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Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Mary Lamb in The Holdovers. The win capped a career that began in musical theater, grew through Broadway and supporting screen roles, and reached a wider audience with Alexander Payne’s 2023 film.
Who is Da’Vine Joy Randolph?
Randolph was born in Philadelphia on May 21, 1986, according to her Golden Globes profile. She attended Temple University and Yale School of Drama before building a career across stage and screen. The Associated Press has also described her as a trained opera singer.
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The Holdovers - Collector's Edition Blu-ray + DVD + Digital | $13.79 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Holdovers - Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray | $27.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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![The Holdovers [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51sbFDNo19L._SL160_.jpg)
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The Holdovers [Blu-ray] | $20.09 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Holdovers - Lezioni Di Vita (Blu-ray) | $22.52 | Buy on Amazon |
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The Holdovers - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray | $44.99 | Buy on Amazon |
How did Randolph build her career before The Holdovers?
Musical theater and Broadway recognition
In 2012, Randolph played Oda Mae Brown in Ghost: The Musical. The performance earned her a Tony nomination, an early marker of recognition in a career that was already underway well before her Oscar season.
Screen roles
Her screen credits include Dolemite Is My Name (2019), The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021), Rustin (2023), and the television series Only Murders in the Building. For the latter, she received a 2024 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for playing Donna Williams; the Television Academy lists a nomination, not a win.
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Who does Da’Vine Joy Randolph play in The Holdovers?
In Alexander Payne’s 2023 film The Holdovers, Randolph plays Mary Lamb, a cafeteria manager at a New England prep school. Mary is grieving the death of her son, who was killed in Vietnam. The film’s official Focus Features page identifies the movie and its cast.
Randolph has described the role as one that gave her room to shape the character while honoring the filmmakers’ intentions. In an NPR interview published March 4, 2024, she said, “I think the biggest thing was that there was room for me to fill in the blanks.” She also explained that she offered the props department a personal visual reference: “I showed them a picture of my grandmother with her glasses to the props.” The detail connects Mary’s look to Randolph’s family rather than to a generic period image.
In a February 21, 2024, Vanity Fair interview, Randolph reflected on the honesty she brought to the performance, describing it as “The level of my authenticity and honesty.” She also spoke about the relative scarcity, in her view, of stories centered on women of color. That is her perspective on the kinds of roles available to her, not a quantified industry measure.
What did Da’Vine Joy Randolph win an Oscar for?
Randolph won the 2024 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers at the 96th Academy Awards. Focus Features’ March 11, 2024, account of the win also records her awards in the category from BAFTA, the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Film Independent Spirit Awards. In other words, although she was an Oscar nominee during the 2024 awards season, the historical result is a win.
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After her Oscar win, Randolph told the Associated Press: “I always wanted to be different. Now I realize I just need to be myself.” The line echoes the distinctive path to the role: formal training, live performance, years of screen work, and a character she could develop from personal observation as well as the script.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why The Holdovers became a defining role
Mary Lamb is not simply a supporting presence in a school comedy-drama. Her grief gives the film an emotional center that is distinct from the friction between the students and faculty around her. Randolph’s stage background and screen experience preceded the role, but The Holdovers brought broad awards recognition for the work and made Mary the defining performance of this phase of her career.
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