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Two-time Oscar nominee Colman Domingo is reportedly set to star in Unforgettable, a musical biopic about the life of singer Nat King Cole. According to Deadline, Domingo will also be directing and producing the film for Lionsgate. Domingo had also co-written the script for the stage play Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole with Patricia McGregor, which had its premiere at the Geffen Playhouse.
The 56-year-old Philadelphia-born performer had earlier starred in Sing Sing and Rustin. He also appeared on Broadway in Well, Passing Strange, and Chicago, earning Tony Award nominations for his performances in The Scottsboro Boys. Other of his film credits include Zola, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and The Color Purple.
Unforgettable will focus on Nat King Cole’s career as a pioneering musician fighting racism in the entertainment industry. Nathaniel Adams Cole (1919-1965), familiarly known to audiences as Nat King Cole, distinguished himself as a singer, jazz pianist, and actor whose theme song “Unforgettable” inspired a whole generation of listeners. Cole’s album, The Magic of Christmas, became a beloved best-seller after its release in 1960. He also achieved notoriety for boycotting segregated venues and participating in Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington.The Nat King Cole Show, his variety show broadcast on NBC, became the first nationally televised show hosted by a Black American.
Other upcoming projects by Domingo include appearances in Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day and in the next season of HBO’s Euphoria. Domingo will also play the role of Joe Jackson in Michael, Lionsgate’s biopic about the Jackson Five family.
Reportedly, Domingo will begin shooting Unforgettable sometime later this year. It’s unclear what’s going to happen to Scandalous, the film that was expected to be Domingo’s feature directorial debut, which had been announced in October 2024. Scandalous was to have starred David Jonsson and Sydney Sweeney in a film about an affair between Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak.
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