After winning the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 2024 Academy Awards for her role in the movie “The Holdovers,” actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph stressed that “God is so good” and honored her mother. She began, “God is so good. God is so good. You know, I didn’t think I was supposed to be doing this as a career. I started off as a singer, and my mother said to me, go across that street to that theater department. There’s something for you there. And I thank my mother for doing that.”
Randolph continued, “I thank you to all the people who have stepped in my path and have been there for me. Who has ushered me and guided me. I am so grateful to all you beautiful people out here. For so long, I’ve always wanted to be different, and now I realize I just need to be myself. And I thank you. I thank you for seeing me.” She received the award for her role in “The Holdovers” as Mary Lamb, a cook at the fictional Barton Academy who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.
There, she forms an unlikely bond with a damaged but brainy student and a curmudgeonly instructor, played by Paul Giamatti, who are forced to stay on campus during Christmas break. Randolph previously won awards at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, Critics’ Choice Awards, SAG Awards and others for the role. With her big win, the actress beat out Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), America Ferrera (“Barbie”) and Jodie Foster (“Nyad”).
Randolph previously explained that she believes her career success is evidence that “God has a bigger plan.” The 37-year-old told USA Today, “I’ve been the ‘breakthrough’ in almost every project I’ve done. At first, I thought that was bad, like, ‘Dang, am I not that memorable?’ But I had to reframe that in my mind: If you’re fresh and new and being discovered in every project, that’s a win. You can seemingly be going along and everything is great, and then you slide down. But if you keep playing, you can jump right back up. And that’s life, especially in this industry. It’s more about trusting that your path is your path.”
Though not a faith-based film and rated R, “The Holdovers” has been applauded by Christian critics for emphasizing “grace” and serving as a “lovely celebration of the life-giving necessity of mentorship, friendship, and found family in a lonely world.” Another Christian critic wrote, “In truth, “The Holdovers” features a sense of healing that is mutual amongst all three left at the school. The path that takes them there provides gentle lessons of compassion for all involved in community making. And, for Christian people, that’s all of us!”
Other big winners at the awards show, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, included “Oppenheimer,” which took seven awards during the night: Christopher Nolan won Best Director, Cillian Murphy won Best Actor, and Robert Downey Jr. won Best Supporting Actor. The film also won awards for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Film Editing.