Colman Domingo is opening up about the "hopeful" message of his latest Oscar-nominated film, "Sing Sing."
Domingo, whose work in the film earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor, stopped by "Good Morning America" on Monday to reflect on what this project means to him.
Review: The 10 best movies of 2024"It's such an incredibly hopeful film, and I think we need that -- especially where we are right now in the world," Domingo said. "We need stories about people who feel like they can overcome insurmountable odds."
He continued, "I feel like that's the message that I want to lead with as a performer, as a producer and a director in the world. I want to give that. The film is a big beating heart."
"Sing Sing" is about the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at New York's Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison, which sees inmates create and put together theatrical productions as a means to give them a creative outlet behind bars.
Domingo said the Greg Kwedar-directed film is "very intimate" and "not political at all" in its message.
Oscars 2025: Full list of nominations"It really is about the possibility of what happens when you pour art and love and humanity into someone else," he shared. "They're holding onto their humanity, holding onto faith and art while on the inside, and it's really extraordinary."
He added, "I know I put everything in my heart and soul into it, because I have so many people that I know who have been incarcerated, how it affects black and brown men, and I feel like it's really something I wanted to do."
As Domingo told "GMA" -- and as noted on RTA's website -- alumni of the program have a recidivism rate under 3% as compared to the national average of 60%.
In the film, Domingo plays John "Divine G" Whitfield, a real-life former inmate who went through the RTA program. He stars alongside a cast made up of 90% former inmates, including breakout star Clarence Maclin.
"GMA" also caught up with Maclin, an alumni of the RTA program who plays himself in "Sing Sing," at the 2025 Critics' Choice Awards on Friday.
@gma “Sing Sing” star and Critics Choice Award nominee #ClarenceMaclin ♬ original sound - Good Morning America
"It was a labor of pleasure," Maclin, who earned an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay thanks to a story by credit, said of the film. "It was a task that I knew needed to be done. It had to be done."
"We gotta shine a light on our people. We gotta represent ourselves in the best possible way that we can," Maclin continued. "We gotta let the world know that I'm not 9687997, I'm not an animal, I'm not a monster. I'm actually a father, I'm actually a brother, I'm somebody's son … and I represent a lot of other people, not just me."
The 2025 Oscars will take place Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET and will air live on ABC and streaming live on Hulu.
