Da’Vine Joy Randolph wins Best Supporting Performance for The Holdovers
Davin Joy Randolph
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Da’Vine Joy Randolph joked about the agony of filming Retainersincluding the lack of “heated seats during a Boston winter” and other resources, but he also praised independent filmmaking as “the beating heart of the industry” while accepting a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Performance on Sunday.
“I often joke about this retained “I felt like I was making a student film,” she said. “Whatever resources we lacked, like heated seats during the Boston winter, we made up for with care and design every day. I was amazed at the level of innovation and creativity our staff demonstrated in order to transform the limited resources we had into an amazing piece of art, and all A beautiful testament to what can happen when a small group of passionate people are given a chance to come together and tell a story.
Randolph won the award for her portrayal of Mary Lamb in Alexander Payne Retainers. The Spirit Award marks another in a long list of honors Randolph has received for the role, including a Golden Globe Award, a Critics Choice Award, a BAFTA Award, a SAG Award, and an Academy Award nomination.
“It was an honor to play Mary,” she continued. “Paul (Giamatti) and Dominique (Cessa). What more will I say? I don’t know what I did to deserve scene partners like you, but I’m so grateful.
“To the Focus family, thank you for taking a bet on this independent film,” Randolph said. “Alexander (Payne), thank you for always being steadfast in your vision for this project, to David Hemmingson, and thank you for your courage and vulnerability in writing and sharing so much of your family to build on this.”
She ended her speech with the message: “Independent films are the beating heart of this industry and they are worth fighting for.”
Retainers The film stars Paul Giamatti as an extremely stuffy classics teacher at a New England boarding school who is forced to chaperone a student (Dominic Cessa) over the Christmas break. Randolph Marie is a cafeteria manager who recently lost her son in the Vietnam War. Both Giamatti and Sissa won Critics’ Choice Awards for their performances. Giamatti is nominated for an Oscar.
At the Spirit Award, Randolph defeated Erica Alexander (American fantasy), Noah Galvin (Theater camp), American actress Anne Hathaway (Eileen), Glenn Howerton (Black Berry), Marine Ireland (Eileen), Charles Milton (May December), Catalina Saavedra (Rotting in the sun) and Ben Whishaw (Corridors) for the cup.
The 39th Annual Spirit Awards are being broadcast live on the IMDb and Film Independent YouTube channels as they take place in Santa Monica with Saturday Night Live Alum Aidy Bryant is hosting the ceremony.
Winners are voted on by Film Independent members; See the full list of winners here.
