[This story contains major spoilers from the finale of The Madness.]

This has been Colman Domingos year. The Euphoria star received a best actor Oscar nomination his first-ever for his portrayal of civil rights hero Bayard Rustin in Rustin, produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. Hes tracking to land another best actor nod for his acclaimed drama Sing Sing, based on a real-life prison theater program; and his eight-episode conspiracy thriller series The Madness, his first as a leading man, dropped Thanksgiving Day on his 55th birthday. In The Madness, Domingo plays the charming Muncie Daniels, a CNN pundit and Philadelphia native who stumbles upon a murder and is blamed for it. On the wild ride to clear his name of killing a white supremacist, at that Muncie must first rein in his ego and make personal amends with his estranged wife Elena (Marsha Stephanie Blake), teenage son Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson) and daughter Kallie (Gabrielle Graham), his first child whom he abandoned because it didnt fit the optics. Still, to become the father he needs to be, Muncie has to confront his own troubling memories of an activist father who ended up in prison for acting on his beliefs.

Not knowing who is after him and why makes Muncie unsure of what moves to make and who to trust, leading to shaky alliances with the murder victims wife Lucie (Tamsin Topolski) and FBI agent Franco Quinones (John Ortiz), neither of whom hes sure he can fully trust. And just when he thinks he might be home free, a new obstacle in Julia Jayne (Alison Wright) is presented, and she is not afraid to kill. Even worse, theres a billionaire mastermind (Neal Huff) also in the mix who has the public on his side. In the face of all these substantial obstacles, Muncie has two secret weapons his good friend and lawyer Kwesi (Deon Cole) and Isiah (Stephen McKinley Henderson), a friend of his fathers who has known him since he was a boy. Even when they disagree with him, neither one of them will turn their backs on him.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Domingo to talk about becoming Muncie Daniels, leading a show set in his hometown, how he feels about The Madness in a Trump 2.0 world and if hes interested in doing a second season after not getting on that plane.

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What made The Madness a good first series for you to lead and Muncie a character you wanted to play?

Everything about it. It deals with all the things were thinking about right now in our culture and politics. Muncie Daniels is sitting in a seat where hes very centrist in his views, and he is given this horror story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he has to get out into the world to sort things out. Im a person who believes that you have to get into the world, and you have to talk to other people and people who dont believe in what you believe in to get to a new belief. So I felt like I understood Muncie in many ways. I felt like hes taking a journey many people need to take right now to actually sort out all this disinformation, to actually form allies, sometimes with people you think you have nothing in common with. It really is just an everymans journey [of someone] whos thrown into extraordinary circumstances.

How was filming this project set in your hometown?

That was amazing. We filmed most of the series in Toronto, but I knew we were doing some exteriors in Philadelphia and New York. And when they said were going to do some exteriors in Philly, I said, Well, we gotta go to the real Philly. We gotta go to West Philly. We shot, literally, part of the running montage past my childhood home and, also, in the park. In one of the episodes, theres a park that me and Elena are in, and thats actually my childhood park that I used to go to that was literally across the street from my elementary school. We even had a few background [actors] that were some of my childhood friends. They were just deep background.

What kind of preparation did you do? Because Muncie in the first episode, hes

Hes doing the most. Hes doing the entire most. I had to go through training for Jiu Jitsu. That was one of the first things, and hand-to-hand combat and also gun work. I did some of that work on Fear of The Walking Dead. And Im used to doing physical work, but I hadnt gone in like that, especially with Jiu Jitsu, which, actually, I really took to very quickly because for me its like choreography, taking me back to my Broadway stage days. So that was really cool. I love anything thats athletic and anything and challenging. I loved every challenge. And also knowing that Muncie was pretty much in every frame over the first four to five episodes, I knew that I had to really have stamina and have discipline, not only to do the physical work, but also the vocal work.

Muncie can be very frustrating, especially when he seems blind to the very real obstacles facing him as a Black man.

Thats another thing that I was very curious about with Muncie, because of where he was sitting. A lot of folks, and I dont think Im this way, but I think a lot of times you start to insulate yourself and [end up] being in a bubble. Thats why he has his wife, his very, very Black wife and shes like wait a minute, so you went over there to this white mans house to do what? And its almost like, not that he forgot, but hes been walking in his own rare air that he forgot he could be a target. And, at the end of the day, if you strip away his position, his power, his money, you see what a Black man is treated like in the world.

Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo) with son Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson) and daughter Kallie (Gabrielle Graham) in the finale. Netflix So talk about his relationship with Elena (Marsha Stephanie Blake), his estranged wife. Why exactly are they estranged? Because it really is not made clear in the series.

Thats the beautiful thing. Actually, we made an agreement on the fact that we dont even need to know exactly what went on in the relationship or why theyre not together. We thought it would be stronger to make it something existential, that theyre just in very different places in their lives. They met at a time when Muncie was an activist, and they were out there, probably in these streets together, trying to do good for people. And then Muncie has sort of elevated himself up to being a college professor and a CNN pundit and they just seem to be in very different places and have very different needs in the world. So I think thats whats pulling them apart. And Marsha Stephanie Blake, who I love so much, who plays Elena, we did some work to make sure that we always felt that there was still love, there was still attraction between each other, that she just wasnt feeling him. (Laughs)

Give us some insight into Muncie as a father to both his teenage son Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson) and his older daughter Kallie (Gabrielle Graham)?

Well, hes kind of absent in many ways when we first meet him. I think that hes present in his sons life, yet hes not really connecting with him. His son has very different needs than what Muncie can provide and a different way of being as a young Black man in the world and Muncie is trying to inspire him to do something different, instead of acknowledging where he needs to be and where his son needs to be. And then hes sort of been an estranged father to his grown daughter, and that was basically because he made some choices early on in his life. He had a kid with one of his first girlfriends, and then made choices to have a very different life, and that left that young girl without a father. So, hes trying to do some repair, but he doesnt even know how to get in there and do the repair. And shes tough, which I love. Gabrielle Graham is fantastic playing her. And she was actually vocal coached by my niece. Gabrielle is from Canada, and [my niece] said, If she wants to talk to me, I got her. I put them on the phone; they could not stop working together to the point that I feel like Gabrielle Graham took on some aspects of my own niece. So she does feel like family to me.

Maybe part of the problem Muncie has with Demetrius, especially early on, is a lot of times hes trying to be his friend to kind of have one up on Elena.

Absolutely. I think hes trying to find his way in with his son, but he doesnt really know how to be a father. Hes failing at being a father when we first meet him. And part of the discovery and journey of The Madness is for him to actually get more tools to actually hear his son, acknowledge his sons feelings, or his sons rage, or what his son sees in the world as injustice, and how to go about it. Its almost as if his son [Demetrius] was Malcolm X and Muncie was Martin, and they have to find a middle ground together.

Youre a theater guy, so how huge was it to work with Stephen McKinley Henderson who plays Isiah? And then theres also Deon Cole.

Stephen McKinley is a legend. Everything about Stephen McKinley is grounded from head to toe, so you just have to be on your best game and really just deliver. Because hes just grounded. He starts at a very grounded place so it grounds your performance as well. And Deon Cole, we worked together very briefly on The Color Purple, and I knew when they were talking about Muncies best friend and attorney [Kwesi], its got to be someone who sort of brings Muncie home. And Muncie is in CNN offices, you name it, hes code switching all day, and this is his college buddy, this is somebody who can actually be his most raw self with without a filter. When we settled on Deon Cole, I thought, Oh, Deon will give me everything I need. I would believe that friendship in every single way. Deon is fantastic. People know him as such a great comedian, but hes an incredible dramatic actor.

The Madness co-showrunner VJ Boyd said it was important to surround Muncie with other Black people.

Absolutely, so we know the world he lives in. I think its an easy trope to actually isolate him and not really deal with his Blackness. But thats something everyone was very conscious to do to make sure that we knew he was absolutely 100 percent a very complex Black man in the world.

Talk about the very formidable villain Julia Jayne, played by Alison Wright.

Oh Julia Jayne, Woo. Oh my God. Alison plays opaque like no one else. You can never know what shes thinking or feeling as a character. And Alison herself is very warm. Shes warm and funny and weird in all the good ways, but she knows how to play icy cold. Doing scene work with her is a joy because she volleys with you in such a unique way, like shes looking behind your eyes, and like shes three steps ahead of you.

And then theres the relationship Muncie has with Franco Quinones played by John Ortiz.

John Ortiz is wonderful. Ive been a fan of John Ortiz back from New York theater days because he was part of the LAByrinth Theater Company. And so when I knew that he was cast, I couldnt have been more excited. I think hes just such a tremendous actor with a great heart. He just has an incredible work ethic. I had a blast working with him.

Oh, and we cant forget Muncies tie to Mark Simons wife Lucie (Tamsin Topolski).

Shes a character he believes he has nothing in common with. He has so many ideas and opinions about her from [her] being part of this white supremacist group, and this woman is actively doing work to disavow that and be something different. So hes meeting her when shes at a crossroads. And he forms an ally in her in a way that he probably never would imagine they wouldve.

Domingo as Muncie with Deon Cole as Kwesi Dupree in The Madness finale. AMANDA MATLOVICH/Netflix Talk about Muncie realizing that hes not that much different from his father.

He thought he was doing things in a different way. But isnt that something that history teaches us that no matter what youre still doing things the exact same way. Its just that it looks a little different, or you think youre so different. You know we always try to get away from, oh, I dont want to be nothing like my mother or my father. And then you end up saying the same things just like they do. [laughs] It feels like thats exactly what it is. Its really examining familiar relationships and history and how sometimes you cant run from that. Instead of saying, Oh, I dont want to be like [them], you have to examine who they are and then make conscious decisions to actually do the work to not be like [them].

And why didnt Muncie get on that plane and escape all the drama? For a lot of people, he picked the wrong time not to run away.

Not the wrong time! (Laughs) You know what he decided, because in his history hes always run away, that now he thought, I need to confront this head on and figure out a new way. For me, thats Muncies literal turnaround and his new breakthrough. So hes, Let me meet this head on and go harder and go stronger.

Did you find any of The Madness triggering, especially with the Elon Musk-esque Rodney Kraintz (Neal Huff) billionaire guy?

(Laughs) Funny thing is, it wasnt triggering when we were [filming] it, but now it feels like its really a sign of the times [because] its really questioning a lot of things that are happening right now. We filmed this a year and a half, two years ago, and so the idea that we were already thinking about what was in the zeitgeist, for what I think our showrunners VJ Boyd and Stephen Belber were interested and curious about, is whats behind door Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6? Whos actually pulling the strings? Whos actually sowing these seeds of disinformation? So they were already wanting to raise all these questions. And its amazing that when its now come to this moment when [the series is on the air] that these are the questions we all have right now.

Do you see a Madness 2 for you?

I hope so. Madness is a show I really enjoyed. I think theres more story for Muncie and his family. I think now that theyve had all these sort of huge life lessons, Id be interested to take them out in the world and make them these modern-day, everyday superheroes who are just coming together as a family to work on things that affect the world or affect some change in some way. I feel like we need to take them to Europe and see what happens with this family.

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All eight episodes of The Madness are now streaming on Netflix.Read THRs interview with showrunners VJ Boyd and Stephen Belber.