Da’Vine Joy Randolph Is Proud of Her Work in ‘The Idol’ Despite Cancellation

After her supporting role in HBO’s critically panned series The Idol, which was canceled after one season, Da’Vine Joy Randolph is now an Oscar nominee for her supporting role in The Holdovers. In an interview for Vanity Fair‘s Hollywood Issue, she was asked about the response to The Idol in light of the praise she’s received for the Alexander Payne film, specifically, “Does it sting?”

Randolph responded, “No, because I know what I did, and I’m very proud of what I did in the role that I created. How people respond and people’s feelings don’t have nothing to do with me. And I don’t have anything to do with contributing to that narrative either. So I just let it go. I enjoy my contribution.”

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The Idol came from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, who also starred. The series centered around Lily-Rose Depp’s pop star who falls under the sway of a Hollywood club owner and received mostly negative reviews as viewership fell short of some other recent HBO shows.

When asked about how she found closure for her Idol character Destiny, who played Depp’s character’s manager, after the series wasn’t picked up for a second season, Randolph explained that it’s “just the nature of the business.” She added, “My first TV show [ABC’s short-lived sitcom Selfie] didn’t get the back nine for network television. I’ve done pilots that don’t get picked up. I’ve done movies where they’re on hold for three, four years. High Fidelity was the same way. They immediately picked us up, and then the pandemic hit. It’s unnatural, but you have to get cozy next to rejection and loss. I don’t know if that’s a good skill to develop or not, but you really must love what you do because there’s so many nos. You gotta love it in spite of the nos, and that’s hard.”

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter after the Idol finale, Randolph also spoke about the criticism the show received.

“I truly respect and understand everyone’s opinion,” she said. “Meaning, at the end of the day, it’s art. If we went to a museum, I know everybody won’t like the same painting. But as an artist, as long as there’s conversation being had, in my opinion, you’ve won the race. Not everyone’s going to like everything and that’s not for me to control. All I do is my very best.”

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