George C. Wolfe has a way with actors, having worked with the best of the best on stage and screen, from the original staging of “Angels in America” to guiding Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis to Oscar noms in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” In his latest film “Rustin,” now playing on Netflix, Wolfe has again assembled a stellar ensemble. And it’s led by Colman Domingo in his first leading film role as Bayard Rustin, the Civil Rights activist who was instrumental in organizing the 1963 March on Washington.
There are several powerful moments in the movie, but Wolfe cites one as particularly memorable — and spoiler alert if you choose to proceed. Near the end of the film, the world learns that Rustin was arrested on a “morals charge” for having gay sex with men. He was convicted of misdemeanor vagrancy and sentenced to 60 days in jail and ended up on the sex offender list. The reveal — made by none other than Strom Thurmond on the Senate floor — is an attempt to delegitimize the Civil Rights movement just as the march is ramping up.
Rustin has refused to step down from his position and is called into a room full of busy volunteers watching what appears to be a televised press conference. A. Philip Randolph (Glynn Turman) is in the process of castigating Thurmond. Then Dr. King steps up to the microphone, as the room watches silently. Dr. King proceeds to call Rustin “one of the most moral, one of the most decent human beings I have ever known.” The usually loquacious Rustin looks on in silence as King completes his defense by saying: “I’m proud to call him friend. I can’t think of a finer person to lead us into Washington, D.C.” Rustin’s emotions come crashing through as he wipes tears away.
“It’s a release,” says Wolfe of the moment. “He’s been going and going, knowing that he’s judged and dismissed and not letting it affect him. Knowing that people would love for him not to be involved, but not letting it stop him. And then there’s a moment where people pledged their loyalty to him and their faith in him and I think it’s just overwhelming.”
While Rustin didn’t hide his sexuality, Wolfe says there was still a small piece “in the corner of his psyche behind a locked door” that felt some degree of shame about the arrest. “There was this last piece of shame, and this is him finally releasing that and he is surrounded by all these people standing up for him and being on his side.”
In addition to King speaking up for him on television, Rustin is literally surrounded in the room by volunteers and so much is said by the reactions of the cast around Domingo. CCH Pounder, playing Anna Arnold Hedgeman, silently places a hand on Domingo’s back in a gesture that speaks volumes. “People are bringing their texture as artists, they’re bringing their texture as human beings, and that’s what you’re witnessing as well,” Wolfe notes, adding that it was a passion project for many of the cast. “Purity is a dangerous word, but I think there’s such a degree of purity that everyone brings throughout the film.”
This includes actors such as comedian Chris Rock and multiple Tony winner Audra McDonald. Jeffrey Wright, who won a Tony Award for “Angels in America” under Wolfe’s direction and found time in his busy schedule to play Adam Clayton Powell Jr. And Adrienne Warren, who was performing in eight shows a week on Broadway in “Tina” but came to set on her only days off to shoot two scenes. “Everyone brought that degree of sophistication of heart and commitment and giving whatever the moment required.”
Of course, the film is anchored by Domingo, who Wolfe praises as having done “exquisite work,” particularly in that scene. “It was a crucial, deeply important scene in terms of storytelling and deeply important in terms of character. It was a scene that requires a very delicate and quiet and simple energy, and Colman does beautiful, beautiful work.”