Da’Vine Joy Randolph shines bright: Triumph at the 96th Academy Awards®
When Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s name was called as the winner for Best Supporting Actress for the film “The Holdovers,” the press room erupted into enthusiastic applause and a few “you go, gurl” calls of deep appreciation.
It had been a very long run for the now Oscar winner and she never missed an opportunity to express her gratitude for the love and support from the audience and her peers.
Here’s what Da’Vine Joy Randolph had to share to AmNews about being in a very tough industry and keeping your mental health intact.
On what it does to her mental health
I think you’d be selling yourself short if you make it about the awards. It’s too hard of a career. The beautiful thing and the hard thing about being an actor is that it requires you to have resilience and self-confidence and belief in yourself when no one else does when you are constantly getting ‘nos’ and you’re saying, “Nope, I’m going to keep going.” So, actually, in many ways, while it can challenge your mental health, it also can strengthen it because you have to fortify yourself in a way that some people never ever have to do. So, for that, I’m grateful.
I would say also, you know, you just keep yourself grounded, surrounded by people who care and love you, and stay close to what’s real. And, again, I’m just very adamant that it would not be on your heart if you weren’t meant to do it. And I know it can be challenging to wait that wait, but when it happens, it’s a full circle moment, and you know it was worth it.
On being different
I knew I was always different. And so, therefore, I thought maybe I needed to conform to something else because when I looked at the shows for many years as I was growing up, I didn’t necessarily see myself there; yet, that was the model of success. So I was on this journey of trying to figure out how I could mold myself to that because I thought that’s what success would mean. And what I have begun to find in my journey is that in being myself and doing the work and staying focused and driven and clear, I could do exactly the same thing whilst being myself.
On winning awards so far—the moments that have stood out
I think the biggest thing is the camaraderie. I didn’t know what to expect. You know, I didn’t know if it was going to be a dog-eat-dog thing, if it would be, like, you know, really aggressive. And what’s been so beautiful is having this relationship with people that are going through the same thing with you, a support system that you can rely on and the friends that I’ve made because of it.
On paying it forward
It’s imperative because the people who’ve done it before me allowed me to be in this position now. And so the type of work I do, my strive for authenticity, for quality allows there to be a new standard set where we can tell universal stories in Black and brown bodies, and it can be accepted and enjoyed amongst the masses. It’s not just Black TV or Black movies or Black people, but instead a universal performance that can be enjoyed by all.
How to encourage creatives from underserved communities
Due to being underserved and underserved communities, the beautiful thing that erupts is your imagination and your creativity because you don’t have much. And so you have this innate ability to create. That’s a gift, and that’s something that will serve you that when you do have the resources it’s easy. Something I think we as Black people are very good at is making a lot out of very little, and I think that’s a superpower and something that we should applaud ourselves for and uplift ourselves so there’s nothing that’s never too little. It’s always just enough.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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