Euphoria star Colman Domingo talks singing for Oprah Winfrey and zooming in with the Obamas

Colman Domingo says his younger brother gave him the best compliment about his new autobiographical animated short, “New Moon.”

"He was overwhelmed," Domingo tells me on this week's episode of the "Just for Variety" podcast. "He said, 'More than anything, you brought back the mom feeling. ""

"New Moon" tells the story of a little boy who learns to dream thanks to his hardworking single mother. It is based on Domingo's play "A boy and his soul".

Domingo is the voice of the narrator as well as that of the mother. "My siblings say I have my mother's voice," he says. "They're like, 'You sound like mom.'"

The film will be screened at Outfest on July 16 in Los Angeles.

“New Moon” is written by Domingo and her husband and producing partner Raúl Domingo. Raúl co-directed with Jérémie Balais and Jeff Leffig. When the couple first made the movie, they didn't know what to do with it. It was people like Ava DuVernay, Lee Daniels and Matthew Cherry who suggested submitting it to film festivals. They hope to adapt it into a television series.

"New Moon."

I spoke to Domingo just hours after receiving his first Emmy nomination for his work as Ali in 'Euphoria'. "I did something that shocked me - I actually started crying," Domingo said upon learning he had been nominated. "It was different because I know what the character means to a lot of people. It seems weird, but I wanted it for everything he stands for and the language that Sam [Levinson] gives me and what he does in the television space, which I think is a breakthrough. And this character, this black guy who's addicted and trying to do some good in the world — I want that to be amplified."

After our interview, Domingo was heading to his last day of filming the musical "The Color Purple" produced by Oprah Winfrey in Atlanta. He plays Mister in the big screen adaptation of the Tony award-winning show. The cast also includes Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia, Danielle Brooks, H.E.R., Ciara, Halle Bailey, Aunjanue Ellis and Corey Hawkins.

He remembers seeing Winfrey on set at the start of filming, when they were shooting the final scene. "Oprah was there, and she was actually standing under this tree, this big, beautiful, big oak tree," Domingo says. "Oprah couldn't help herself. She came on set, and she was in the video village and everything, but at one point she was literally right under the tree. So when the camera rolls around all of us literally sing to Oprah. She's so emotional and she sings the ending song "Color Purple" with us. So when everyone sees our eyes in the camera roll, we're actually looking at Oprah!"

Also in the box is "Rustin," the George C. Wolfe-directed biopic of Bayard Rustin, the late gay civil rights leader who played a crucial role in raising Martin Luther King Jr. to power. national leadership. Domingo portrays Rustin in his first headlining role.

The film is the first narrative feature produced by Barack and Michelle Obama and their production company Higher Ground. The former first couple talks...