Colman Domingo thanks “Euphoria” for turning him into a heartthrob 'at the ripe old age of 54'

"As long as it happened at some point in my life, right?"

Age is nothing but a number, and Colman Domingo is living proof of that. The actor reveals he's become a heartthrob in his 50s, all thanks to his role on Euphoria.

The Sing Sing star plays Rue's (Zendaya)sponsor Ali on the HBO drama, and creator Sam Levinson wrote the part for him "based on someone who was [his] sponsor," Domingo previously told Entertainment Weekly. But he had no idea the role would go on to turn him into a TV crush for a new generation.

Related: Yes, Euphoria season 3 is still coming: HBO teases TV slate for 2025

"It’s really kind of incredible," Domingo said on SiriusXM’s The Spotlight with Jessica Shaw about a younger audience knowing him from the show. "They’re like, 'Oh my god, Ali!' And usually what’s so sweet, they look at me and they want me to be their big brother, their father figure, their counselor or something."

But he's also had some wilder encounters with younger fans. "I was literally driving down the 405 in L.A. and a group of young girls kept looking at me and my husband was like, 'Those girls are looking at you. Is something wrong?'" Domingo remembered. "'I don’t know,' but they kept looking and then eventually, I waved, and then I literally heard [screams]. So I’m a 54-year-old heartthrob as well."

Domingo laughed as he added, "It’s happened. I never knew it would happen, but it’s happened at the ripe old age of 54. Listen, as long as it happened at some point in my life, right?"

Watch a video of his interview below:

Domingo, who has skyrocketed to leading-man status after an Oscar nomination for Rustin and parts in The Color Purple and Drive-Away Dolls, previously looked back with EW on his special episode with Zendaya where Rue and Ali had a wide-ranging conversation in a diner about sobriety, faith, and redemption over pancakes on Christmas Eve.

"I knew that Sam has an arc for everyone, even the smallest of characters, and so I knew that it was a matter of time when he would give more insight to Ali, and the weight," Domingo said. "Because even in conversations, I knew more about who it's based on, so I knew a lot of this man's story, and I was just wondering how he would weave that into the storyline. And I think it just happened in a very organic way for Sam... I felt incredibly blessed for this episode."

Domingo will also appear in the forthcoming Michael Jackson biopic Michael as the singer’s father and a Nat King Cole biopic that he'll direct himself.

Levinson previously told Elle that he sees the third season as a "film noir." Through Rue he plans to "explore what it means to be an individual with principles in a corrupt world," he said.

Euphoria costume designer Heidi Bivens hinted to Vogue that the third season would take place years after the second. "I'm really excited to read the scripts," she said. "There is talk of it being approximately five years in the future, and that they're not in high school anymore."

Anyone But You star Sydney Sweeney, who plays Cassie Howard on Euphoria, also said she looks forward to revisiting the series after a long break between seasons. "I actually like it because there's so much room for growth for both me as a person and also Cassie as a character,” she told Who What Wear. "It's going to be very, very wild."

Jacob Elordi, who has had a phenomenal year playing English aristocrat Felix Catton in Saltburn and Elvis Presley in Priscilla, joked on The Tonight Show that he's eager for the show to return so he can realistically play his young character, Nate.

"I hope it's soon, or they're going to have to Benjamin Button me or something,” he said. "I'm going to have a bad back walking down the hallway, you know?" He also thought a time jump would make sense: "I'm assuming that we’ll have to go forward. Otherwise, it's going to seem like a weird bit."

Sadly, the show must continue without actor Angus Cloud, who died in July 2023 at 25 and played sensitive drug dealer Fezco.

Euphoria will finally return for season 3 in 2025.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.