BAFTA winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph (‘The Holdovers’) reveals her British connections
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Da’Vine Joy Randolph continued her march to the Oscars podium this year with another victory for Best Supporting Actress. This time, it came on the other side of the Atlantic at BAFTA. She won for Focus Features’ “The Holdovers,” a film of which she is the very soul.
After giving one of the night’s most memorable speeches — in which she called presenter Chiwetel Ejiofor handsome and made co-star Paul Giamatti cry — Randolph made her way backstage to talk, wherein she expanded upon her connection to Britain way back before her BAFTA win. “I started on the West End in a musical but even prior to that, my education, I started at British American Drama Academy on the Oxford campus. I would come in on the weekend and see plays,” Randolph said.
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“I saw — it changed my life — ‘War Horse’ at the National Theatre. And I thought it was so amazing, so much so that — it was my summer of my first year of school — I called the school and said I’m not coming back, I want to stay here and learn theatre here. I didn’t know Shakespeare so that’s why I wanted to go to that program. So you guys taught me the classics.” She continued: “It’s unbelievable because at that time, the only thing that I thought maybe I could possibly get nominated for was an Olivier so it’s… very moving.”
This certainly felt like a moment for Randolph but the truth is, she has now had a career full of moments whether it’s her work on stage, her dynamite role in “Dolemite is My Name,” or her stirring turn in “The Holdovers.” This has led to her gaining some standing in the industry and she had some wise words for people like her trying to get to the places she’s reached. “You have to know who you are and know what you want and what you stand up for. And when you’re choosing your roles, make sure they are things that you feel connected to and believe in and that you’re working with other creatives that also believe and support the same thing as you. But at the end of the day, we just want to tell stories, beyond race,” Randolph said.
“But I would say consistency is key. Because if you know what you want, this [the BAFTA] doesn’t even matter. It’s almost as if it’s a mission statement or a form of activism. The idea of me even being on a screen and what all of these things represent when you see me, matters a lot. So that in and of itself is the win.”
Randolph is now almost guaranteed to win her first Oscar after she edged out rival BAFTA nominees Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), Claire Foy (“All of Us Strangers”), Sandra Hüller (“The Zone of Interest”), and Rosamund Pike (“Saltburn”). But Randolph explained that awards aren’t the be-all and end-all.
“The biggest thing is, make sure stuff is getting seen. Whether it’s on streaming, in the theatre. The only thing I can ask for is I continue to pick great pieces and it gets seen by people. Some of the best movies I’ve ever seen have been when I’m on a plane and I’m scrolling through and I didn’t even see something and I’m moved to tears. The biggest thing I can ask for is that stuff gets seen,” Randolph said.
However, she did make merry with how “The Holdovers” was seen in the UK. The Alexander Payne movie was released in time for the holidays in the USA but only hit theaters in the UK on January 19. “You guys got in January? That’s absurd. Bollocks,” Randolph joked.
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