ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Colman Domingo about starring in the new Netflix thriller series The Madness. Domingo discussed what drew him to the project, what it’s like to play a James Bond-like character, and more.
“Muncie Daniels is a political consultant-turned-TV pundit who may have lost his way in life. While on a work sabbatical in the Poconos to write the great American novel, Muncie finds himself the only witness to the murder of a well-known white supremacist, and now he’s being framed for the crime,” the synopsis for the series reads. “Muncie is forced to go on the run in a desperate fight to clear his name and unravel a global conspiracy before time runs out. Along the way he’ll reconnect with his family, find unlikely allies, and fight against disinformation in a post-truth age.”
The Madness releases on Netflix on November 28, 2024.
Brandon Schreur: Colman, you’ve had such a spectacular past couple of years. You were just nominated for an Oscar last year for your performance in Rustin, and you were in Sing Sing this year, which I thought was absolutely incredible. Then you get the script for The Madness that comes across. What’s going through your mind when you’re reading it for the first time? What made you want to be involved in this project?
Colman Domingo: I’m telling you, it’s kind of divine in that way. Literally, I was talking to my agent, Elizabeth, about what I’d like to do next. I said, “I’d like another challenge.” I think everything that I do, I set myself up for a challenge, something I’ve never done before. I thought, “Well, I haven’t done a thriller,” and I said, “Who wouldn’t want to have their own James Bond or Three Days of the Condor moment?” I thought, “That’s what I want.” I want something that’s going to push and challenge me in every single way, not just with the character and the story, but also just physically.
I didn’t know exactly what it was, but then I get this offer to play Muncie Daniels in The Madness. I thought, “That’s it.” This doesn’t feel like something I’ll easily get or figure out. I had a lot of questions about Muncie, how to play him, and how to embody him physically. That’s also part of the draw. I thought this was a very difficult character.
Once I understood sort of the mechanics about him, that he’s someone who shifts based on the room that he’s in — he’s a shape-shifter, he’s a coat-switcher. That’s part of the way he was raised, but it’s also part of what makes him successful, being a CNN pundit, as well as a college professor. I wanted to lean into that. For me, it’s always questions that I have about a character and I want to see how they live in me. That was exactly why I wanted to be Muncie Daniels.
Sure. No, definitely, that makes total sense. He’s such an interesting and cool character, too. You brought up James Bond, I was going to bring that up, too. There’s another part in the second episode where your character’s daughter compares you to John Wick. That was going on in the back of my mind, there’s a lot of John Wick, James Bond, and even some Sherlock Holmes going on with this character. Do you welcome those kinds of comparisons or is Muncie a totally different person you’re trying to do something different with?
Yeah. Are you kidding? It’s nice to have him living in that space. I feel like, I love the idea of the John Wick — someone who has all these kinds of tricks and can figure this stuff out. Because Muncie is very smart. He doesn’t know that he has some John Wick qualities. He has no idea. He just sits behind a desk. But he’s been taking jiu-jitsu and doing all this physical work. Then he’s thrust into this space where he’s got to fight for his life, fight for his reputation, and fight for his family.
Therefore, he’s like, ‘I’m the only one who is going to advocate for me. Not the police, not society. So what am I going to do?’ It’s fight or flight. And, at some point in the series, he tries to choose flight because it’s actually easier. But he’s like, “Fighting is something that’s going to call on some other forces that you’re not even aware of.” So I love that he lives in that space of these iconic men.
Totally. it makes for such an interesting show, too, just watching him navigate all that. I mean this in a complimentary way, but the show is kind of frustrating just watching you and your character. It’s not a, ‘Did he do it? Did he not do it?’ kind of show. We know you’re innocent, but you still have to face all kinds of prejudice, people who don’t believe you, and everything like that. I’m wondering, was that frustrating at all? I mean, obviously you read the script, you know what’s going to happen, you know your lines, but, to get into character, is it frustrating to do those scenes?
Well, he’s frustrated the entire time because he’s like, “No, I’m telling the truth.” That’s what I love, the lens of it. You know, your central character, you know he didn’t do it. But now your lens is swinging around and looking at how society views him, looking at what can be used against him — whatever he’s said or done online, you name it, in the court of public opinion.
That’s actually the world we live in right now. Where the truth is doubted, it’s challenged, even when you absolutely know the truth. This is why folks are wrongly incarcerated, you name it. It’s really playing on what we know about the world that we live in, which is the madness.
Thanks to Colman Domingo for taking the time to talk about The Madness.
