“We do live in a very mad, mad world right now,” Colman Domingo admits.

The Emmy winner — known for his turns in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Zola, and Fear the Walking Dead — is particularly attuned to the topic. The Madness, his new thriller now streaming on Netflix, follows a media pundit caught in a deadly conspiracy. 

“You can just turn on the news right now, and you’re like, ‘What is being said? And how is that being done? And why is that normal?’ None of it is normal,” Domingo says. “This [series] is really letting you know that you’re right. It’s not normal. Let’s get to the bottom of it.”

As executive producer and director Clement Virgo explains in a making-of featurette below, “The Madness is a metaphor for the world we are in now: the social media world.”

Go Behind the Scenes of The Madness

What is The Madness about? 

The Madness stars Domingo as media pundit Muncie Daniels, who must fight for his innocence and his life after he stumbles upon a murder deep in the woods of the Poconos mountains. As the walls close in, Muncie strives to reconnect with his estranged family — and his lost ideals — in order to survive.

As Domingo explains in the featurette, his character is modeled after real-life media pundits “who are respected, at times challenged, even by their own communities. Sometimes looked at as being not Black enough, and then to some folks, too Black,” he says. “He is someone who was definitely an activist when he was younger, then moved into a different echelon and then became a bit of a superstar. He’s a little bit removed from the communities he was advocating for.”

Who is in the cast of The Madness?

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

---

Colman Domingo

as Muncie Daniels

About the Character

Muncie is a respected author and news commentator on the verge of getting his own show — until he comes across a dead body while on a solo trip to the Poconos, and finds himself the prime suspect.

 

Domingo calls his character “the most ordinary Black man in America,” adding, “He stumbles upon this death of a white supremacist, and he gets framed for that murder. He’s got to advocate for himself, for his family, and go to some places that he never imagined he would.”

Previously In

Lincoln, Selma

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Follow Colman Domingo

---

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

---

Marsha Stephanie Blake

as Elena Daniels

About the Character

Muncie’s tough-as-nails ex-wife Elena helps him investigate some unusual leads while their family is in peril.

 

“I play a lot of moms, but I like this mom because she’s a mama bear in every sense, but also really protective of her family,” Blake says. “And that family is everybody around us — people in the neighborhoods. It’s community. We are trying to protect our world, and that goes further than just our nuclear family.”

 

Blake also reveals that her performance drew inspiration from a former First Lady. “One of the first things they told me was that Elena’s a professor. She’s very smart. I immediately thought, ‘If Muncie’s [Barack] Obama, I’m Michelle.’ ”

Previously In

The Laundromat

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Follow Marsha Stephanie Blake

---

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

---

John Ortiz

as Franco Quinones

About the Character

Franco is a hard-nosed FBI agent from whom Muncie seeks help after being set up. Ortiz assures audiences that despite Franco’s appearance, he isn’t like every law enforcement official you’ve seen on television.

 

“You would think, ‘Oh, this is just your run-of-the-mill FBI agent,’ ” the actor says. “And he is that on the surface. He wears it, he’s a vet, but he’s nearing the end of his career and he just is over it. Franco inhabits complexities [and] many layers.”

Previously In

Bad Monkey, American Fiction, Miami Vice

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Follow John Ortiz

---

Tamsin Topolski

as Lucie Simon

About the Character

Lucie is the estranged wife of the white supremacist Muncie is accused of killing. 

 

Topolski explains her character’s dilemma: “She’s someone who’s been caught up in a peer group and a world that gives her some sort of sense of place. She’s trying to get on the straight and narrow, [to] extract herself from the judgments that she’smade over the course of her life. Essentially, she’s grappling with trying to be a good person.”

Previously In

What You Wish For, Penny Dreadful, The Rook

Follow Tamsin Topolski

---

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

---

Thaddeus J. Mixson

as Demetrius Daniels

About the Character

Muncie’s teenage son Demetrius is struggling to feel close to his dad since he doesn’t live with Demetrius and his mom.

Demetrius just wants a “close relationship with his father,” Mixson says. [Demetrius’] parents just split up, so he’s trying to understand his emotions. Demetrius is very smart, [but] once his father gets framed, he’s not fully understanding how crazy this situation is.”

Previously In

Safety, Candy Cane Lane, Creed III

Follow Thaddeus J. Mixson

---

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

---

Gabrielle Graham

as Kallie

About the Character

Kallie, Muncie’s twentysomething daughter from an earlier relationship, has a life separate from him.

“Their relationship is strained,” Graham says of Kallie and Muncie. “She comes from a whole different family. When [Muncie] gets into trouble, he comes asking her for help, and I think she’s struggling with their relationship [because] he hasn’t been in her life.”
 

Previously In

In the Shadow of the Moon, Possessor, Relax, I’m from the Future

Follow Gabrielle Graham

---

Amanda Matlovich/Netflix

---

Deon Cole

as Kwesi

About the Character

Kwesi, Muncie’s lawyer and friend, helps him navigate the dilemma that threatens his freedom.

 

Cole emphasizes the closeness of the two characters. “They’re brothers at the end of the day. They love each other and they’re there for each other through thick and thin, no matter what. The support system is amazing.”

Previously In

black-ish, Average Joe, The Harder They Fall

Watch them on Netflix

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Watch

My List

Follow Deon Cole

---

“I love working with this cast,” Domingo tells Tudum. “[Co-showrunners and executive producers] VJ Boyd, Stephen Belber, and [director and executive producer] Clement Virgo put together an awesome cast. Every single decision, I thought, ‘Oh, this does feel like a family from West Philly in every single way.’ ” 

The actors’ chemistry feeds into their on-screen portrayal of a family — one with a complex dynamic. “I love that every relationship is complicated. Every single one,” Domingo says of Muncie’s connections with his children and ex-wife. “There’s nothing that is clear-cut at all, and Muncie, whether he knows it or not, has affected all of them.”

The multilayered Muncie was an irresistible challenge, the actor adds. “It was a unique protagonist, one that I had never seen or experienced. Someone who has very centrist beliefs, and now they’re being thrust into the world to really hard-core believe in something and to reexamine the people that they believed were possible enemies. You realize you have more in common with them than you thought you had in the beginning. I think it says a lot about who we are now and what we’re willing to do, and also to look at who’s really pulling the strings and for whose benefit.”

Says creator Stephen Belber, “The notion of objectivity is really hard to come by as we navigate all the information that’s coming at us 24/7. … What’s important is the notion of how to declutter in order to find out what you care about amidst it all.”

Who created The Madness?

Created by Belber (O.G., The Laramie Project), who serves as co-showrunner alongside executive producer VJ Boyd (Justified, S.W.A.T.), The Madness is an eight-episode limited series from Chernin Entertainment’s first-look deal at Netflix. Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, and Kaitlin Dahill serve as executive producers along with director Virgo (Greenleaf).

When is The Madness premiere date?

The Madness is now streaming on Netflix. Watch it and see if you ask yourself the same questions that it inspired in Domingo: “How did we get here? What are we going to do about it now? And how are we going to get some sanity in our future?”

Watch the Teaser for The Madness