1 of 4 | Colman Domingo’s “Dead Man’s Wire” premieres on Netflix Thursday. Photo courtesy of ROW K Entertainment
Michael, Running Man, Euphoria and Four Seasons actor Colman Domingo says working with renowned filmmaker Gus Van Sant on Dead Man’s Wire exceeded his expectations.
Van Sant is known for helming Milk, Good Will Hunting, To Die For, Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho.
“He’s one of the kindest, most gentle — with a little twinkle-in-his-eye sense of humor — artist,” Domingo, 56, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
“What I love is that it feels a little like, even though it’s very organized and laid out, it still feels like a bit of guerrilla-style direction, like he wants the rough edges. He doesn’t want the polished version of it,” he explained.
“Take after take, he may give me a very gentle question or thought and then, when he had it, he had it. He’s not over-covering a scene. He’s trusts the film that he’s making.”
Starring Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Myha’la and Al Pacino, Dead Man’s Wire is based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis, the cash-strapped man who held Richard Hall, an Indianapolis banker, hostage for more than two days in 1977 because he felt he had been swindled.
The incident became a cause celebre with some members of the public and the media supporting Kiritsis because they believed he was fighting injustice.
Domingo plays Fred Temple, a fictionalized version of Fred Heckman, the real radio disc jockey who helped de-escalate the situation and, miraculously, no one was seriously injured.
“He sort of talked [Kiritsis] down a bit. He wasn’t a negotiator, but he was a surrogate in many ways. We turned him into Fred Temple and we wanted to make him the voice of the people,” Domingo said.
“So, he was this cool, laid-back, radio DJ that you knew and anyone wished that they had a friend like him, that would listen, that would say, ‘It’s OK, brother.’ He wouldn’t judge them. So, I think those are the cues that I took when I was doing my research.”
In addition to having the real guy on which to base his performance, Domingo also looked back to Georgie Woods, a popular radio personality he listened to on WDAS when he was growing up in Philadelphia.
“The thing that I knew that everybody loved about Georgie Woods was that Georgie Woods had this real deep baritone. It had an ease. And, so, for me, I sort of called on Georgie Woods,” Domingo said. “That was my own childhood inspiration.”
The actor emphasized Temple didn’t insert himself into this life-or-death situation, but rather rose to the occasion when he learned he was the only person Kiritsis would listen to.
“He has no experience with this whatsoever. He’s someone who does his job, has a lovely home with his wife and, maybe a kid or two, and he’s just trying to be a good human being,” Domingo said.
“He’s thrust into this situation that’s way above his pay grade,” he added. “He’s just trying to navigate it and just trying to keep things a bit cool. I think that’s part of his personality: ‘Let’s just keep it cool. Let’s not do anything you’ll regret.'”
Dead Man’s Wire premieres Thursday on Netflix, the same day Season 2 of Domingo’s dramedy series, The Four Seasons, drops on the streaming service.
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Colman Domingo arrives for the 2011 Tony Awards Meet the Nominees Press Reception in New York on May 4, 2011. Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/UPI | License Photo
