I don’t know what was going on with me,
but I was an overall good student. I knew
how to conduct myself in class and didn’t
really have any issues.”
Although drawn to performing, that
remained on the periphery as far as a career
goal. “I sang in gospel choir, an R&B group
and in high school chorus, but I was an
occasional actor in a school play,” Dominic
explains. “In my head, I was too cool to be
one of those thespians. At that time I just
thought they were cornballs, but every so
often there would come a play I’d be in.”
There was also sports (“Soccer, base-
ball, basketball, football ... I played every
sport”) as well as the school band, where
he played saxophone and trombone. “In
sixth grade, my mother went to Seoul,
Korea, so I lived with my grandparents for
a year. I really wanted to play the drums
but we couldn’t afford them. One of the
instruments I could get was a trombone.
Then the saxophone was the ‘it’ instru-
ment, so I started playing that.”
After graduating from high school, Mama
Martin retired from the Air Force and her
eldest enrolled at Delaware State University,
although his heart wasn’t in it. “I had no clue
what I wanted to do,” Dominic admits. “I
knew I wanted to be in some form of enter-
tainment, but I had no clue about going to
Juilliard and Yale and these other prestigious
schools to become an actor. I knew nothing
about it. At my college, you could major
in theater, so I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll major
in mass communications while I’m tak-
ing theater classes.’ ” However, Dominic
dropped out after two semesters. “I was like,
‘I’m wasting money in here because I don’t
want to major in this.’ ”
Another opportunity eventually pre-
sented itself. “Someone would say, ‘Do
you model? You should model,’ and I
did a couple of fashion shows at the col-
lege,” Dominic shares. “I made a move
to Atlanta, and there is where I began my
modeling career. I loved it. For the most
part it was amazing. Travel, making pretty
good money and constantly meeting new
people. It definitely broadens your hori-
zons. I was mostly commercial print, and I
did a lot of ad campaigns in South Africa.”
After three years in Georgia, Dominic
and “a couple of model buddies” moved
to New York City. “I was actually more
focused on modeling because I was really
enjoying it,” he notes. “I stuck with model-
ing probably longer than I wanted to. I alsoWe Are Family: An early pic of the
actor (top) with brothers Andre (r.)
and Julian, and mom Gayrene Martin.
Friends Like These: Dominic enjoys work-
ing with Bryton James (Devon) and Loren
Lott (Ana). “Bryton’s so chill, he’s like a
low-key jokester. You gotta be the right
person to get it out of him.
He and Loren together are just a
big ball of energy.”PHOTOS: INSTAGRAM/DOMINICHOWARD WISE/JPI