Da'Vine Joy Randolph's parents, teacher brought to tears watching her Oscars win: 'We are just so proud'

Randolph won Best Supporting Actress for her turn in "The Holdovers."

Da'Vine Joy Randolph's parents and former drama professor were overcome with emotion during her win for Best Supporting Actress at the 2024 Oscars.

Michael and Joyce Randolph wiped away tears — and had some laughs — when their daughter took the stage (as seen in the video above) to claim the statuette for her role as Mary Lamb, a boarding school head cook grieving the loss of her son, in Alexander Payne's dramedy The Holdovers.

"It was just so beautiful," Mama Randolph tells EW from inside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Randolph patriarch Michael adds, "We are just so proud. So, so proud."

Ron Van Lieu — a Yale School of Drama educator whose past pupils include fellow nominee Sterling K. Brown (recognized for American Fiction) and 2023 Causeway nominee Brian Tyree Henry, among other notable stars — is also "just so proud," he says. "I can’t believe I have two students nominated. One would have been a dream." (Lieu also moved Henry to tears at last year's ceremony with a pre-recorded message for the star shared by Access Hollywood on the red carpet.)

In her acceptance speech, an emotional Randolph thanked her mother for giving her the push she needed.

"I didn't think I was supposed to be doing this as a career. I started off as a singer, and my mother said to me, 'Go across that street to that theater department; there's something for you there,'" she said. "And I thank my mother for doing that. Thank you to all the people who have stepped in my path and has been there for me . . . for so long I wanted to be different, and now I realize I just need to be myself. When I said I don’t see myself, you said that’s fine, we’re going to forge our own path.”

Backstage in the press room after her win, Randolph said of the affirmation of nabbing her first Oscar, "I think you'd be selling yourself short if you make it about the awards. The beautiful thing and the hard thing about being an actor is that it requires you to have resilience and self confidence . . you have to fortify yourself. You keep yourself grounded and stay close to what’s real."

Of what has stood out during awards season, Randolph — who nabbed wins at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Independent Spirit Awards for her turn as Mary Lamb — cited the camaraderie among nominees. "I didn’t know what to expect," she said. "I didn’t know if this was a dog eat dog thing. What was so beautiful is this support system and the friends that I’ve made because of it."

She also shared words of encouragement to creatives from underserved communities. "The beautiful thing that erupts is your imagination and your creativity because you don't have much," Randolph said. "And so you have this innate ability to create. That's a gift," Randolph said. "We as Black people are very good at making a lot of very little. I think that's a superpower and something that we should applaud ourselves for."

See the complete winners list, updating live from the Oscars.

Additional reporting by Patrick Gomez and Lauren Huff

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