Da’Vine Joy Randolph Celebrates First Golden Globe Nom for ‘The Holdovers’

Hilton Dresden
·10 min read
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Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the beating heart at the center of Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, about a group of students and staff stuck on campus at a remote New England boarding school over the holidays. Randolph plays Mary, the school chef, who is grieving the death of someone very close to her, opposite Paul Giamatti’s bitter schoolteacher Mr. Hunham and Dominic Sessa’s troubled high-schooler Angus.

Previously known for film roles like in Dolemite Is My Name, as well as TV work on shows like Only Murders in the Building and The Idol, and her Tony-nominated stage turn in Ghost: The Musical, The Holdovers is something of an awards breakout for Randolph, who garnered her first Golden Globe nomination Monday morning for the performance. Below, we catch up with the actress about her experience working on Payne’s Christmas dramedy.

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How did you feel when you heard the news?

Oh my goodness. I’m still in the midst of press here in New York. At the time, I was taking a shower. I was like, “Oh my god. I can’t believe it.” So we’re in glam just celebrating.

How did the script first come across your desk? 

I got really lucky. Alexander Payne had known of my work, unbeknownst to me. I think that’s a lesson of: Stay on your game. You never know when people are watching, or keeping an eye out, because I had never known him personally before. So he reached out and gave me a call. And he said based on the work that he had seen — I believe his words were based off Dolemite in particular  — he thought that it would be a good fit, potentially. And so we had our first initial meeting, and he was describing to me the context of the role, and then he gave me the script to read.

What were your first impressions of Mary when you had a chance to read the script?

I just loved how full this character was and how against the stereotype it was already. It created so much room for me to flourish. To be quite honest, I loved how, as a woman, she was unabashed in her feelings. She openly grieved and took space and didn’t compromise herself in that. And I really love that everyone around her allowed that, especially during that time in history. I was drawn to the fact that she had so many beautiful colors, and that she was so relatable from many different angles. I wanted her to feel like someone’s grandmother or aunt or best friend. A maternal figure, that was my goal, that I really wanted people to attach to it. And that no matter what you look like, what you do, whatever, you could relate to it. Then also, I wanted to focus on being able to connect with people in regards to loss and grief. I loved that this wasn’t a conventional holiday movie, [where] everything just ties up in a nice bow at the end, that it was different, because the world is different. This is now something that people [who] are potentially having a difficult time can have, which I feel like is most of the world. The holidays, not everybody’s super cheery. And then to have the opportunity to work with Paul Giamatti, it truly was a dream team.

What was that collaboration like, evolving the character with Alexander?

We sat down and basically did a table read for two to three weeks, which is truly unheard of. I’ve never experienced anything like that, where that much care is given in advance. And so we went through the script together. Usually what will happen is — it won’t be for three weeks, maybe a day or a couple hours — the director will come to you and ask if anything comes up for your character that you agree with or don’t agree with or let’s explore. And what Alexander did, which was so amazing: We walked through the script top to bottom several times and did several passes at it, just reading it. And in the moment, scene by scene, that was our opportunity to be like, “Well, what about this?” Or “What do we think about this?” [Screenwriter] David [Hemingson] was there, and we were just working the script. So changes were made at that point. That was the time to do it. And I say that because what’s amazing is: it’s one thing for a director to go out and talk to one actor and then go talk to another actor. But what was awesome is we were all on the same page. We collectively created this new version that we were going to do. I remember it always being a very collaborative process, which also says a lot to Alexander, because he’s so well accomplished and lauded, and to be able to have such a warm and inviting environment was tantamount.

Are there any scenes or moments that stick out as the biggest challenges for you to film?

It was almost as if there were two movies in one, for me. One, that was in the script, particularly the dialogue. And then I had a very unique experience of having a whole other movie, or experience, if you will, and that was for all of the silent scenes. There’s a lot in the script that had to get condensed down. But it’s almost like 60/40, 40 being the silence, that was originally in the script, and what we filmed. [The way] David wrote it, the script would change. It would be dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, turn the page, and then it almost turned into a novel, where he would then write all this very beautiful, descriptive prose, detailing the space, what’s going on, and then it would be like, “She’s sitting at the table playing chess, looking out the window.” So I had to learn how to fill the space, fill the moment, and we would spend hours doing these scenes. Being in that grief, going to those places, that was definitely tough. But, truly, I would say it was the silent parts, of getting comfortable as someone being in my personal space, and me being the vessel through this character, being willing to be very vulnerable and open and the camera catching all of this. I had to immediately put my self-esteem [aside]. I had to strip myself down and be vulnerable and courageous enough to be like, “They need to see this. And it’s gonna be very naked and very raw. But if anything, it’ll heal somebody, or people will connect to it.” I was nervous in the beginning, but everyone was really gracious in creating a safe environment for me and a very supportive one. The other thing I was saying was a challenge is the grief. Someone could easily read the script and be like, “got it, she’s depressed,” but there’s so many levels to that and colors and ranges. It was like walking a tightrope, to have just the right tone and the right mix of emotion. Because I didn’t want to overdo it, and then at the same time, I didn’t want to undercut it, so that people didn’t understand the depth of this woman’s pain.

Between takes, coming out of this grief, were you guys able to goof around and relax, tucked away in the snowy New England countryside?

I absolutely had to, because it would have been too much for me. I had to do the opposite. I stayed goofy and silly and jovial and jokey-jokey all throughout the day so that I had a reservoir, a bank of the sad stuff on reserve, because I couldn’t sit there and listen to sad music and whatever people do. I would have given the performance away in the makeup trailer. I knew that this was going to be my way in: I’m actually going to do the opposite, so that then I can settle into it when it’s necessary. Also, you hit it right on the nose: Boston, winter, that’s too much. Seasonal depression is already a thing. Can you imagine? I couldn’t. I’d feel stuck in it. I’m grateful that I was able to identify that within the first two weeks. I got into a groove. I tried [being said all day] at first, and I was like, “Oh, no, we’re gonna get stuck.” Then quickly, I was like, “Okay, I’ll stay in touch with the real world.” I would listen to music that I felt like Mary would listen to during the time of us filming, and then when we weren’t, I would listen to my own music, or pop, different things, just to have a differentiation of her world versus mine. Because you’re right, we were living in the circumstances of the movie. So I stayed in touch with family and did certain things strategically, to be different. Kind of like my little spinning top, like in Inception. The sense of: This is my world and this is her world. I felt very much like I was sitting in on her world. So I had to figure out ways for myself to have my own thing in her space.

You are also on Only Murders in the Building, which received several nominations this morning. I just wanted to give you a chance to talk about that experience.

Oh, I love them. It’s one of my favorite jobs. I always say: whenever and if ever they want me back, I’m there. I love the job. I get it now when actors say “I just want to work with good people.” At first I was like, “Yeah, well, kind people are nice.” But I get it. It’s a game changer. When the chemistry is right, when everyone from top to bottom — and this is true for both of these productions — are on board, believe in the project, are committed to it, on their A game, it’s just a wonder. With Only Murders in particular, [co-creator] John Hoffman juggles all of these characters and storylines, and weaves all these webs, and it is the most happy-go-lucky, fun, silly, creative work environment I’ve ever been in. This season, Meryl Streep was on it. She even said to me, she was like, “What is it?” I said, “I don’t know.” She goes, “I’ve never been on a set like this. If I could bottle this all up, and take it with me wherever I go on future jobs, [I would].” I was like, “Exactly.” I don’t know how to explain it. People think I’m just being nice. But truly. The work schedule is amazing. It’s a true nine to five. Like, we’re literally on the last scene talking about what we want for dinner, and should we take in a show or not? I’ve never been on a job where you’re done at six. It just goes to show it’s possible. You have to have really fantastic people that can get in, do their job and get out, but it just speaks volumes. It’s really amazing.

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