All About Colman Domingo’s Husband Raúl Domingo

Colman Domingo’s star continues to rise, with his upcoming role in musical adaptation The Color Purple and his scene-stealing turn in HBO’s Euphoria. Fans are curious about the Fear the Walking Dead actor’s personal life, but he has been in a very steady romance for nearly two decades. Colman married Raúl Aktanov, or Raúl Domingo now, in 2014, but they met way back in 2005 during a chance encounter in a Walgreens’ parking lot.

Here’s everything to know about Colman Domingo and his longtime partner and husband Raúl.

Who is Raúl Domingo?

Not a lot is known about Raúl’s personal life outside of his marriage—even his Instagram is private—but his work life has moved in tandem with Colman’s since they met almost 20 years ago. Their first summer together, Colman was called to Juneau, Alaska, for an acting role, and Raúl went with him, taking a job as an assistant costume designer on the shoot so they didn’t have to do long distance. They headed back to New York in the fall, and that November, Colman proposed.

He has moved on to working in writing and producing. He and Colman created the animated short film New Moon, about a Black mother and her son discussing life and their hopes and dreams.

He is also working as a film producer on Bottomless Brunch at Colman’s and the upcoming sci-fi thriller It’s What’s Inside.

How did Colman and Raúl meet?

In an interview with his husband for GQ, Colman says he happened to lock eyes with Raúl at a Walgreens, but his future husband was being dragged away by a friend. He couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“I just felt something,” he explained.

Raúl also felt something. He and his friend were late for a party and had stopped at the store to buy a gift for their host. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Colman’s face either.

He went on Craigslist’s Missed Connections and wrote a post saying, “I saw you outside of Walgreens in Berkeley…”

Colman said he ended up on Missed Connections, too, and saw the words written for him.

“I literally jumped out of my chair when I saw the post,” Colman says.

In 2020, during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Colman rehashed the story with more details.

“Okay, you gotta picture 17 years ago, I was walking down the street going into a Walgreens in Berkeley, California,” he said. “We passed each other. We never spoke…A few days later, I’m on Craigslist trying to buy a used computer to help with my writing. I went to the home screen and you know, they have Missed Connections, things like ads, so I would read them because I’m a romantic.”

Colman continued, “I go to the second page of Missed Connections and it said, ‘Saw you outside of Walgreens, Berkeley.’”

Two days later, they went on their first date at a San Francisco bar. They spent the night together, and Colman was already in love.

“I told him, ‘I think you’re about to change my life, and I love you,’” he said. “And we’ve been together ever since.”

When did Colman and Raúl get married?

Raúl and Colman were married in California in 2014, and it was something of a surprise for guests. What felt like a house party to the 25 attendees suddenly transformed into a ceremony when they announced, “Welcome to our wedding.”

Colman told GQ that he wore a Hawaiian shirt, and the partygoers danced until four in the morning.

What has Colman said about Raúl?

One thing Colman insists on is how supportive his husband is. Raúl attended almost every performance of Jonestown in California during Colmans time with the show, bringing a bouquet of white roses each time. During their joint interview with GQ, Raúl told Colman, “I feel like I needed to understand everything that you are.”

In 2022, Colman thanked Raúl during his acceptance speech after his win for outstanding guest actor in a drama series, Euphoria. He even dedicated the honor to him.

“A lot of kindness brought me to this stage, people who love me, people who lift me up. Thank you to those people,” Colman said. “Thank you to my darling Raúl, this is for you.”