Exclusive Interview: Dominic Goodman Talks First Kill, What Audiences Should Know About His Character, and More

Dominic Goodman is one of the breakout stars of 2022! He’s had supporting roles in projects including Veronica Mars, Young Rock, He’s All That, and Animal Kingdom. This June, he makes his debut as a series regular in the must-see new series First Kill.

Based on V.E. Schwab’s short story, First Kill tells the story of teenage vampire Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) who’s ready to make her first kill so she can take her place among a powerful vampire family. She sets her sights on a new girl in town named Calliope (Imani Lewis). But much to Juliette’s surprise, Calliope is a vampire hunter from a family of celebrated slayers. Both find that the other won’t be so easy to kill and, unfortunately, way too easy to fall for.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Dominic about his journey to First Kill, what audiences should know about his character, and the honor and responsibility he felt being the representation that he didn’t see growing up on screen.

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting and storytelling?
Dominic: The beginning would have to be Wild Wild West. I was watching Will Smith’s movie when I was five. I remember that specific movie for some reason. It was the one where I was like, “I want to be like him.” I got these Wild Wild West glasses from Burger King when it came out. I remember walking around the house with my cowboy hat on and pretending to be Jim West.

It’s weird to say that I’d always known that I was going to be an actor since I was young, but it’s true, I did. I took some acting classes when I was twelve and did theater in high school. I auditioned to get into USC for theater. I didn’t even end up getting in. I went to college in Arizona, but I ended up dropping out my second year because I knew I wanted to be an actor still. That’s when I moved back to San Francisco where I’m from and started pursuing it. I started doing small commercials here and there and then made my move to LA around six years ago. I gradually kept stepping up with each role that I was given an opportunity for.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Dominic: It’s different now from when I first started. I was really heavily inspired by Will Smith. Then as I got deeper into film and even with First Kill and the opportunities I had with this script, I was really inspired by Jake Gyllenhaal and his ability to really let go as an actor and be fully free. He really pushes the limit in a lot of his movies. He’s always pushing every single time I watch him in something. That inspired me as an actor to want to be able to go to that place and be free and not fearful of how I look or be asking myself, “Am I going to embarrass myself on set? Am I going to look crazy trying to push myself to this level?” Jake Gyllenhaal is definitely one of my inspirations now as I start to get further into a professional career.

PC: You’ve had so much success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Dominic: I wouldn’t say there was a particular moment, but I would say there definitely have been smaller moments that led me to where I am now with First Kill. I’ve always told myself to not despise small beginnings. I always took every opportunity, even as a one-line costar, to be like, “You know what? I’m going to go on set, and I want to make it the best it can be.” That’s how it’s been from He’s All That to going to Australia right after for Young Rock where I had a bigger opportunity to going straight into First Kill. I gradually learned from every single opportunity, no matter how big or small. It’s been the culmination of everything. I learned how to put it all together to prepare myself for this opportunity with First Kill.

PC: There’s so much anticipation surrounding First Kill. What can you tell us about this series? What should audiences know about your character?
Dominic: To start, the series is something that we’ve never seen before. You’ve got this full Black family of vampire hunters. The only Black vampire hunter I’ve ever seen was Blade. That was back in 1998. This is almost twenty years ago. We finally have a place now in this genre where there hasn’t been much space for us. It feels like this is going to be really different. It’s going to be fresh. Not only that, you have this love story. You’ve got the Burns family who are the hunters, and you have the Fairmont family who are the vampires. You have my little sister and the little sister of that family. They’re both trying to get their first kill and instead end up falling for each other. That creates this mess between the two families because they aren’t supposed to work together. You’ve got the hunters and the vampires, and they don’t really mix. It’s a lot of fun. There’s a great story in this show.

As far as my character, I don’t want to be biased, but my character is very fun. If I had to give a direct comparison of who my character Apollo is like, I would say he’s the red ninja turtle and the orange ninja turtle mixed together. Raphael is the red one, who’s really about the action. Then you have the orange one who loves to eat pizza and loves to mess around. You mix those two together, add a little bit of Muhammad Ali’s confidence in that mix, and you have Apollo. He’s fun. He’s all about the action. He’s very confident. You’ll see that when you watch it.

PC: Did you feel any pressure heading into this project, just given how much buzz there is around this particular series and the fact that it already has this dedicated fan base?
Dominic: Definitely. I didn’t know of the short story before I got the audition, but I was a fan of the Punisher. I love Marvel, so seeing that Felicia Henderson was a producer and seeing that James [Bigwood] was attached, it was a lot of pressure because you have these great people involved in this story. You have to rise to the occasion and make sure that you come prepared. For me, it was like, “Okay, you’re playing a vampire hunter.” You have to represent that accurately. I was hitting the gym three times a day. I was going in the morning. I was going to stunt rehearsals after. Then I was going when I got off set.

I was making sure that this hunter was going to be the best version and the most authentic so that when kids watch they can be like, “I believe that. I believe that guy could fight a six-foot vampire,” or however tall the monsters are in the show. That’s where the pressure came from.

PC: This is the longest that you’ve lived with a character. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What was the biggest takeaway?
Dominic: Growing with the character was probably the biggest thing for me because we were getting the episodes one at a time. I had no idea what came next. I was just living episode to episode. As Apollo was having these feelings about what was going on, I, Dominic, was having feelings about it. I was like, how do I think Apollo would feel about this? Sometimes I agreed and I was really on par with where Apollo was. There were only a few instances where I was like, “Geez, would Apollo feel this way right now?” When you watch the show, you’ll probably understand where I’m coming from, but I don’t want to spoil anything. That was my biggest takeaway. I was like, “Wow, I’m actually growing as a person at the same pace as my character.” That was interesting.

PC: When the series drops later this year, is there a particular scene or episode that you’re really excited for your fans to see?
Dominic: I don’t want to say too much, but I will say Episode 1, right off the bat, is pretty fire. I love action. I’ve been a big fan of action since I was a kid. Being able to be the one that helps bring that to the show was so much fun. Netflix did an amazing job. The fans are in for a treat. Being a fan of the genre and seeing that it lived up to my expectations and exceeded them, I think the fans are going to love that. The love story is awesome. That’s going to be good too.

PC: You were speaking about representation earlier. What has it meant to you to be a part of a project like this that’s pushing these inclusive storylines forward?
Dominic: Wow. When you watch Episode 1, you see so much diversity and representation. I truly believe in my heart and soul that there’s something for everybody when they’re watching the show. For me to be able to see that, it’s amazing to be a part of.

Like I was saying earlier, Wild Wild West was probably one of my favorite movies as a kid because I didn’t see many Black cowboys. That might be a reason why without even thinking about it I was like, “I could see myself in that role.” That’s probably why as a kid I connected with it more. I don’t connect with some of those John Wayne movies because I don’t look like that. I don’t have the wavy hair that can do that. But Will Smith had the same hair. He had this high top. For me to be that for another kid who watches this show, coming from a mixed family, that’s special.

My dad is Black. My mom is Puerto Rican and Mexican. So being able to just be that representation when you watch the show, knowing that a kid’s going to be able to look up to you and be like, “Wow, okay. If he can do it, I can be like that too.” I’m really excited about that.

To keep up with Dominic, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch First Kill on Netflix today.