Colman Domingo is getting in the director’s chair for an upcoming biopic about 1950s crooner Nat King Cole.

Variety reports that Domingo, fresh off his successes in Rustin and The Color Purple, will now direct and star in a Nat King Cole biopic. The film will be his directing debut.

Domingo talked about the project in Variety’s recent Awards Circuit Podcast episode, saying, “I’ve been working on it quietly for a few years. It’s something I’m looking forward to putting together with some great partners.”

Variety also reports that Domingo has worked on a project about Cole before. He co-wrote the play Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole with Patricia McGregor. That play imagined what Cole might have been thinking of as he put on his 1957 Christmas special episode of The Nat King Cole Show. His show was the first network series hosted by a Black person in the United States.

The Cole biopic is one of two projects Domingo has arranged after The Color Purple and Rustin, a sign that his star is rising fast. Domingo is also set to portray Joe Jackson in the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael. He joins Jackson’s nephew Jafaar, who will portray his uncle in the film, and Juliano Krue Valdi, who will play young Michael.

Source: Colman Domingo To Direct And Star As Nat King Cole In Upcoming Biopic