What a year Da’Vine Joy Randolph has had. From her Award-winning turn in the acclaimed Holiday drama The Holdovers and her take on gospel legend Mahalia Jackson in Rustin, to a stint in Only Murders in the Building and being one of the saving graces of Sam Levinson’s disastrous The Idol, Randolph’s tremendous hard work has paid off with a Golden Globe and soon, possibly, an Oscar.
The 37-year-old actress is now safely leading the Best Supporting Actress race for her role in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, which will undeniably give her late-blooming career the push it deserves. Randolph plays boarding school cafeteria administrator Mary Lamb, one of the eponymous “Holdovers” who’s staying behind for the holidays after the painful death of her son in the Vietnam War. Critics have praised her ability to take a cliché character to new, surprising depths, and steal every scene she’s in.
What was Da’Vine Joy Randolph doing before The Holdovers?
Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s career began in musical theater. She majored in that same subject from her hometown of Phyladelphia’s Temple University, before attending Yale School of Drama for her master’s degree. A year later she was playing Oda Mae Brown in Ghost: the Musical on Broadway, her first job ever which she described as a “roller coaster plunging down,” and which landed her a nomination for a Tony.
An auspicious start that would lead to several different roles in distinct mediums and genres, including the ABC sit-com Selfie, where she played the leads’ co-worker Charmonique, a voice-acting gig in Netflix’s The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, Empire (acting alongside Taraji P. Henson as her prison inmate Poundcake), and playing an alien-abductee in the 2016 sci-fi series People of Earth. Between those were several small parts in films, including The Angriest Man in Brooklyn, and Office Christmas Party, as well as continuous stage work.
Randolph’s big break, however, came with 2019’s Dolemite Is My Name where she reunited with Empire director Craig Brewer. She shone opposite Eddie Murphy as Dolemite’s legendary scene partner Lady Reed/Queen B, after which she continued to work tirelessly, making eleven movies and eleven television shows since.
It’s no wonder hers is a familiar face. Apart from her more recent performances, in the last four years, Da’Vine Joy Randolph had supporting roles in On Becoming a God in Central Florida, Kajillionaire, The Last Shift, High Fidelity, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, The Last O.G., The Lost City, and On the Come Up.
Randolph’s voice is no less recognizable. You’ve probably heard her in a couple of Trolls movies, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, adult animated shows like Chicago Party Aunt, Tuca & Bertie, or Fairfax, and even as the CHP Dispatcher to Jake Gyllenhaal’s 911 operator on Netflix’s The Guilty.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that The Holdovers and the critical acclaim Da’Vine Joy Randolph has received from it have been a long time coming. The actress has truly put in the work and it’s great to see that it’s finally bearing fruit.