Da’Vine Joy Randolph Has No Expectations for the Oscars: ‘To Me, I’ve Already Won’

Few Oscar categories have felt as lopsided this year as the Best Supporting Actress race, which saw “The Holdovers” star Da’Vine Joy Randolph establish herself as an early frontrunner before winning virtually every early award along the winding campaign trail. This weekend alone saw her add to her momentum by picking up back-to-back wins at the SAG Awards and Independent Spirit Awards, which only bolstered her frontrunner status heading into the final stretch of Oscar voting.

But the actress isn’t counting her chickens before they hatch. In fact, she might not even care if they hatch at all.

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Addressing reporters in the winners room at the Independent Spirit Awards, Randolph said that she isn’t too worried about the outcome of the Academy Awards. She explained that the appreciation she has felt from the film’s entire award season run is a victory in and of itself.

“I’m not expecting anything,” Randolph said when asked about her Oscar chances. “I’m not betting on anything. I’m just happy to be invited into the building. To me, I’ve already won, because I’ve gained the respect of you guys. That’s what matters to me the most.”

She went on to express her love for independent film, explaining that she originally planned to focus on theatre while studying acting at the Yale School of Drama but felt that the indie film world offered a comparable level of artistry.

“At the time I was very theater-focused, Yale is a theater-forward school,” she said when asked about her career trajectory over the past decade. “I had a great education, I can say humbly I had good taste. I knew that if I ever went into film, it would probably be independent film because I had good taste. That’s where you’re more likely to find grounded stories with fully realized characters.”

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