Out cover stars Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani on bringing big queer love to ‘The Four Seasons’

It was pasta that led to Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani becoming husbands — as the TV couple Danny and Claude on Netflix’s The Four Seasons, that is.

Calvani and his real-life husband, the Brazilian actor Marco Pigossi, were hosting Domingo and his spouse Raúl at their Provincetown home for a meal, as Domingo recalls it. The visiting couple was impressed by how Calvani “doted on everyone…exactly what Claude would have done,” the Rustin actor says.

Unbeknownst to their hosts, Domingo had already been cast as Danny in The Four Seasons, a Netflix dramedy from creators Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, and Tracey Wigfield centered on three couples in a tight-knit friend group — and the drama that unfolds after one of the friends, Nick (Steve Carell) decides to leave his wife Anne (Kerry Kenney-Silver) for a younger woman, Ginny (Erika Henningsen). The production, which also stars Fey and Will Forte as the couple Kate and Jack, was still searching for its Claude at the time.

COLMAN in SAINT LAURENT Full Look / MARCO in MAISON MARGIELA Jacket & Pants; BOUCHERON NecklaceDavid Urbanke

Domingo and Calvani had become friends on the film festival circuit while promoting their 2024 productions Sing Sing and High Tide, respectively. (Sing Sing earned Domingo an Oscar nod for his portrayal of a prison inmate who joins a theater group; High Tide, a critically acclaimed gay romantic drama directed by Calvani, stars Pigossi as an undocumented immigrant who finds romance in P-town.) Calvani was working primarily as a writer and director during this dinner date; although he has a theater background, he hadn’t acted in over a decade.

Regardless, Domingo, inspired by his host’s charm, asked Calvani if he would be open to auditioning via self-tape for an unnamed project. Calvani, who is from a small town outside Florence, first imagined it was a “lasagna, pizza, ciao” part for a one-note Italian character. However, when he received the casting email about The Four Seasons, “I froze — literally, I was like, what? This is not for me. It felt too big to be true and to be mine,” he recounts. He submitted the tape anyway.

“When Colman Domingo calls, it’s hard to say no,” he laughs.

The casting of Claude was important to Domingo. The queer couple’s story had a huge potential platform through Netflix and the A-listers involved in The Four Seasons. He knew that chemistry and genuine affection for his onscreen partner would be key. Yet still, in his first in-person meeting with Fey in New York City to discuss the project, the Mean Girls creator surprised Domingo when she told him that the top candidate for Claude was “your friend Marco.”

“I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Because I literally had never seen him act. I just had a feeling,” Domingo says. “And then she showed me his tape, and it was so beautiful and nuanced, and there was an innocence to it. And it was Marco’s heart.” In that meeting, Domingo vouched for Calvani — and Fey and Netflix signed on to the casting. The rest is Four Seasons history.

COLMAN in THOM BROWNE Full Look; BOUCHERON Ring & EarringDavid Urbanke

In their shared video chat with Out, Calvani grows emotional as Domingo recalls his side of this casting story, sparking “a giant journey of gratitude,” Calvani says. The Four Seasons is “the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you, Colman.”

“And thank you, Marco, for saying yes,” Domingo replies.

Season 1 of The Four Seasons was a hit for Netflix. Within four days of its release, the show, an adaptation of the 1981 Alan Alda film of the same name, had racked up 11.9 million views — and over 53 million in under two weeks. Critically, the show garnered a GLAAD Media Award nomination, an Emmy nod for Domingo, and a Breakthrough Actor Award for Calvani at SeriesFest, a nonprofit that celebrates international TV.

The Four Seasons is notable for its LGBTQ+ representation in the media landscape, as Danny and Claude are “not a trope of something we’ve seen as a gay couple” — particularly one that that navigates mostly straight spaces and whose story is given equal footing (warts and all) with different-sex couples, Domingo notes. (The show spotlights a trip taken by the group during each earthly season, which lets the viewers see the impact of time on these characters and their relationships.)

MARCO in CASABLANCA Shirt and Pants; JOHN HARDY BraceletDavid Urbanke

While Danny and Claude do run into queer-specific scenarios — for example, picking up a hot lumberjack on Grindr while they’re visiting Vassar College, where this friend circle first formed, in season 1 — “the majority of issues they wrestle with literally has nothing to do with being queer,” says Domingo, adding, “I like the idea that sometimes, [queer couples] are quite ordinary.”

Health problems, growing older, making a long-term relationship work — these are issues Danny and Claude deal with that are also universal to the human experience. Danny is an architect with an impeccable sense of style. But the character is also dealing with a heart problem, and, relatably, the discovery of cigarettes in his bag sends Claude into an emotional tailspin.

Viewers get it. Calvani recalls how a man in his 40s, just a few days before this March interview, stopped him to tell him that Danny and Claude showed him “how he wants to be loved in life and what kind of relationship he’s actually looking for.” In a twist, the man added, “And I’m not even gay!”

“He saw the universality of it. And…I felt immediately like the joy of being able to give this gift to others, no matter what their sexual orientation is,” says Calvani. He credits the showrunners and, in particular, “Tina’s mind and heart” for creating representation that resonates.

MARCO in GIORGIO ARMANI Full Look; OMEGA Watch / COLEMAN in AMIRI Full LookDavid Urbanke

Additionally, The Four Seasons demonstrates how issues like being open are not exclusive to queer couples; Ginny’s preference for nonmonogamy is also a topic her partner Nick wrestled with. And in season 2, as Ginny (spoiler) deals with her pregnancy with Nick’s child after his surprise death, a mourning Danny and Claude also question whether they too might be ready to bring new life into the world.

On May 28, when season 2 premieres, Calvani shares that it will be “quite a treat for the audience” to see these characters grapple with “the next chapter of their lives.”

“They start asking themselves other kind of questions, including, what does it mean to be a family for us? Do we need to extend it, or are we good with ourselves? Do we want to die the way we are? Keep renovating kitchens? I think that’s, again, not just queer, it’s really universal, but I’m glad that we are the ones who are asking those questions in this show,” he says.

In addition to the writing, the clothes tell a story. (Domingo cites to RuPaul’s famous quote, “We’re all born naked, and the rest is drag.”) On The Four Seasons, Domingo has “full on” input into what his character wears and often consults with the show’s costume designer, Tina Nigro (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Girls5Eva). Since Danny is an architect, Domingo conveyed to Nigro that “he’s got to be a citizen of the world,” equally at ease in Milan, Austin, and Los Angeles. And he always has a nice hat. Expect him to lean into his “daddy side” in season 2, perhaps with some Carhartt items to chime with his new identity.

COLMAN in CASABLANCA Suit, Shirt, & Belt; BRUNELLO CUCINELLI Shoes; BOUCHERON Earring & Ring; OMEGA WatchDavid Urbanke

Meanwhile, Claude in season 1 is “flamboyant in colors and a lot of accessories” as a way “to speak louder” within an established circle that he fears might occasionally overlook him — particularly as an immigrant who joined this East Coast semi-elitist group through marriage, Calvani attests. In season 2, “I think he will peel away all these layers and colors” as he asserts himself more and becomes less “chaotic and confused,” Calvani says.

This sartorial journey resonates with Domingo, who says he and his husband recently went through their clothes and got rid of 400 articles. “At some point when you know yourself…you just distill it down to the bare essentials,” he says.

Like their characters, Domingo and Calvani are in long-term relationships, and they understand what love can bring to a life. “I think you always need someone to call home,” Domingo says of his partner Raúl, who he first met in 2005 through a Craigslist Missed Connections ad. He dismisses that notion of “Oh, I got to focus on my career, I don’t have time for relationships,” particularly when that work is within the fickle entertainment industry. When “you’re stepping out on a limb, you need that support from platonic and romantic relationships,” he attests.

“It was extremely, extremely helpful to have my husband by my side,” says Calvani, noting how, as a fellow actor, Pigossi (Tidelands, Gen V) understands the hectic nature of the filming and promotion of a project. “Life is really all about sharing, you know? We define ourselves and our realness…in relationship with others.”

Danny and Claude’s story is important to the world right now, too. The past year has been a dizzying juxtaposition of cultural highs for the LGBTQ+ community — like the runaway success of Heated Rivalry, and People magazine naming an out actor, Jonathan Bailey, as the Sexiest Man Alive — and an astonishing anti-LGBTQ+ political backlash to hard-won gains. (In 2025, more than 600 anti-transgender bills were filed in U.S. states, reports the American Civil Liberties Unition, the most in history.)

It can be overwhelming to try to defeat the forces of bigotry in one fell swoop. Domingo stresses that, amid these daunting challenges, it’s important to focus “on the micro” of actions one can influence in one’s own orbit, and “at some point this ripple will become a wave,” particularly with collective action.

David Urbanke

“I understand history very well, and [I know that] that these times are hard times, but we’ve always lived through hard times,” the 56-year-old actor says. “…You got to do your part during your generation in whatever way it is. But you have to take part. You cannot be passive…. You can make change wherever you are, and you can feel powerful doing it.”

For Calvani, playing Claude is “my small giant act of resistance right now,” in the face of preachers and politicians who would use their platforms against LGBTQ+ people. “I’m happy to be gay, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to be really gay publicly,” he says.

Suddenly being thrust into the spotlight as a gay public figure isn’t always easy, however. The shift forced Calvani to wrestle with personal demons. “I had to deal with my internalized homophobia,” he admits. Born in 1980, the Italian grew up in “a time where being gay meant being dead” and “there was no representation at all,” he recalls, save for the specter of the AIDS crisis. While playing Claude presented an opportunity to positively influence the queer media landscape, it also dredged up old insecurities, like, “nobody’s going to offer me a straight man role,” he says, a worry he had shared previously with Domingo.

Domingo, of course, has an enviable acting career with a diversity of roles. This year alone, he’s appearing in major movie tent poles like Michael and Disclosure Day, in addition to his TV roles in The Four Seasons and the third season of Euphoria. (He won an Emmy for his performance as Ali Muhammad, the Narcotics Anonymous sponsor of Zendaya’s Rue, in 2022.) He’s received two Oscar nominations (Sing Sing, Rustin) and two Tony nods (The Scottsboro Boys, Fat Ham). He also hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time in April.

David Urbanke

From the onset, Domingo was determined not to live in the closet and “felt like being queer is just a part of me. It’s not everything about me.” He wanted to chart a course where there were no restrictions on the characters he could portray.

“I think that we have the opportunity to show people that you can define your career and who you are in spaces, and it doesn’t have to be limited. You only put limits on yourself,” he says, adding, “I am, I feel, my own creation.”

As a thriving actor, does Domingo, particularly as a Black queer artist in an industry that still struggles with representation of marginalized people, ever pinch himself about the opportunities he has? “I don’t pinch myself because I know the work that it’s taken to get here,” he asserts, noting that, as a role model, he encourages students to create opportunities when none seemingly exist. “The ride was not easy, and it was precarious, and a lot of this I built out of necessity.”

“I’m just extraordinarily grateful that I’m still here and that I have even more access,” he adds. “And now people are asking me, what do I want to do? And I always go back to my fundamentals. I want to do the things that move me, that I care about, if it’s what I can put out into the world as an artist.”

Hearing Domingo stirs something in Calvani, who also appeared in a theatrical film this year, You, Me & Tuscany. “Part of me was resisting being an actor and being Claude and being also in a giant show like this one was because I had put limits on my own career, on the vision I have for myself,” he says. “It was probably a safer one, or, now, it feels like a much smaller one, right? I never had this opportunity to discuss my life and my approach to life and the work like I am having right now.”

COLEMAN in DOLCE GABBANA Suit, Shirt, & Belt; LACOSTE Shoes / MARCO in DOLCE GABBANA Suit, Shirt; JOHN LOBB ShoesDavid Urbanke

The conversation turns to Calvani’s initial reaction when asked to audition for The Four Seasons. “I remember calling Colman that day [and] was like, ‘I just want to write…. I’m scared.’ And he told me, ‘Well honey, you may have all the dreams and fantasies about you and your career and you need to have them, but sometimes life has bigger plans for you, and you just need to be open for that.’”

Domingo says, “I’m happy that Marco exists now in the zeitgeist, that people know him in his fullness. It’s really beautiful to see.”

Domingo, who cochaired the 2025 Met Gala, themed “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” is acutely aware of the power of not just representation, but also presentation to change culture. “I know that images have an impact,” he says. Sartorially, his red carpet looks always make an impression. And when a British GQ reporter asked him who the best-dressed man of 2025 was, he (playfully, but not untruthfully) named himself.

“I know the image of Marco and I on a cover says a lot, whether people want to unpack that or not,” he says. “I think it’s not often that we see a 56-year-old man and a 40-something-year-old man…[who portray] a queer couple on the cover of a magazine.… I know that that image could be very impactful to people at large and around the world, to see this image of friendship, brotherhood, people who are very comfortable with themselves and comfortable with playing with the intimacy.”

“Sometimes, you only get one chance…to tell a story,” he adds. “And so, it’s very meaningful to me. I don’t take anything lightly, especially when it comes to marketing and imagery. Because I know it can have a huge impact on our culture.”

Calvani also knows the power an image, a cover, a story can wield.

“There are children out there who are probably terrified right now, who live in isolated areas with plenty of homophobic people around them, but still there’s Netflix on their TVs,” he says. “And if they see us loving, holding hands, being confident in our queerness, no matter how it looks…they [will] know that one day, they can be happy. And they will start feeling alive again and probably hopeful. I truly feel that this is real, and if we have that one chance, it better be right. That might be the opportunity that that child has to look at themselves.”

Season 2 of Netflix’s The Four Seasons premieres May 28.

This article is part of Out’s May-June 2026 print issue, which hits newsstands May 26. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue starting May 14 through Apple News+, Zinio, Nook, or PressReader.

talent COLMAN DOMINGO @kingofbingo MARCO CALVANI @mcalvani
photographer DAVID URBANKE @davidurbanke
photo assistant, lighting tech SEQUOYAH WILDWYN-DECHTER @sequoyah.nyc
photo second assistant UCHE ADUAKA @uchennaaduaka_
creative director MIKEY LOMBARDO @djmikeypop
stylist CHARLIE WARD @charliewardstyles charliewardstyles
stylist assistant THEO BANZON @theobot theobot
colman’s grooming JESSICA SMALLS @jessicasmalls
marco’s grooming JENNIFER BRENT @jennieredd jennieredd
videographer STUART SOX @sox_andthecity sox_andthecity
location GO STUDIOS PENTHOUSE + ROOFTOP @go.studios go.studios gostudios.nyc