{"id":356834,"date":"2026-06-11T21:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356834\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T21:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:45:12","slug":"colman-domingo-reveals-shocking-s-f-rent-he-paid-in-the-90s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/356834\/","title":{"rendered":"Colman Domingo reveals shocking S.F. rent he paid in the \u201990s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colman Domingo<\/a> is now one of Hollywood\u2019s biggest stars, but he hasn\u2019t forgotten what it took to get his start\u00a0\u2014 including how much it cost to live in San Francisco as a young actor in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n

The actor reflected on his experience living in the Bay Area, after he relocated here from his hometown of Philadelphia, during a recent appearance on Amy Poehler\u2019s \u201cGood Hang\u201d<\/a> podcast.<\/p>\n

Domingo was on the show to promote \u201cDisclosure Day<\/a>,\u201d the new science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg in which he stars with Emily Blunt, Josh O\u2019Connor and Colin Firth. The movie hits theaters Friday, June 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved to San Francisco, and it was four guys living in a studio apartment in the Tenderloin,\u201d he recalled during the episode released Tuesday, June 9. \u201cI literally slept in a closet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Domingo\u2019s arrangement meant the roommates split the $625 rent four ways, each paying $156.25 a month \u2014 an amount that is nearly impossible to find in today\u2019s market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, rent in the city has spiked dramatically as the tech boom<\/a> has continued to squeeze out those with lower incomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of April 2026, the estimated median rent in the Tenderloin, whose primary ZIP code is 94102, was $2,300, according to a\u00a0Chronicle study<\/a>. That figure is up 9% from last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To help make ends meet, Domingo said he worked as a bartender in the city while writing plays, one of which was about the queen of disco, Donna Summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In another story from his days living in the Bay Area, the Academy Award-nominated actor, who wrapped the final season of \u201cEuphoria<\/a>\u201d last month, shared the chance encounter that led him to meet his husband, Ra\u00fal Domingo, in 2005.<\/p>\n

Domingo had moved to New York after 10 years in San Francisco but returned for a role at Berkeley Repertory Theater, he told Poehler. While in Berkeley, he recalled, \u201ccrossing paths, going into a Walgreens, with the most beautiful person I think I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

They didn\u2019t talk during that initial encounter, but later\u00a0\u2014 after Domingo considered posting a Craigslist Missed Connections advertisement \u2014 he discovered\u00a0Ra\u00fal had already placed an ad seeking to find him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met three days later, had our first date, and I literally was like, \u2018I think I love you, and you\u2019re going to change my life,\u2019\u201d Domingo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Domingo now lives with his husband of 12 years in Malibu.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Colman Domingo is now one of Hollywood\u2019s biggest stars, but he hasn\u2019t forgotten what it took to get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[329,7,332,838,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-356834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-california","tag-east-bay","tag-movies-and-tv","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}