Colman Domingo Gives Update On ‘Scandalous!’ Directorial Debut With ‘Euphoria’ Co-Star Sydney Sweeney: “A Beautiful, Sweet Film”
It’s shaping up to be a busy year for Colman Domingo, who’s preparing to make his directorial debut with Scandalous! in 2025.
While discussing his new Netflix series The Madness, the Oscar-nominated actor told Deadline he’s planning to go into production on the upcoming film, which stars Sydney Sweeney in a “fractured love story between Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak,” after they complete filming on Season 3 of HBO‘s Euphoria in the summer of 2025.
“Our goal is to shoot it right after we’re both done with Euphoria, so hopefully I’ll go into prep right after that next year, probably in the third quarter of next year,” he noted. “And then hopefully we’ll make a beautiful, sweet film that’s really about the possibility of love, but under many eyes, trying to have privacy, trying to have love, trying to have a life. And I think it’s something that Sydney and I both know very well. We’re trying to advocate for your humanity again in your life.”
Domingo praised Sweeney for bringing him onto the project after working together on Euphoria, in which he plays Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Ali Muhammed and she stars as high school student Cassie Howard. They both return for the long-awaited third season, which begins filming in January.
“The beautiful thing is, Sydney Sweeney as a producer brought me on board as a director for this. The project landed in her hands, and she thought, who would be a good director to engage with her on this, and she thought about me,” he explained. “I read the script, and I had some notes — I did a page-one rewrite of it. She loved it. So, we were really engaging one-on-one in that way of what possibly we can make together, sort of this fractured love story between Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak.
“And then we also just cast David Jonsson to go on this journey with us, so it feels still very intimate, with Jonathan Glickman at Miramax. So, it feels like we’re still in the dream state of it,” added Domingo.
Novak, star of Vertigo, and Rat Pack member Davis were at the peak of star power when they met while guests on The Steve Allen Show. They fell hard for each other, but as rumors spread, the rampant racism in America threatened to derail their careers. Novak experience the ire of Harry Cohn, the Columbia Pictures chief who had the actress under contract. Her covert affair with Davis became big news when a Chicago gossip columnist wrote a detailed account of their relationship in early 1958, including their plans to wed, despite their denials. Nine days later, Davis married a Black chorus girl named Loray White.
