “so good about it.” He describes it as “such a sweet show. ” simple in form. focused on relationships—platonic and romantic—and centered on a group of friends mostly in their 50s talking about life and practical questions about what comes next: death. love. and family.

“There were plenty of people who were going to come into the next phase of life and not know what to do with it,” Domingo seems to suggest through his description of the show’s pull: it feels like a reflection of “our hearts and our minds.”

He also talks about Danny’s arc this season with the kind of specificity that comes from knowing the character’s contradictions. Asked what his favorite part of Danny’s arc was. Domingo said he didn’t think Danny would be the kind of guy who wanted a child. He pointed to how the writers leaned into Danny questioning what’s next for him and his adventure—especially because he and Claude are a same-sex couple without any children. In his words, Danny is essentially asking, “Well, what’s next?”.

Domingo said he liked the way the character doesn’t want to keep living by default or repeating the routine of his life. “He didn’t want to just renovate his kitchen again and again,” he said. Instead. Danny’s search becomes tied to trying to find “the father in him and the other person he’s supposed to become.” Domingo described it as a form of examination—one he says is different from his own personal interest. because he’s not interested in being a parent.

That difference, he said, becomes a lens for exploring people who want more than just the two of them.

There’s a moment of restraint in the storyline too: Domingo acknowledges that the season doesn’t end with Danny and Claude adopting a child. “They don’t end up adopting a child by the end of the season,” he said, while emphasizing that the relationship growth still lands.

For Domingo, the emotional logic is that Danny is searching for someone or something else to care for. That’s part of why they experiment with getting the dog. He also connects the arc to Danny caretaking for his mother by the time the season ends. explaining that it starts to make more sense as the character looks for value beyond himself.

While he’s in front of the camera, Domingo is also shaping the show behind it. He told the interviewer he wanted to direct this season as well. saying he loved directing last season because it’s “such a different muscle.” He directed the first episode. which he says let him set the tone. He also described the shift in directing between formats—he had directed one-hour drama like Fear the Walking Dead. and the idea of half-hour comedy brought a different kind of attention to timing and where humor “lie[s] in a frame.”.

His goal. he said. was to create a blueprint for the season to follow after understanding what they were making in Season 1. He said his frames were designed to keep the cast in close quarters together. so that when the complicated nature of relationships spreads them out. the audience can still feel the earlier closeness.

Domingo’s broader point about The Four Seasons is that the room itself runs without ego. He said the cast includes “multi-hyphenates”—writers and directors as well—and that everyone offers ideas without trying to get something out of it. “So, that’s what feels good,” he said. “I feel like no one’s trying to get anything out of this. If anything. trying to give something. give some of your experience. and create something that’s really beautiful and impactful in a sort of small way. but you believe it can reach large audiences.”.

He’s also open about why the project drew him in. “I feel like I’m sort of built to keep leaning into different genres. ” he said earlier. explaining that he joined The Four Seasons because he had never done half-hour comedy. He described having natural instincts for humor, but said he never used that “muscle” in this form. Now, with his work being “seen a lot,” he wants to keep people guessing about what he’ll do next.

That same restlessness shows up in how he talks about returning to Euphoria. Domingo described slipping back into Ali as feeling like “second skin. ” because stepping away from a role gives him other skills and perspectives to bring back into the character. He said he hoped that returning to Ali would deepen him. and that he always raises questions with roles he has “good roots in” to “up the ante” and “go deeper.”.

Even the relationship chemistry with Zendaya has changed, he said, and it’s visible on screen. When asked about how their on-screen chemistry has developed over the seasons, Domingo said he can “see it” and pointed to episodes [in Season 3] that feel “very lived in.”

He said their dynamic shifts from something like big brother and sponsor-sponsee toward something more like father-daughter. explaining that the trust and intimacy on set show up in the way the characters speak and the way they listen to each other. “Yes. yes. it’s only been three seasons. ” he said. “but it’s been over six years.” He added that viewers can likely even feel how much the characters echo something off screen—saying Zendaya and he have had dinners and conversations outside of work.

All of that adds up to what Domingo calls the most fulfilling part of the role overall: Ali as “a blessing.” He said Ali embodies things he hopes to find useful in a character—someone trying to be of service to other people. with a past and a history. and someone working on himself and working on others. He also described Ali as “a prophet” and “the conscience of the show. ” saying that whenever Ali is in scenes. “the world starts to slow down a bit” and raises important questions.

Domingo ties that impact to something concrete. He called out an episode he singled for attention—“a 60-minute episode just at a diner”—saying he appreciates the opportunity to deliver an engaging performance with Zendaya in that timeframe. He said the episode was written by Sam. and that Sam and Zendaya believed they could deliver something “impactful and potent and propulsive.”.

He believes people will look back and see Euphoria as “a real groundbreaking series. ” even as it gathers “a lot of opinions.” He said it has smashed the zeitgeist with one of the most incredible young casts that have gone on to become incredible artists in their own right. and he points to how the series changed careers as part of what makes it matter.

When the conversation turns to fan reaction, Domingo described how, after doing this work for 35 years, he has “divorced” himself from his work “in a healthy way.” He still reads reviews to see how the work is impacting audiences, but he takes them “with a grain of salt.”

For Domingo, art is personal and risky—each piece is “a leap of faith,” and not everyone will love it. He said great art is polarizing. and that nothing he has done has been “overtly [noncontroversial].” He described the pattern as conflicting opinions that each tell you something about the lens people bring. “It all depends on how people come into the show. ” he said. and where they’re coming from on the subject matter.

That mindset—about truth, about inquiry—maps directly onto the honorary doctorate moment at Temple University. Domingo said getting the degree and speaking at commencement was “deeply personal,” explaining that he did not finish school at Temple University.

He described himself as “an inner-city kid” who went to school. supported himself with grants and “some minimal scholarships. ” and held two jobs. He said he was struggling by the time he was in his junior year. and that he moved to San Francisco. got into theater. and became a performer. Even with that break, he said there was always pressure from his parents for him to have a college degree.

Domingo described the honorary doctorate as something that honors his parents’ legacy and their belief in “that piece of paper,” saying it’s “extraordinary and meaningful” that he has a doctorate from a top university despite not having a bachelor’s or master’s.

He said he labored over the words for a good month because he wanted his speech to respond to the times. “I didn’t want young people to feel downhearted,” he said. “I wanted people to find joy and purpose out in the world.” He also said he didn’t want a speech focused on terrible things and what people can do to make a difference. “I’m like. ‘No. I want you to find joy and love. and that’ll make a lot of the difference.’”.

He traces his draw to journalism through the work he already does. He said he can draw a “huge line” between his roles. what he’s written. and many things he’s directed—describing them as having “a journalistic heart.” He said that journalistic work is inquisitive. raising questions. and going deeper to find truths.

“When I went to school at Temple University my journalism classes were about seeking and distilling the truth and the facts. ” Domingo said. “So I think that I’m just very attracted to that. I think it’s very purposeful. I just have questions about people and the times we’re living in and the why of it all. That’s a journalistic heart.”.

Colman Domingo The Four Seasons Euphoria Ali Zendaya Temple University honorary doctorate commencement speech Danny Claude Marco Calvani Michael biopic