As I mentioned back in February 2025, a film about the forbidden relationship between Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr. is in pre-production. Lived in secrecy and considered “scandalous” at the time, the movie promises to reveal many “almost” forgotten secrets. And, of course, it is already surrounded by controversy.

That’s because actress Sydney Sweeney will take on the role of Novak, while David Jonsson will portray Davis Jr., under the direction of Colman Domingo in his first feature film. But in September 2025, Novak herself, who was in Venice to receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, expressed her concern about how the film would depict this story. Indeed, she is not happy.

In an interview with The Guardian, Novak made it clear that she never saw the relationship as scandalous. For her, it was a real connection, marked by deep affinities and a shared desire to be accepted for who they were rather than how they looked. What worries her is that the adaptation may reduce everything to something merely sexual.

Their story began in 1956, during The Steve Allen Show, when Novak was already rising as one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. But the romance quickly collided with the weight of social and institutional prejudice. Interracial relationships were still taboo, with laws across many U.S. states enforcing segregation. Beyond public scrutiny, Novak also faced the wrath of Harry Cohn, the powerful head of Columbia Pictures, to whom she was contractually bound. According to accounts later revealed in a BBC documentary, Cohn even turned to the mob to threaten Davis Jr., forcing him to end the relationship.

The external pressure cut short a love that never had the chance to fully flourish. And it is precisely this painful wound of history that Colman Domingo seeks to explore in Scandalous!, which he describes as a “fractured love story” about two people trying to protect their intimacy and humanity under the watchful eye of society. For Domingo, the goal is to create a film that is tender and moving, about the possibility of love even in times of repression.

But Scandalous! is not the only biography currently shaping Domingo’s career. He is also part of the highly anticipated Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua. In it, he portrays Joe Jackson, the patriarch of the family, and has received support directly from Paris Jackson and her brother Prince, who are closely involved in the project. Domingo has emphasized how invaluable this guidance has been, reminding audiences that the Jackson legacy is not only about Michael, but about an entire family that changed music history.

The production of Michael has faced delays, controversies, and even the decision to split the story into two films. Still, Domingo’s presence ensures a sharp and layered portrayal of one of the most complex figures in show business. On one hand, he steps behind the camera to revisit a forbidden romance in Scandalous!; on the other, he embodies a man whose influence over his children defined both triumph and trauma in Michael. Two very different narratives, both bound by the tension between private lives and public scrutiny.

Now, while Novak is celebrated in Venice and reexamines her own past in Alexandre Philippe’s documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo, Domingo emerges as one of the most restless and daring artists of his generation, unafraid to revisit painful memories and transform them into cinema.

In the end, Novak’s concern is not merely personal, but symbolic: it speaks to how Hollywood chooses to revisit its own wounds. By turning lived history into spectacle, there is always the risk of erasing nuance in favor of scandal. Novak wants her romance remembered as it truly was — an act of affection and courage in an age of intolerance. And perhaps this is Domingo’s greatest challenge: not just to film the scandal, but to capture the humanity that survived it.