Colman Domingo’s Mother Wrote Letters To Oprah, Tribute

Before Colman Domingo was an Emmy Award-winning actor, he was a struggling artist with a dream and his mother was willing to do whatever it took to make that dream come true.

of Rustin The star, who began her career on the theater stage in 1998, recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Talking Off Camera with Kelly Ripa He talks about his poor upbringing and the support he received from his mother, Edith Bowles.

“My mom wrote letters to Oprah,” Coleman told Kelly. “She wrote to Oprah at least six times, and I remember thinking, ‘Mom, why are you writing to Oprah again?'”

“She wrote me because I was a struggling artist. She believed in me and she would write me sometimes, especially when I was feeling down and complaining about not getting auditions or getting work. And she’d say, ‘You know, I wrote to Oprah.’ And I said, ‘Why?’ She said, ‘Well, because Oprah helps people.'”

She believed that if she could get her son on Oprah’s show, he would quickly realize how “amazing” Coleman was and want to help his career.

The 54-year-old Philadelphia native recalled that his mother was against the idea, having reached out to media moguls and even that Oprah could actually help.

“I was, you know, bitter and disgruntled. [I said,] “No, Mom. What are you talking about? Get out of here. You’ll never get on that show. Oprah doesn’t care.”

Now, fast forward to the present, and not only have Coleman and Oprah worked together (most recently in a musical period drama); Color Purple) but they are also friends.

During a hiking trip a few years ago, Coleman revealed that she was able to tell Oprah about her mother’s plans.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, I have to tell you. My mom wrote you letters over and over and over and I think she realized those letters reached your heart,'” Coleman said. “And she stood there clutching her chest and didn’t say anything and she held my hand and we just kept walking.”

“To make it even more surreal, I wrote this play. Wild and happyIs that right? It’s actually out on Audible right now. In the film, it’s about a man who’s grieving the loss of his mother, and it’s a black comedy. At one point, I remembered a conversation I had with my mother about her writing a letter to Oprah, so I cast this for Audible and wondered if anyone had offered Oprah anything as an actress recently.

“So I decided to offer her the role of the mother and she accepted. And then Oprah literally said, ‘Do you want me to write Oprah?’ So I directed Oprah in this film, so it’s very meta in a lot of ways.”