A conversation between masters of their craft and kindred spirits Sebastian Stan and Colman Domingo, stars of A Different Man and Sing Sing.

Topics covered include: Sebastian’s early childhood in Romania, being a reformed introvert, obstacles as a good thing, past lives as Law & Order day players, a certain tenderness that runs thru Sing Sing, the risk and reward in playing real people, Colman being “knocked out by” A Different Man, motherly advice to “get some moisturizer,” living like a monk while filming, 9pm bedtimes, the pains of early 2000s pilot season, a shared stint at an NYC catering company, and dreams of DJ-ing.

Sebastian Stan: Hi, I'm Sebastian Stan.

Colman Domingo: And I'm Colman Domingo, and this is the A24 Podcast.

Colman Domingo: Oh, man. No. This is truly... I've been wanting to just sit down and just like…this is like an overdue cup of coffee, I think.

Sebastian Stan: For sure. I mean, I think we've passed each other.

Colman Domingo: Every time we passed each other, it's like we knew each other though, because we both look at each other like, "Hey."

Sebastian Stan: I know. I think it was at the night before or of

Colman Domingo: Of the Emmys?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Where I was like, "Hey." And then I think you were like, "Hey." But then, I felt like I knew you in a way.

Colman Domingo: I felt like I knew you too, but I knew who you were. I was like, "Oh, I don't know this dude, but this dude is very warm and genuine." That's what I was just... I think I assumed it immediately. But also, I think it's because as I started to do a little… I didn't do a deep dive, but I did enough, because I wanted to get to know you, too. I didn't want to come in like, "Oh, I researched the hell out of you."

Sebastian Stan: No. I know. I thought about that, whether I should be…

Colman Domingo: Right. I thought, "Well, what kind of podcast do I want to do though? Do I wanna come in with research and I've found out your childhood friends and all that stuff or do I want to discover in the moment? Where are you from, man?

Sebastian Stan: Well, Romania originally.

Colman Domingo: Wait, what?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Romania. I was born there, and then I left when I was 8, and then I didn't really make it into the US until I was 12.

Colman Domingo: Wait a minute. So, you speak...

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Romanian.

Colman Domingo: Romania?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. With an accent, but yeah, still.

Colman Domingo: But you have zero accent.

Sebastian Stan: Well, now that I'm conscious of it, but because when I came here, usually before 12 is when you can still not have an accent. It's after 12, 13 that it gets hard enough.

Colman Domingo: I thought you were going to say you're from [indiscernible].

Sebastian Stan: No. Yeah.

Colman Domingo: From Romania.

Sebastian Stan: Romania. Yeah.

Colman Domingo: That's fantastic, man. What other languages do you speak?

Sebastian Stan: Well, Romanian, but then I spoke German for a little bit. I understand it only a little bit because my mom was a pianist in Vienna for four years before we came here. It's complicated. Because we got out right after the revolution and stuff. Yeah. So, I lived with her there for a while, but didn't really get a hold of the language as much, because I was learning English at the same time, and then she remarried to my stepdad, who was an American and ended up here.

Colman Domingo: Are you the only actor in your family?

Sebastian Stan: I am, and also the only child and everything. Yeah. And where are you from?

Colman Domingo: I'm from Philadelphia.

Sebastian Stan: Okay.

Colman Domingo: Born and raised in Philadelphia. I'm one of four kids, the only one who's a professional artist. They all have artistic abilities. My brother used to draw and paint beautifully, and my sister is a poet. And my younger brother is a musician.

Sebastian Stan: Everyone's creative.

Colman Domingo: Yeah. Everyone's creative. But I think it comes from my mother who just inspired us to be creative. She wasn't really, but I think she liked the idea of her kids having these musical talents or...

Sebastian Stan: Is there a time, your earliest memory, where you were performing when you were a kid or even with them or anything...

Colman Domingo: The funny thing, I would always say that my older brother and older sister were much more interesting and funny than I was. I was just the nerd. I had a sense of humor, and I think I liked to play. But honestly, up until, I think even after college, I think it surprised people that I would become an actor and do this for a living because I was very shy. I didn't think I was cool. I didn't think I was interesting.

Sebastian Stan: So, you'd say introverted?

Colman Domingo: I actually think of myself as an introvert.

Sebastian Stan: Okay. Yeah.

Colman Domingo: But I'm reformed, because I know how to really make it. How to make it out in these streets.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Exactly.

Colman Domingo: Right. Do you feel the same way?

Sebastian Stan: No. 100%, that's why I feel like maybe we're similar in the sense, because I think looking at your work, there's a degree of sensitivity, real sensitivity that I feel I'm always seeing in your work. So, I immediately just... I feel like, it takes one to know one in the sense of sensitivity. So, that's the only reason I was like, "I feel like you probably give a lot of energy out. And then also you need to recharge in a way," which is very how I am. And that's a very introverted thing. But then we have to learn how to be extroverts because of this business as well. We have to be out there.

Colman Domingo: But I think, have you always been... first of all, you're from Romania and being an only child, were you an observer, just someone who just observed more than, as you were introverted?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: Because I feel like I was an observer as well. I had a speech impediment when I was a kid that also catered to it, and I just felt like I just didn't want to get picked on or bullied. So, I just watched.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And I think, for me, it was just honestly coming here and not really speaking the language right away. And my stepdad was the headmaster of my middle school where I went to school.

Colman Domingo: What?

Sebastian Stan: So, all the kids just did not want to have anything to do with me.

Colman Domingo: Wait. Where was the school? Where was it?

Sebastian Stan: Rockland County, New York.

Colman Domingo: Okay.

Sebastian Stan: Across the GW. Yeah.

Colman Domingo: Yeah. Exactly. I just passed through there today because I'm staying upstate right now.

Sebastian Stan: And it's pretty there.

Colman Domingo: It's beautiful.

Sebastian Stan: It's nice. But yeah, like you, I was very insecure about my accent or things like that. I guess I watched more too, but maybe that was a good thing for us. I don't know.

Colman Domingo: I actually realized that. Well, I look back now and I look at all these things that I thought were not great for me, actually helped build the person that I am. Because people were like, "Oh, did you always have a sense of style?" No. I wore my older brother and older sister's hand-me-down clothes. But I think that actually catered to me wanting to have my own style, because I didn't have it.

So, once I got my job at McDonald's when I was 16 years old, I would buy little things and try to figure out who I was instead of just wearing something that was handed down because that's all we could afford.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: So, then I became very particular about what I wear. So, I look back now like, "Oh, I think those were the seeds that were planted."

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. No. I agree with you. I mean I'm always... And this is maybe something you relate to in terms of what you and I were talking before about. Like, how do we find work? What do we gravitate towards or something? But I guess one of the lessons I took maybe from those experiences, like you just described in childhood, was difficulty is a good thing. Sometimes the obstacle is a good thing. The fear of can I do it or can I not do it? Or...

Colman Domingo: Not fitting in.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: Not being perfect.

Sebastian Stan: It can propel change and growth. And so, I think sometimes I have a problem with comfort altogether.

Colman Domingo: Yo, absolutely.

Sebastian Stan: You know what I mean? It's so hard.

Colman Domingo: It really is. I think you're right, because I feel like when you get a little soft, I feel like it doesn't cater to the work. You need a little grit. I think.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: You need a little rough around the edges to get there.

Sebastian Stan: But sometimes maybe in your personal life, you want to find the peace and comfort to obviously be able to do that, I guess with your work. It's just that fine balance between getting too comfortable and then too soft, but also just not running from one thing to the next, the next, so that you're never in the moment.

Colman Domingo: But what you’re talking about, you're talking about the journey of, I guess, part of what I wanted to talk to you about too. About, how do we make art and where does it come from for you? How are you drawn to the art that you're drawn to? And you're saying just in terms of what I recently watched of yours, A Different Man, which I just finished yesterday, and also The Apprentice. I don't think you can do that work without having a little danger.

I think there's a little danger to your work, and I think that's what I'm attracted to, because I feel like that's what I'm attracted to. It feels a little dangerous. And I'm going to put a lot on here, and you tell me if I'm right or wrong.

Sebastian Stan: No. I appreciate it.

Colman Domingo: I feel like these relationships that you build with these directors and these filmmakers is really about taking a leap of faith. That's how you can do Pam & Tommy. Maybe I'm wrong. I can't see you in a half hour ABC television series.

Sebastian Stan: Oh, I mean, we've done…

Colman Domingo: We've done everything. We've done Law & Orders.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. The rounds of going around to pilot season, yeah, the scripts.

Colman Domingo: Hated that.

Sebastian Stan: I know. And that's why I also wanted to ask you…

Colman Domingo: I was such a whore.

Sebastian Stan: …I was curious how much time you had spent in New York, right? Because–

Colman Domingo: We overlapped a little bit. Actually, I was in New York from 2001 to whatever that was. I was there for 16 years. We both worked with Liev Schreiber, actually, I did my very first show with him, which was Henry the V at Shakespeare in the park.

Sebastian Stan: Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow.

Colman Domingo: And that's what I know, I'm like, "Oh, we have somebody in common. We have Liev in common." And you did your first Broadway show with him.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Yeah. Talk Radio. And Henry the V was before that, right?

Colman Domingo: Henry the V was three years before that.

Sebastian Stan: Wow. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's a great stage actor, but at the time I was like 21, 22, and it was intense. But it was interesting watching him, his commitment to everything. I mean, granted, for me, at least, I had that one cameo at the end of... near the end of the play. But you were on the whole.

Colman Domingo: No. I was the Duke of Bourbon. So, the Duke of Bourbon in Henry the V is not a huge role. But also understudied, the guy who did the Salic Law Speech. But also, Liev and I, we really hit it off. I love his commitment to work. I feel like he was very much so every single day... I learned a lot from him, to be honest. And I had moved from the Bay Area where I'd been acting for years on stage.

But coming to New York, I felt like, "Okay. Here are the folks who are doing it in New York." And Liev helped me up my game in a way when it comes to commitment, because he, as the leader of our company, he was really making sure that we all had the same brain trust. He was like, "Hey, have you watched this documentary on this?" He wasn't satisfied.

Now, actually, I think it could be intense for some other people. I kind of like it. I like the fact that like, "Oh, we're just really working together."

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. I mean, I felt the same way. The second he saw that I was really just trying to rise up to the occasion, so to speak, he really started playing with me every night, and I felt he was present. And maybe that was one important lesson I took, which is like, "Look, I should always surround myself with people that are better than me." Because it's like the Tarantino quote of being in the race and being the last horse…. It's much better than if you're chasing, than when you're in a group where you're always number one. You're not pushed. By the way, both you guys have really incredible voices. I mean...

Colman Domingo: Who? Me and Liev?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Yeah. But you've got a real strong voice. I would love to see you on stage.

Colman Domingo: Dude, you know what's funny? I haven't been on stage in 12 years now, and I keep trying to figure out– I mean, I feel like it's a time commitment and– “What is the right thing?” I'm very critical of theater, extremely critical. Because also being a theater maker, I'm a playwright and a director, I'm just very critical. So, when I go in, I want to be blown away. I want to be swept away every single time, and I want it to be thoughtful and mindful, and I want it to blow my mind. I think a lot of it doesn't. That's my own personal problem.

So, when I do something, I'm like, "I want to work with someone…” and anything I've ever done, the things that I'm very proud of on stage, like I did a show called Passing Strange, and another one called the Scottsboro Boys, which was the final Kander and Ebb collaboration. Those were plays and musicals that were taking a leap of faith. They were dangerous. One is the framework of a deconstructed menstruel show. And the other one is a rock musical where I played all these different characters that were, as a black man. I played a Dutch nudist, I played a closeted choir director and a German performance artist. So, I played all these white folks as well. That's dangerous. And so, I feel like I need work that does that too, or I want to do a classic maybe.

Sebastian Stan: So, let me segue into this because this is good. What you just said is really, I think, important. Let's just think of what you just said as it applies to Sing Sing, for instance, which was such an incredible film. I was telling you before I watched it, and I was so moved by the idea of... That movie has so many layers, and certainly in terms of what it says about the system, but also just us as men growing up and coming into this world and how we come in as a blank canvas and seeing that image of you guys all in costume and how the innocence of it mixed in that world and that isolation.

And yet no matter what you've done or what you've gone through, everyone got back to that one innocent moment as a kid. For me, that made me very emotional watching it. But you get to do so many things in that film, I feel like, or we're with you in such a way. You were incredible. But in terms of Shakespeare, in terms of your character experiencing, but then coming and the acting piece of it, was there a sense of the danger, like you were talking about something that drew you to that project, or you saw it in there?

Colman Domingo: Yeah. Because I think ultimately what you're saying... And thank you for that. The thing that I found that was probably the most dangerous thing when I found out more about the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing Prison is how dangerous it was to have all these feelings, to exhibit tenderness, to go a little bit underneath the hood and find out what makes you tick. It's very dangerous to do that, because you’re being very vulnerable in this very dangerous environment. And so, for me, that was radical. I thought that was radical love.

And in my conversations with these men, they wouldn't necessarily tell me that that's what it was. But when they would tell me, I am like, "Oh, that's what you guys were doing. You guys were really doing some soul work together."

Sebastian Stan: And a lot of these men were playing themselves.

Colman Domingo: Yeah. They were playing versions of themselves when they were on the inside.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: And I knew that that's also a very dangerous place. These guys are coming back in to portray parts of themselves that they have left behind, that they've done some work to leave behind. And so, I know that they were giving over something. And I was coming in a vulnerable state wanting to blend in with these men and do a little bit of sleight of hand.

And also, people don't make films like that in a way. I feel like something about that feels like a throwback. It feels like Cassavetes or something. There's a cinema verité.

Sebastian Stan: There was such a gritty rawness to the way he shot it. And actually, when I met Greg the director, I kept asking him about… so much of it felt so natural and in the moment and improvised to me that I couldn't really tell. And he had told me about some of the auditions, which were incredible. But even you and Clarence together, I mean, it's amazing because you feel the beast in these men, and then you feel the child. To take in someone that's incarcerated and to see them in that soft way in that environment. It's interesting. We've never seen it.

Colman Domingo: Yeah. We've never seen it because also, we're fed so many ideas and images of who these men are, but now it's like Greg and Clint, in particular, our co-writers and director, they wanted to deconstruct that and get to know the men that they've gotten a chance to know. And I'm sure the film works in that way. I think at its best, it sets up sort of these ideas, and you think it's going to lean into that trope, but then it smashes it. And so, as it's working on them, it's also working on the audience, having us rethink what we know about them.

I think there's a tenderness that runs through that film that I'm very... that's the one thing I knew I wanted for this film. It's very important for me to see men being tender with one another, and it has nothing to do with sexuality. I just think it's key to our wellbeing.

Sebastian Stan: Because we're not taught that way growing up.

Colman Domingo: No. No. We have all these things that we're fed and we're like, "Why are we carrying that around? We can let that go. We can let that go." If we say we let it go and just say like, "Oh, the idea of me reaching across and holding your hand is just exhibiting brotherhood and friendship and tenderness and kindness."

Sebastian Stan: Did you see that movie Close? It was a foreign language film. It's amazing. You have to see it. It's about these two young boys who just are growing up. And again, the film does not sexualize anything. It's really about this intimacy that you're talking about that we just don't see enough of, because I've been thinking a lot about this with kids. How does someone become who they are? What leads to what?

And that's the thing with boys and men in a lot of ways, is that there's no encouragement to feel your feelings, and then we end up in therapy or...

Colman Domingo: Yeah. Horrible relationships and things like that.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: Man, and I think that's the source of that film. I think I know why. You've connected with that film, because I'm going to go to some of your work, man, because I think what I wanted to say before we even got this going was, you have this beautiful vulnerability that you show. I think you bear a bit of your soul. And I think maybe that's it. I think the thing that I knew how we see each other is that we're doing some soul work with the work that we're doing. How else would you be able to say yes and go into the character of Donald Trump, someone who's very polarizing, but to find his humanity, which I thought was... That's always the goal.

You have to find a way to love to respect and look at them through his lens. Because I think what I enjoyed about The Apprentice in particular, I was like, "I'm now looking at the making of this person," and this person who has love, need, want, desire, like anybody else, wants to be loved, wants to be valued, wants success, wants the American dream. I saw all of that in your performance.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: And I'm like, "Oh, was it in the script or was it what Sebastian Stan gave, imbued in him?" You know what I mean? I feel like there's a certain level of... Could you tell me that? There's a certain level, I'm sure you can research and research and research, but then a certain amount that you like, "What do you give to the character?"

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. I mean, I definitely want to come back, as you know, with real people, you've played, it's like sometimes a real person you have, like this target, at least where you're going. And you've got this like there's things to pick from. But yeah, what's your interpretation? And I think in this particular situation, I think we have to remove ourselves at some point and remove our judgment and just try to see it from a human place. Because I guess the goal is always to understand, and even somebody that you'd want to label that some people have labeled as a monster or whatever.

I think that there's value in understanding what happens. And it's interesting. For some reason, I don't know why, don't ask me. Sometimes I go to bed and I'm like, "Why am I watching this really intense thing before bed?" But I put on the Norman Mailer documentary, for whatever reason last night, and he's a crazy guy.

Colman Domingo: This is at bedtime?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: You're sick, man.

Sebastian Stan: But he went into this thing about the beast in all of us, so to speak. And I know it's there. And I think the way to deal with these uncomfortable things and these difficult things is by coming closer to them and bringing them into the light so that we can process them in a way, rather than pretending that they don't exist. So, whenever somebody was like, "Why are you doing this? Why do we need a movie like this on this guy when there's so much out there already?" Is because I think in order to get to empathy, you have to expose the opposite. And also, to know that there's a seed in all of us, if we're not careful, to fall a certain way.

I think, for me, coming to this country and this feeling about American dream, I always heard American dream, American dream growing up, and I've been haunted by this American dream because I came here and my mom was very much like, "You're in America now, so you got to make something of yourself. You gotta be somebody, because now you have an opportunity, you have a chance."

I'm sitting there and I'm taking this in, and obviously, knock on wood, I'm here with you now, and there's great possibility to the American dream in this country what we can become and do in this country. But there's also a cost. And I think I'm still sometimes wrestling with, "Well, when is it enough and why is it so important that we win?"

Colman Domingo: What does winning mean?

Sebastian Stan: I've met people, for instance, who won an Oscar, and they say to me, they're like, "It was fucking... the worst day actually in my life." Where they're like suddenly, you're burdened by these certain things. So, I guess I saw a lot more relatable into his story than I thought. I don't know. It's a long way of answering.

Colman Domingo: No. And I guess that's why you thought, "Oh, I have something to give to this character," right?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And there's something about this that's foreign to me. And rather than judging it, I'm going to try to see what I can...

Colman Domingo: We're speaking the same language. That's what draws me to a lot of characters that I play. I feel like I've had a little bit of a run playing some villains, whether Zola or the Mister in The Color Purple, and people are like, "Wow. You're a very nice guy. You seem to be a very cool person, but why? Why do you choose these roles?" I'm like, "I think they choose me." But also, I feel like directors usually want me to come along on the journey, because I'm usually curious about them. Like, "Well, why do you think that way? Or what do they want? What do they need? What's lacking in them?" And maybe that's the work that we're doing. I'm like, "I want to know what makes us more alike and unalike?"

Sebastian Stan: No. I think that's important. And I guess one of the things I was looking forward to asking you now, because in terms of talking about even real people and playing real people with Rustin, for instance, did you spend a lot of time with him? What was that process like? Because there's this element where you feel like someone almost... it's as if someone's giving you a coat and you got to put it on and you hope it fits. Maybe it doesn't and then eventually it does or whatever. But was there a moment in that where you were like, "I got this now."

Colman Domingo: The moment I knew that the film was greenlit, I started my research. I need to know everything that I can possibly know for this, because this is a character that has been marginalized in the history books. He's been one of my personal heroes. I can get in there and really help figure out how to make his soul sing in a way. You know what I mean? More than anything.

But I knew that he had a very interesting cadence of speech that... I knew I would have to wear prosthetics for my teeth, a wig, the way he moved through spaces, the way he spoke, how he code, switched all day long, how he had this weird mid-Atlantic standard accent that he created of his own. And so, I wanted to get all that down in some way, and then I wanted to, I don't know... Part of the process for me was like, "I want to know everything around that time period around 1963, but also 1947 where some of his backstory goes." But also, so that was maybe five months of research.

And then I think I'm someone who likes to download a lot of information, and then I need to then pull back at times and just say, "Okay. Now, if I actually did his accent, the way he actually spoke, I think you can't get through the whole film." You're just focused on that. So, I had to make some choices to dial it back and soften it and really just make it... I'm not trying to do a documentary, and I'm not trying to be beholden to the man who he was.

So, I didn't even have conversations with people who knew him until the very end because I thought, I have to create a character.

Sebastian Stan: And make it your own.

Colman Domingo: Just to make it my own. And feel like, "Well, he would never do that. He wouldn't sit like that. He wouldn't do that, or whatever." I have to take dramatic license from what I know with the script, with my director, with my company, and make some decisions. And then when I felt like I was in a place, how can I say… I think I've worked with people who have helped me in this way? One in particular, George C. Wolfe, helped me not feel like I arrived at it.

Sebastian Stan: That it's always an exploration.

Colman Domingo: I'm still working.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. There's never a result.

Colman Domingo: No. And maybe that's... I constantly work, which is not sort of results based. I'm like, "Oh, no. If I can download and find these elements that work for this take and this take and this take and this coverage and everything, and then I give it over." And then I hope by being sincere with what I know, with what I've processed with my scene partner as well, that we've created some moments that will build into part of this person's soul and being, I think it's strange that... Maybe the answer is, I never really feel like I've arrived at it.

Sebastian Stan: It never happens.

Colman Domingo: Right. Right.

Sebastian Stan: And maybe that's a good thing, I think. Because it's always an exploration and sometimes you don't know if you're going to get there.

Colman Domingo: I don't know. I feel... And maybe that's it. By divorcing myself of that, I feel like, I don't know, I'm just feeling this sense of play and exploration, and we'll get there. But also, I trust myself and usually I tell... like I just started a new job and I literally tell the DP and the new director, I said, "Just know the first three takes are going to be garbage, probably."

Sebastian Stan: Interesting.

Colman Domingo: Because I'm not pressuring myself to arrive at anything yet.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: I'm still trying to figure I'm, "Oh, your camera is moving there. Okay. You're doing that. Great." I'm looking at it because I respond to everything. I realize it's actually part of a gift, but it's also something that's terrifying. I respond to everything. So, if there's a noise out here, my head goes this way. I don't know how to not take it in, because I feel like everything is useful. I'm like, "Oh, yeah. I want to use that fly that's in the scene. I can't help myself"... because

Sebastian Stan: That's the moment. That's what's on... Yeah.

Colman Domingo: And it's something that I didn't... By design, I didn't know was coming, but I trust that I've researched and I've done the work that I'm able to be available in the scene. And so, you know what I mean? And look for a bit of the divine to reside.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And the only other thing I was going to ask you as a director, there's also this other part of your mind, I would imagine, that's almost like a bird's eye view probably. I think the directing thing, I would imagine, helps in some way, but it's always interesting.

Colman Domingo: It does. But people don't understand. Literally, I'm thinking about this right now because I'm always standing watching and listening to everything, and people don't know that I am. But that's the director in me. I think that's the way I came into this industry. Because I came in... I don't have any formal training. I got all my training by doing and by showing up to rehearsals I wasn't even called for, because I was actually learning from everything.

I'm the actor saying, "I want to know where the cameras are, whatever, what lens are you on?" And it's not because it helps me do my job, but I also want to look at the whole and what you're doing. Or it was just, my first day on a new set was yesterday, and I think they noticed that I'm listening to everything and they don't know I'm listening to everything. I'm like, "Oh, yeah. I've heard that. I know what's going on. I know. Great. I think we are going to have a 20-minute turnaround, because you're going to do that. Okay."

Sebastian Stan: Well, it's also probably... Remember those, I'm sure you've had those experiences where those years where you're on a job starting out or whatever, and you feel like you're not directed well or you feel like you've got to look out for yourself. You just do.

Colman Domingo: I've had those jobs.

Sebastian Stan: You're kind of like you're on your own guardian, so to speak. But I don't know where it's at. And I don't even know if I should bring it up, but I'm very excited about the Nat King Cole, I feel like that's...

Colman Domingo: Oh, man. Thanks.

Sebastian Stan: That's going to be really wild.

Colman Domingo: It will happen when it's supposed to happen. It's funny, I think I came into writing because I was frustrated with the material that’s out there in the world. And I thought, "Well I need to create it and figure out what is useful." Then one of my projects that has been on the burner is this one about Nat King Cole. And I'm not the guy who actually thinks he needs to wear every hat. I'm just not that dude. I like collaborating with people.

But this one I thought, "Actually, no," because I’ve written a musical about Nat King Cole called Lights Out: Nat King Cole that'll be at New York Theatre Workshop next year.

Sebastian Stan: Wow. Okay.

Colman Domingo: And Dulé Hill is going to play Nat beautifully. And then I wrote this sort of kissing cousin, this biopic that I thought, "Oh, actually, I have what's useful to interrogate this version of him.” He lives in a very different world than the stage musical version of it, which taps, and it's all written towards everything that Dulé Hill can do, truly. And this was written in a very different way. I want to paint the whole picture. So, I'm going to direct it, and I co-wrote it, and I'm going to star in it and produce it.

And I thought, I'm excited about that because also that's a lot of great challenges. And I feel like whatever I'm hoping and praying that everything that I'm doing even now leads me to that and helps me give me a bit more strength and courage and grace to do that work and do it well.

Sebastian Stan: No. Of course. Well, I think that's what it's really about. Actually, Jesse Eisenberg was at Telluride, and he has this great movie, A Real Pain that's amazing.

Colman Domingo: That's great.

Sebastian Stan: And they interviewed him after, and he said something that stuck with me, which was, he was like, "I don't measure being an actor or a director or writer by success. I measure it by productivity."

Colman Domingo: Yeah.

Sebastian Stan: And he goes, "I have a lot of friends who look back at this thing that was great that they did 10 years ago." He goes, "I don't want to be that person. I want to always talk about the next thing." And the idea of productivity, you just have to keep creating. And even if not all of it is always going to be, some of it has to be these swings that we have to take.

Colman Domingo: And I'm going to go to the next swing then, A Different Man. The film knocked me out. It's beautiful. Your co-star...

Sebastian Stan: Adam Pearson.

Colman Domingo: He's phenomenal. You two together.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: You two together, it's such a formidable pairing. And just watch, dude, just watching your eyes, watching you react, watching you take in what's happening as people are loving on him, and then wanting him to take over the role and just watching that rage come out of you. It's like, no, because you play so many notes, man. First of all, I'm going to give you... It's going to sound like... I don't know what it's going to sound like, but I'm going to give you two things, because I literally told somebody this after I said, you have this thing. Your face changes a lot.

And I'm going to say this because I know that mine does the same thing, You can look absolutely handsome, leading man, gorgeous in one frame and absolutely fucking hideous in the next.

Sebastian Stan: I know.

Colman Domingo: It's a gift, man. But really, no, I think it's something inside you that's changing. There's something that is, you're bringing out a beast. The beast, the hideous nature of humanity. And you see it all over your face. You're like, "Oh, he's a fucking monster." And you're like, "Oh, my God. No. That's the beautiful leading man right there, Sebastian Stan." But no, you have this face that keeps changing and you're like, I can't tell..

Sebastian Stan: Wait. Wait. Wait.

Colman Domingo: …Which is which.

Sebastian Stan: Can I tell you something to hopefully make you laugh?

Colman Domingo: What?

Sebastian Stan: Apropos to what you just said, my mom, okay, I love her. But here's what she said to me recently when she came to visit me, and she's about to leave. I'm like, "Oh, yeah, everything's great. Thank you so much." And she goes, "I have to tell you something, but don't get upset."

Colman Domingo: I love the setup. She's a comedian.

Sebastian Stan: “Mom. All right, like go ahead. What's the problem?” I'm already in an anxious place. And she goes, "I know you're an actor and everything, but maybe you can express a little less because…”

Colman Domingo: Wow.

Sebastian Stan: "I can see these lines."

Colman Domingo: She said, "Express a little less."

Sebastian Stan: She's like, "Get some moisturizer."

Colman Domingo: Get a little filler. She's like, "Get a little"...

Sebastian Stan: Oh, God. No.

Colman Domingo: She said express a little less.

Sebastian Stan: She was like, "Be a little less intense with your face." I'm like, "Mom!" But I know what you mean about the face thing. I think it's a good thing for us to have.

Colman Domingo: I think it's a great thing because also your face changes in moments. And I love the camera, the way he would hold it on you, because we would just watch you. I would watch you think and I'm like, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. This guy." And there's a moment, I'm not going to mention here, because I don't know when this comes out or when people listen to it. I don't want to give away this one moment toward the end where I was just... I actually was like, "No. You did not."

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. It's crazy... That was always in the script. And I was like, "Oh, wow. That's probably going to be fun to play." But having done theater, you caught all those theater things and that.

Colman Domingo: Well, yeah. But also, this is the wildest thing, because I'm like, we're living in the same space using theater with Sing Sing and A Different Man.

Sebastian Stan: Yes. Oh, yes, yes.

Colman Domingo: There's a conceit of theatre that's there. And also, even the way it's shot in a bit of a cinema verité way as well. And I feel like the camera work is so fantastic. Because I'm like, "The camera and your director's not afraid to stay within a moment." And I was like, "Was that heavily rehearsed or rehearsed for camera?" Because the camera was with you guys living right outside of you, and then sometimes inside. Yeah.

Sebastian Stan: No. It was. I mean, he, Aaron Schimberg, the director, who wrote it and everything in there was not one improv in that, every comm, every ellipses, every word was just like him. It was so tight. And then he had all these specific shots of he wanted to do these long takes, and there was a lot of these dollies, or steadicam, a lot of that theater stuff was...

Colman Domingo: Steady.

Sebastian Stan: Steady. Yeah.

Colman Domingo: The steady cam I saw it. And I was like, "Oh, it was so good."

Sebastian Stan: And then it kept moving. And you know how it is. It's like you get one take and then you go, "That was a good take." And then you're like, "Will they use that take because it's a different thing,"... Anyway.

Colman Domingo: No. But it was so good because he was also framing when he would put you in the foreground and the camera was swinging around and it was over. And I was like, "Oh, it was beautiful." But I also felt like you guys could fully be invested in the center of performance. And it wasn't like suddenly, "Oh, we're going to set up and now camera's going to be over that person in your face." I felt like you guys... it really felt like I was watching theater.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And you guys have that too.

Colman Domingo: I feel like it's very similar in that way. I was like, "Oh, wow. It's something that they..."

Sebastian Stan: I should say "We both have a breakdown," I should say.

Colman Domingo: Yeah. We both have a breakdown on stage, because that's a place where you can let go of all these feelings and emotions it seems. But yeah, I think that very much the intention of the way we're shooting with Pat Scola cinematography, he was really looking at the landscape of the human face is what he and Greg decided on. Those were big landscapes. We don't have huge set pieces. You don't get huge wides because these are very small, contained spaces. But he was like, "Let me go into these."

Sebastian Stan: And you guys did that one quick, right?

Colman Domingo: We did it in 18 days.

Sebastian Stan: Okay. So, we were 22, and he was...

Colman Domingo: That was 22 days.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And he was really scared, but 18...

Colman Domingo: And in New York.

Sebastian Stan:... it seems crazier. In the city, yeah. With COVID.

Colman Domingo: Oh, yeah. Same here. We were in COVID too. Yeah. I was like, "We'll never get this done with COVID.”

Sebastian Stan: I know.

Colman Domingo: This movie will be wrapped in five days.

Sebastian Stan: I mean, just the anxiety of who's going to be next.

Colman Domingo: Dude, how did you live? I lived like a monk when I was up there. I didn't do anything. I was like, "This film will go down." During COVID I was like, "I can't see anybody.” Husband couldn't come out, visit, nothing.

Sebastian Stan: But maybe that helped, right?

Colman Domingo: I think so.

Sebastian Stan: Because you were isolated in the film as it was. And I'm like you in that sense. I really do sometimes believe in using everything. I think every job is different, and it depends a lot on who you're working with. And I think those moments do help. I mean, my thing was because of those prosthetics, the guy, Mike Marino who was doing them, he had another job and he didn't want anybody else doing it.

But that meant that I sometimes had to... even though we had a later call time, I had to go to him before his other jobs call time, which was earlier. And he would get me ready at 6:00am, and then I'd be waiting until 11, 12 to start, as Edward. And so, then I'd just start walking around and just seeing how people responded. But the city was… It was interesting, because it was all interactive, obviously. It was a different situation.

Colman Domingo: It was great.

Sebastian Stan: Adam is, I mean, such an open and courageous person. I mean, he owns himself so well. And I think a lot about identity. And I think even in this business, you have to protect your own integrity, because you’ve got people coming at you going like, "You got to do this or do that. And by the way, do you want to play another role?" There's so many things and factors. And also, even I look at our world today, social media and everything. It feels like there's always an attack on the self and everyone's always drawing, asking you to be all kinds of different things. But I guess once in a while you meet someone like Adam Pearson and he's like, "No. This is who I am."

Colman Domingo: There's a couple of things I wanted to ask you. I'm going to get all my thoughts together, because I have three thoughts. But one is you say you don't like complacency, right?

Sebastian Stan: Mm-hmm.

Colman Domingo: And you like moving forward. Where do you find time to fill up the cup? Now, I don't know where you live. You don't have to tell me exactly where, but where do you live?

Sebastian Stan: I would. No. I live in...

Colman Domingo: Not your address. I'm going to stop.

Sebastian Stan: …Really New York. But I've spent a lot of time in LA.

Colman Domingo: Okay. Spend a lot of time in LA.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: And do you live out in the country? Do you live out in the... Because there's some country in LA too. I mean...

Sebastian Stan: There is, but yeah.

Colman Domingo: What do you like? Where do you fill up? Do you like the noise of the streets or do you like…

Sebastian Stan: I do here, honestly, here. And I don't know why that is. For some reason, every time I come here, I just go walking around. And the buildings and the people… LA to me is a hard one. I think it can be very isolating. You get up in the morning, and if you're an actor and you're not working, and I've dabbled also because I also was just sitting by a phone waiting forever for the great phone call to come, and it didn't. Then I'd be like, "Okay. Maybe I should get interested in writing or try to expand or"... So, I do all that stuff.

But in terms of life, I find New York here, no one... You just walk down the street and there's people of all kinds and they don't...

Colman Domingo: Do people stop you on the street a lot? Or are you able to blend in?

Sebastian Stan: Yes and no. I mean, it's gotten a little bit more. But even so, people here, honestly, the last couple of days have been really funny. Someone would just come and just do a fist bump and it's like...

Colman Domingo: Right.

Sebastian Stan: But then occasionally you'll sit out and someone is videotaping you. And that always feels weird. But I still feel, I was like, "Man, I'm not going to let that stop–”

Colman Domingo: Stop you from living?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. You just can't. And the other thing you lose is the reality. Your reality is not what everyone else's reality of you is. People would rather make up their own ideas of you rather than actually accept who you are. And you go, okay, "Well, but I'm still not going to stop who I am."

Colman Domingo: Well, yeah. I like to ride the Citi bike around New York when I'm here and people always stop, and be like, "Colman Domingo? What are you doing on a city bike?" I'm like, "It's easiest being around."

Sebastian Stan: Being a person. Yeah.

Colman Domingo: I used to live in Manhattan Plaza on 43rd and Ninth when I lived here, because I lived here for 16 years. And eventually I had to move out of there because, just because...

Sebastian Stan: Is that the Actor Building?

Colman Domingo: Yeah. They call it the Home for Wayward Actors.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: But it's rent stabilized housing for actors and people in the performing arts. Alicia Keys lived there.

Sebastian Stan: No. That building's got history.

Colman Domingo: Samuel Jackson used to live there. Angela Lansbury. It has a great history. But I used to live there for many years, and then I moved to LA. So, I felt like when I was here, I needed to walk out and feel like something could happen to me. And I've moved to the stage. I'm the opposite. I like that. I live in a very quiet little area. I actually need the isolation to create more. Now, I need to wake up and just look at the ocean and be quiet.

Sebastian Stan: And music's a big part probably of your life, like music? I mean...

Colman Domingo: I think so. I mean, I love music. I really think being a musician is probably one of the greatest thing in the world. People who can create something out of nothing with instruments and sound and voice, they're my heroes. I had a dance party last night. This is what I do. I had a dance party last night because I'm like, "Yeah. I'm done with work for the week."

I turned on some... Because Frankie Beverly, the legendary Frankie Beverly passed away. So, I was like, I decided to put together a Frankie Beverly playlist, and I gave myself a dance party last night. Made a margarita, and I turned up the music. I have this house on the lake that I'm staying in, and I just turned up the music super loud and had a full dance party for an hour, sweating and dripping.

Sebastian Stan: Oh, man. That sounds like a lot of fun.

Colman Domingo: I don't need to go out to the club anymore. I can make my own club now.

Sebastian Stan: No. Exactly. Yeah. I think...

Colman Domingo: Are you in the club?

Sebastian Stan: No. No. Those days are done. Those days are... And that's maybe, that part of New York I don't experience anymore. I actually was asking somebody before, I'm like, "Where does everyone go on Friday night?" Because I'm like, "I'm just curious."

Colman Domingo: What time are you usually in bed?

Sebastian Stan: Oh, man. I mean, these days it's like a 10:30.

Colman Domingo: Dude, that's late for me. I'm like 9:30.

Sebastian Stan: Really?

Colman Domingo: Dude, I'm a 9:30 bedtime person.

Sebastian Stan: Are you a morning person?

Colman Domingo: Yeah. I love mornings.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Yeah. Me too.

Colman Domingo: I love getting up at 5:30 in the morning.

Sebastian Stan: By the way, to me, the greatest LA's ever is between 5:30 and 11:00 AM.

Colman Domingo: It absolutely is.

Sebastian Stan: It's like...

Colman Domingo: This quiet.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: It's beautiful. You're watching the fog dissipate and it's such a beautiful place at that time.

Sebastian Stan: It's always funny for me with the sun in LA, because sometimes you're like, "I love a good cloudy day."

Colman Domingo: Absolutely. Going back to that, flying out to LA, what were the jobs that you were really trying to get early in your career? Were you like...

Sebastian Stan: Oh, man, I was trying to... I remember getting close to movies like Jarhead, Star Trek and a bunch.

Colman Domingo: Yeah. I wanted to get a job on the CW or something like that.

Sebastian Stan: CW. Yes. All these pilots.

Colman Domingo: Lots of pilots.

Sebastian Stan: The OC, I think I tried out.

Colman Domingo: Oh, yeah.

Sebastian Stan: Didn't get that. That was a bummer.

Colman Domingo: What did you do for part-time work?

Sebastian Stan: I worked in catering and...

Colman Domingo: Same here.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And it was like, oh, $20 an hour. So, we would do weddings and everything, events. And that was in New York.

Colman Domingo: That was in New York.

Sebastian Stan: Okay. I worked for a company called Metropolitan Catering.

Colman Domingo: Wait. I worked with them for a minute.

Sebastian Stan: Did you?

Colman Domingo: Dude. Yeah.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. That was probably when I got out of school in 2005.

Colman Domingo: Dude, what if we work to shift together? That would be hilarious.

Sebastian Stan: That would be ridiculous.

Colman Domingo: Dude, that's wild. One of my part-time gigs was, I used to be a dancer for Bat Mitzvahs.

Sebastian Stan: There is footage of that, obviously.

Colman Domingo: And somebody has it. Someone's bubby has images of me dancing and getting the party started with Mrs. Bernstein was like, "Come on, let's get up."

Sebastian Stan: But Bat Mitzvahs were fun. I was like...

Colman Domingo: Dude, Bat Mitzvahs are...

Sebastian Stan: The best.

Colman Domingo: The best. But also, the money that's spent, it's better than some weddings.

Sebastian Stan: I know. I worked a few of them. And then I'd been to a few of them just growing up. I always thought, "Wow."

Colman Domingo: You never thought about who those dancers were? Like that skinny black guy. You're like, "What's he doing here? But he's getting the party started."

Sebastian Stan: Exactly.

Colman Domingo: That was me. And I got paid a lot.

Sebastian Stan: That's amazing.

Colman Domingo: Good money and good tips too.

Sebastian Stan: And when did you do Law & Order?

Colman Domingo: When did I do Law & Order? I did Law & Order three times. The first one was playing a schizophrenic heroin addict on Law & Order Criminal Intent,, but also did Law & Order with Sam Waterston. I was one of the last people, I feel like, getting a job on Law & Order. That was the job that I just couldn't get for some reason. I felt like, "Oh, I'm not an actor worth my grain of salt."

Sebastian Stan: It’s so funny with Law & Order.

Colman Domingo: I felt like, "I suck if I'm not getting a job on this." But then I got one. And Sam Waterston gave me the greatest compliment I think anyone to this day has given me. I had a scene with Dennis Boutsikaris. I play a young lawyer. Sam Waterson was like, "Who does he remind you of?" And I was like, ugh who's he going to think? Is he going to say someone that doesn't make sense to me?

He said, "Listen to his voice. Who does he sound like?" And Dennis said, "Aha, I hear what you're saying." And then Sam says, "You know who you remind me of? A young Peter Fonda." I was like, "What?" And that was such a great compliment.

Sebastian Stan: Wow.

Colman Domingo: Because I thought it was going to be like Chris Rock or something like that. Now I respect Chris, but I'm like, we're very different actors. But a young Peter Fonda. I was like, "Oh, Sam was able to hear something and see something that was outside of the container that I'm in," which made me feel really good. What about your Law & Order, who'd you play?

Sebastian Stan: I was with Ty Burrell. He played my father and we were like father-son sniper killers.

Colman Domingo: Wow.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. It was the only... And Sam Waterson was on it, and it was Jesse L. Martin and Jerry Orbach.

Colman Domingo: Oh, the great Jerry Orbach.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. I was still in school when it happened, and it was a whole thing with Rutgers letting me out.

Colman Domingo: You went to Rutgers?

Sebastian Stan: I did, yeah. Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Colman Domingo: Yeah. It's a good school.

Sebastian Stan: Did you ever meet Bill Esper?

Colman Domingo: I never met Bill Esper, but he's very famed, so yeah, I never met him though.

Sebastian Stan: Oh. And Israel Hicks is who we met.

Colman Domingo: Israel Hicks, another great famed.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And he actually gave me... he gave us the best advice ever, which was like, "You bring your day to work. You bring your day to the audition." It always stuck with me because everything in you when you're a young actor or whatever, and you're going up to that room or whatever you want to impress, you want the approval, you want to come in there and be nice, be cordial, whatever, and maybe something happens on the way. You spill coffee. Somebody bumps into you or you fall or whatever, you're late. And so come in there with that truth. Don't put on that thing. Just let it be the moment.

Colman Domingo: Do you bring that into meetings that you have? Do you bring in your day? Do you like...

Sebastian Stan: I do now. Actually, I do. Yeah. I'm always like, "Got this call today." And I think it's okay to do that. I feel like.

Colman Domingo: It is. I think you're right. What's funny, I think when it comes to meetings, I'm really funny with meetings because I feel like I dress down. I will sit in a meeting at a big studio and I will just lay out a little bit, because I want to make sure... And I think I realize it's for myself to be very comfortable, because I feel like it's set up for me to be like, "Oh, should I be nervous?" And I'm like, "I'm going to go the opposite. I'm not going to dress up for them."

Usually, I wear all black. I look like a New Yorker in these big LA meetings. And I sit there and I'm like... I like to always think and I say to myself, "There's nothing that I need from you." I actually walk in the room saying that "there's nothing I need here. What I can do is give and you can give and we can have an offering and a sharing together." And for me, it's not even about the job. I always think, "If I walk out of here and we can be good colleagues and I can see you and we can talk about your kid, that's awesome."

But it actually isn't about the job. And I always try to tell young actors that too. I think it's important to walk in with a sense of not needing anything, because you can't book from that. You can book from just being a grounded person and a curious person and interested and interesting.

Sebastian Stan: No. Exactly. I mean, I remember I had a producer one time, it was a studio executive also said, "Sometimes I'm just looking to see if when we're shooting 100 miles away from here all the way in"...

Colman Domingo: Am I going to like that dude?

Sebastian Stan: Are we going to get along?

Colman Domingo: Yeah.

Sebastian Stan: Are we going to be able to go to dinner and sit down and get along? And that's the thing about why it is good... LA and wherever that home is, because we really are far away when it happens and you go away with this group of people and you have this internal experience, and it might as well just be worth it.

Colman Domingo: It's true. I think... And I've said this before and I really do mean it. I really want to work with... Especially now, I feel like... Listen, I'm 54 years old, turning to 55, and I feel like I just want to continue to work with people I'm going to love. And it may sound very much like a Pollyanna in some way. But I'm like, "This life is too short, man." I just want to go in…"Are we going to have a good time and get along and really treat each other in a lovely way and have some laughs?"

I don't want to be stressed. Anything that's too... I know how to let go of things that are not healthy. I have ease in my life, and I think I've designed my whole life to have ease, so I can walk into the room and feel love and grace.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah.

Colman Domingo: But man, there's a lot of other folks in here that are not coming from that place. And I'm like, "I don't want any of that." So, I'm very clear about saying, "Oh, no. That's not useful. That's not going to work unless we're going to come together in this other place." Which I think is you can actually build from and create from.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Trust. Right? Because I think if we have that trust, we can kind of go anywhere in that moment.

Colman Domingo: But you can't be looking over your shoulder.

Sebastian Stan: No. No. I remember being younger and people wanting, even looking for that kind of drama in your own life.

Colman Domingo: Oh, yeah. Trying to create it.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And just to feel everything. But I realized I've had better results with actors that I worked with where... before we were like, "We're good. We're good." And then you can go to these places.

Colman Domingo: I have some very small questions for you too. This is going to sound like the Actors Studio.

Sebastian Stan: I know. That was fun. I used to watch it a lot.

Colman Domingo: I used to watch it all the time. Actually, had it done to me too, by the way.

Sebastian Stan: Really?

Colman Domingo: James Lipton came on stage after Passing Strange that I did on Broadway because he knew Eisa Davis, my co-star.

Sebastian Stan: Wow.

Colman Domingo: And she said, "Would you like him to ask the questions?" And we said abso-fucking-lutely.

Sebastian Stan: No way. What's your favorite curse word?

Colman Domingo: What's your favorite curse word? What's your favorite sound? What did I say? My favorite... I think my favorite sound was my mother's voice. I think my favorite curse word was motherfucker. What's yours?

Sebastian Stan: I mean, Fuck. Yeah. I guess.

Colman Domingo: What's your favorite sound?

Sebastian Stan: My favorite sound? Oh, man. It might be that quiet in between at 6:00 AM LA time when everything else is still waking up. That's a pretty good sound.

Colman Domingo: And if there's a heaven?

Sebastian Stan: I forgot about that!

Colman Domingo: Remember that one? That was the best one.” If there's a heaven, when you are entering the pearly gates, what would you want God to say, Sebastian Stan?”

Sebastian Stan: God. I would probably say... him to say or her to say...

Colman Domingo: Or they to say?

Sebastian Stan: Or they, just, “You did your best. You did your best.” I think that. What about you?

Colman Domingo: I would say, "Come on in motherfucker."

Sebastian Stan: And there’s a margarita!

Colman Domingo: And he's got a margarita for me, and he's playing Frank. And Frankie Beverly's there singing.

Sebastian Stan: Of course.

Colman Domingo: I need it to be a full event like that. I told someone recently, I said, "If I do go out, I don't want to be at the party. I want to be the party." That's why I love hosting. I love having people over because I love to have a good time and just curate the whole event. I think that's where I find most of my joy.

Sebastian Stan: Well, I mean, I also just think that's when you really meet people. And I feel even in this business, I feel I've connected with people and more in environments like that than I have in a meeting or in an office. And I always think of the great parties that used to be that I would imagine Truman Capote or something.

Colman Domingo: Do you throw parties?

Sebastian Stan: I'm not that good at party throwing. I try to manage everything. I'm too worried about, "Is everyone having a good time or whatever." But I do like getting on the Spotify, if need be.

Colman Domingo: Okay. So, you can mix it up on the Spotify?

Sebastian Stan: A little bit. I feel like I could... I wish I would've tried being... And just for me, just for fun, the DJing thing, just for a little bit, because I think there's something...

Colman Domingo: Well, maybe that's your place at the party. You're like, "I'm going to just curate this at the party."

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. It's fun guessing and seeing the energy and then just putting one thing and seeing that shift and everyone's like, "Oh."

Colman Domingo: Hey. Put their hands up.

Sebastian Stan: “We've just moved up. No. We moved up.”

Colman Domingo: Or they look at you, they're like, "Oh, that sucks. You brought it down."

Sebastian Stan: Oh, yeah.

Colman Domingo: Listen, next time you're in LA and Natasha Lyonne is back in LA...

Sebastian Stan: She's lovely.

Colman Domingo: She and I throw parties together.

Sebastian Stan: Oh, that's amazing. Really?

Colman Domingo: We threw a New Year's Eve party where I DJ'd and I got a little shy, but I had turn it out because Questlove walked in the door and I'm like, "Okay, no."

Sebastian Stan: Oh, my God.

Colman Domingo: "I can't get off my game." So, we threw a New Year's Eve party. But we throw these parties in LA together that are just about bringing people, artists together. It's sort of old school salon. I feel like it's like...

Sebastian Stan: I think that's great.

Colman Domingo: In the league of Truman Capote, because we realize somebody's got to have them. And we started to curate them together. She's like, "Hey, Colman Domingo, should we have a party this weekend?" I'm like, "Sure." She'll put out some little flyer. I don't even know what the flyer says. It's kind of weird and artistic and a little something salacious. And she'll just put it out, "Yeah. Party at my house."

Sebastian Stan: Oh, definitely.

Colman Domingo: And we always promised that there's going to be an orgy. It's always a joke. But I've had some people call me and just like, "Hey, so...

Sebastian Stan: There's LA.

Colman Domingo: We’re like, "No. It's a joke." Because she's like, "Bring something to wear in the pool or not so, we can get this orgy popping."

Sebastian Stan: But it would be funny if somebody actually did show up going like…

Colman Domingo: Ready for the orgy. But I guess talking about orgies is a good place to wrap it up, I guess.

Sebastian Stan: Hey, listen. We're all doing our best.

Colman Domingo: I'm sure somebody would like to hear that in the middle of an orgy. I'm just doing my best. Could you imagine that person?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. Actually, the other thing, I don't know if you've ever met Anthony Mackie. He's like...

Colman Domingo: Oh, yeah, he's cool.

Sebastian Stan: He and I always have a funny thing. And we have a whole thing that we always say to each other, "Hey man, we're just trying to stay alive." That's it.

Colman Domingo: We're just trying to stay alive. So, we'll wrap this up with that, I guess. With that, we're just trying to stay alive.

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. And do our best.

Colman Domingo: That'll close us out. Thanks, man. It's good talking to you, man.

Sebastian Stan: Man, it's such a pleasure. I'm so happy we got to connect.

Colman Domingo: Me too. They're coming to get us. All right. Thank you. Dude, this was great. Dude, this was great.

Sebastian Stan: Oh, my God. I'm coming to those parties.