Dominique Fishback believes in the power of manifestation, which she has practised in varying shapes and forms since childhood. ‘I’ve journalled a lot over the years,’ she says, ‘which is cool, because now I get to see it all come true.’ She cites an entry in which she visualised a lunch date with a particular A-lister (only for that precise scenario to transpire 18 years later, to the very day) as proof that it works. But she could just as easily point to her entire career. ‘I’m from East New York. I didn’t have family that was in the performing arts. But when I would watch films, I would write in a journal: If I was that character, I would do it like this...'
It’s enough to persuade anyone to buy a notebook; Fishback, now 32, is speedily taking over our screens. Having signed up to free drama classes at 15, she graduated from New York’s Pace University with a theatre degree in 2013, before launching her self-penned play Subverted, in which she played over 20 characters (Jamie Foxx is helping her bring the work back to Broadway later this year). Parts in The Hate U Give and HBO series The Deuce followed and, in 2021, Fishback earned a Bafta nomination for her supporting role in Judas and the Black Messiah opposite Daniel Kaluuya. Since then, there’s been the critically acclaimed The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey on Apple TV+, in which she stars alongside Samuel L Jackson. But this year will be her biggest yet. Swarm, the highly anticipated new show from Donald Glover (he hand-picked her for the role) is out now. And later this summer, she’ll take the lead in the $200 million blockbuster Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Today, however, Fishback has a new task in her lap. A lively six-month-old puppy called Satori joins her on Zoom from her home in Los Angeles. ‘She doesn’t like being in her crate,’ she smiles, looking a little exasperated. ‘Her name is a Zen Buddhist word, which means a “sudden state of spiritual enlightenment”. But then the first week I got her, I was crying to my mom that she’s not [obedient]. My little sister said, “A sudden state of spiritual enlightenment maybe doesn’t mean right away,”’ she laughs.
Still, Fishback likes a challenge – in work as well as in pets. ‘Sometimes, you’ve got to just do things that are a little outside the box. Otherwise, what’s the point?’ It’s this attitude that led her to work with Glover on the thriller series exploring the celebrity culture around a Beyoncé-like figure (Fishback plays her obsessed fan). ‘I’ve never done anything remotely like this in my life. That’s what makes it really exciting for me,’ she says.
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Working with Glover was also a pull. ‘I think one of the most exciting things was his sense of humour, which allowed me to be weird. I’m very silly with my family, but I don’t really get to show that on screen. And so being in his orbit, I got a thrill out of kind of making Donald be like, “Huh, that’s weird.”
She knows that Transformers will push her fame to a new level. ‘I always wanted to do something like [it] but I’ve never seen myself represented in movies like that. So when it first came up I didn’t even want to audition. I didn’t know if the chance was real for me.’ It was. And she was cast alongside fellow Brooklynite and friend Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) to lead the project. To prepare for her newfound recognisability, she spent last summer taking the subway around her old neighbourhoods in New York, getting lost in the squeeze and enjoying the anonymity while she still could. ‘It’s going be the moment in my life where I realise, “Oh, things have changed.”’
Up next, she wants to try a rom-com. ‘I’m a big romantic. I love When Harry Met Sally and Say Anything and those type of things. I want to do something like The Notebook or Titanic that’s all about the love,’ she says. ‘Then I need to manifest some love. My own romantic love.’ With her proven powers, there’s no doubt Fishback will make it all happen.
'Swarm’ is available to watch now on Amazon Prime. 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' is out this summer.
During Lena's tenure at ELLE, she has been building the brand’s cultural content and special projects including benchmark events; ELLE Weekender, The ELLE List and The ELLE Style Awards. During her time at the magazine, she’s commissioned essays from Zadie Smith, interviewed everyone from Miley Cyrus to Jodie Comer and made viral videos like ‘More Women’ that shone a light on gender inequality and was seen by millions. As an editor, Lena specialises in travel, music, arts, film and all culture and is an active BAFTA member having sat on a jury for many years. She has written for numerous titles including The Guardian, Vogue and The New York Times.
