Tomorrow, when ‘Southpaw’ is released in theaters nationwide, a Bronx man will be gracing the silver screen in this sports flick that partially takes place in The Bronx (it’s mostly filmed Pittsburgh but some scenes were filmed in our borough).
Dominic Colón, a Bronx native still living in The Bronx, plays Billy Hope’s childhood chum, Mikey, who meet while growing up in a foster home. The role of Billy Hope is portrayed by Oscar nominated Jake Gyllenhaal alongside the likes of Forest Whitaker and Rachel McAdams who also star in the movie.
Southpaw follows the fictional character of Billy Hope who suffers tragic losses and after hitting rock bottom, he seeks to redeem himself in the ring.
Colón reached out to Welcome2TheBronx not only excited about being in major motion picture but he also told us about the impact Jake Gyllenhaal had on him.
For Southpaw, Jake Gyllenhaal transformed himself into a hulking, muscular boxer through intense training for his role as Billy Hope and it was seeing this transformation that moved Dominic Colón.
Colón, who’s had guest roles in the hit Netflix series, Orange is The New Black, Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, and even CSI: NY said, “…since wrapping production on Southpaw I’ve lost over 185lbs. The movie was a huge inspiration for me.”
“Essentially what the movie is about is taking control over the pieces of your life event when it seems like it can be falling a part. That really resonated with me, and I saw the intensity that Jake and some of the other boxers in the movie trained and I was like if they can do it for a movie, I can do it in real life, so much so that I actually started taking boxing classes a few months ago. My right cross is no JOKE!!!” said Colón in an interview with Welcome2TheBronx
He landed the role after the part of Mikey wasn’t filled in. “The film was cast out of LA but they didn’t find anyone to play Mikey , so was brought in to meet and audition for Antoine Fuqua in NYC, I had a really good audition and I made him laugh.” said Colón.
“I felt like I booked the role however I didn’t get a call for another two weeks, I was bummed, I kept calling my agent asking “You sure they haven’t called?” Eventually, I got a call that I booked the role on a Thursday and I had to leave NYC for 2 months on that Sunday. Those are the types of phone calls actors LOVE!” he added.
Dominic, a graduate of Cardinal Spellman High School in our borough, is an actor, screenwriter, and producer born and raised in Castle Hill (just like Jennifer Lopez aka JLo) and has appeared in over 45 movies and television shows.
And just like Jennifer Lopez, this Bronxite was also a product of Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club—a place he still considers his favorite spot in The Bronx.
“It is the place where I started acting, (yes the place where J-Lo started) I actually went back there in 2012 to direct their production of the musical IN THE HEIGHTS where it was sold out for all six shows.” Colón said.
On top of all his appearances and acting accomplishments, ‘CRUSH’ is his HBO award-winning short film about a Bronx teenage boy who comes out to his high school crush during prom.
Besides tomorrow’s movie release of Southpaw, you can expect to see Colon in ‘Time Out of Mind‘ starring Richard Gere and scheduled for release on September 9th of this year followed by ‘Money Monster‘ starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts directed by Jodie Foster and scheduled for release March 2016.
You can follow Dominic on Instagram and Twitter at @dominiccolon.
