After taking home dozens of awards, including the Golden Globe, Critics Choice, Bafta and Screen Actors Guild awards, Da’Vine Joy Randolph is just about to get the golden statuette in best supporting actress on Sunday to crown a triumphant career. Without a doubt, Alexander Payne’s work in The Leftovers as a cook trying to come to terms with the death of her son was simply irresistible to everyone who had to vote. While the 37-year-old native of Philadelphia may seem like an unknown, Randolph has a career marked by success, in which she has not lacked preparation. Holder of a master’s degree from the Yale University School of Drama, she was nominated for a Tony for her Broadway debut in the adaptation of Ghost in the role that gave Whoopi Goldberg the Oscar. Since then she has worked non-stop in film and television, where she was recently seen in the award-winning Solo murders in the building as detective Donna Williams.
Was she familiar with Alexander Payne’s cinema when he called her for this film? “Yes and no. Alexander Payne called me and described this beautiful character to me – explains the actress. Then he gave me the script, and explained what his ideas were and the potential he saw in Mary. To be honest with you, when our first meeting ended, since I had no idea who this man was, I asked him if he wanted me to watch one of his movies. After insisting a bit, he recommended Los descendientes. I asked him if it was George Clooney speeding down a hill and he said yes. Then he mentioned Entre copes to me, and I asked him if it was Paul Giamatti’s with the wines, and he replied that it was this one. Then I realized who it was and that I had seen his films”.
The chemistry he has with PaulGiamatti and Dominic Sessa is extraordinary, but they didn’t know each other before filming. “We had three weeks to do an extensive reading and analysis of the script – he answers -. People think we improvised everything and it wasn’t like that. One thing that Alexander did that for me was very special is that, although there was room to improvise, we did that during these first shared readings. Once we decided what the final version of the script was, we followed it to the letter when filming. In this, this experience was very different from the ones I had before. It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much time to rehearse.”
It is a film full of silences, which is why the actress says that it was as if she participated in two films: “One of the films was a loud one, as if it had been Singing in the Rain , and on the other hand, it is as if she had been an actress in a silent film. I don’t know if many people know that when shooting, Alexander sits next to the camera and there are no monitors. He is the one who oversees everything. When we started filming, after a couple of scenes, I asked Paul if he doesn’t get up at any time and follow the filming from the video village, and he said no, that he’s always there, next to where it is filmed. I got so used to it being like this that I needed his presence, because my impression was that we were in this together. The funny thing is, during those moments when there was no text, it was as if I was internally speaking a monologue. Alexander shared everything with us. Many times he asked me if I wanted to see what he had just done, and we watched the shots together. No director does that.”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph also explains what it was like to shoot the powerful scene in which Mary doesn’t say a word and simply lets herself be hugged by her sister: “It was beautiful, because in the scene you can see that she is trying to overcome the what happened to him Try to look ahead. Seek to accept it. It’s funny, but in many families, soon after someone dies, a baby arrives, and in the scene what you see is Mary trying to accept the new situation, which is a huge gesture and something that the sister understands very much good”.
In view of the good reception by the public of Los que se quedan, the actress concludes: “I think it is a good time to see a film like this, especially because of what is happening in the world. On the other hand, there are many Christmas movies that come wrapped as if they were for a present, with an ending that satisfies everyone, and this one is not like that. That was one of the reasons I was drawn to the project. I felt like it could be an anthem for all people who are dealing with personal issues during the holiday season. Imagine if you are depressed and you have to watch Un padre en apuros. I’m surprised that no Christmas movie a little more realistic like ours has ever been made.”
