Da’Vine Joy Randolph wins the Oscar for best supporting actress for her performance in the filmWinter Solstice“. The actress spoke from the stage: “God is so good,” she began. And she thanked her mother for believing in her and insisting that she pursue her career as an actress and singer. Randolph also thanks all the people she met on her professional path, especially her… PR people “even though they asked me not to do it.”
In the best supporting actress category, the other nominees were: America Ferrera (“Barbie”), Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) and Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”).
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was born on May 21, 1986 in Philadelphia. He boasts an impressive education. Initially, she decided to develop a musical career, so she started taking singing lessons. She was inspired by singers such as Maria Callas and Leontyne Price. She discovered a love for opera. She went to Temple University to develop her skills in classical vocal performance and opera. During her first year of college, she also focused on musicals. After graduating from the University of Philadelphia, she entered the Yale School of Drama. In 2011, she graduated from a prestigious school with a master’s degree.
After college, Randolph took matters into her own hands. She hired an agent and moved to Los Angeles to fulfill her big dreams of performing on stage and more. She auditioned for TV series, but The key event in her career was her performance on stage. Da’Vine Joy Randolph was cast as Oda Mae Brown in the 2012 Broadway show “Ghost the Musical,” which was based on the 1990 film starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.
“They were looking for someone 40 or 45 years old, so on paper everything screamed no, no and no,” she told Broadway Buzz. Her dream came true, she received a role in the play, and for her performance she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
The last two years have definitely been Da’Vina Joy Randolph’s time. Although the beginning of her film and TV series career was not a bed of roses, the actress has been regularly seen in the most popular productions for some time now. In 2019, she appeared in the Golden Globe-nominated “My Name is Dolemite”. Three years later she could be seen in the spectacular “The Lost City”. The year 2023 became a real breakthrough.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph appeared in the controversial HBO series “Idol”. As Destiny, she appeared in all episodes of the famous production revealing the secrets of Hollywood. This is not the only series role of the actress. Observant viewers have certainly noticed Randolph in the popular production Disney+ – “Crimes Next Door”, where she played the role of Detective Williams.
What is “Winter Solstice” directed by Alexander Payne about? It’s Christmas time in 1970 and Paul (Paul Giamatti), having no family, he doesn’t go anywhere. The teacher stays at school to watch over students who cannot go home. After a few days, only one student remains – a troublemaking 15-year-old named Angus (Dominic Sessa), who is at risk of expulsion for terrible behavior. Paul and Angus are joined by cook Mary (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), whose son has recently died in Vietnam.
These three very different castaways form an unlikely Christmas family who share comic adventures during two very snowy weeks in New England. The real journey will be how they help each other understand that they are not tied to their past – they can choose their own future – we read in the official description.
For her role in Alexander Payne’s film Da’Vine, Joy Randolph was awarded a Golden Globe, BAFTA, AACTA, at the Satellite gala, Critics’ Choice, Film Independent, the Screen Actors Guild of America, the American Society of Film Critics and the Boston Film Critics Association.
Just before the Oscar ceremony, a scandal broke out over the film “Winter Solstice”. Simon Stepehenson submitted an official email to the Writers Guild of America. A creator associated with the animated film “Luca” or “Wonka” stated that he encountered “an issue with the end credits on a rather high-profile WGA-backed project.” According to Variety, there was a telephone conversation and a text message. The script was to be copied practically down to the last sentence.
“The evidence that the script for ‘Winter Solstice’ is copied line by line is overwhelming – anyone who looks at even the briefest sample almost invariably uses the word ‘insolent,'” says Stepehnson.
Stephenson said Payne’s film looked too much like his unrealized idea. “Frisco” was supposed to be a drama about a grumpy children’s doctor who must take care of his 15-year-old patient. A surprisingly similar motif can be found in the film “Winter Solstice”, in which a tired teacher stays at school during the winter break to take care of teenage students.
David Hemingson, who wrote the script, and Alexander Payne declined to comment on the accusations.