The 2024 Academy Awards were full of surprises.
In a particularly touching moment, she was joined in tearful joy by her co-star, Paul Giamatti.
So, Da’Vine Joy!"
A ’90s kid, Randolph has reflected on her childhood in Mount Airy with idyllic nostalgia.
“There was this ice-cream truck that went around,” she recalled.
“The lady on it was Miss Joyce.
She used to have really good water ice and cheese pretzels.
But here’s the thing: She would come around at 5 o’clock.
It was a parent’s worst nightmare.
So yeah, loved that truck.”
Encouraged by her father, she also spent much of her childhood frequenting museums.
“No one in my family had the, like, performance gene,” she explained.
“My mom was always like, ‘Sing that thing you learned this week!’
Or, ‘Show them that dance!’
So I was always performing for family and friends.”
Randolph’s community in Philadelphia also supported her, with neighbors and teachers uplifting the creative youngster.
She attended a performing arts summer camp and trained there as an opera singer.
Her talents were also nurtured by a mesmerizing singer she met at a church Christmas concert.
“She was like: ‘You have a natural gift for this.’
Then she was telling me opera singers get to travel the world and be loved …
I was like, sign me up, that’s the job for me.”
Subsequently, the classically trained opera singer attended Temple University to study classical musical arts.
However, she embraced the musical theater crowd and swiftly switched majors her junior year.
Then, in 2011, she received a master’s in fine arts from Yale.
However, she has expressed a desire to play opera singer Leontyne Price in a biopic.
She went on to address that bigotry through acting, intent on dispelling racist stereotypes through her roles.
“[S]he was slowly dying of a broken heart,” she revealed.
“And no one said anything …
I remember then understanding the force that grief can be.”
There, she began auditioning for a number of theater roles.
Starring on Broadway was Randolph’s dream, so she was understandably thrilled.
By the spring of 2012, her Broadway dreams had materialized.
“It is surreal,” the then 25-year-old toldPennLive.
“So much has happened.
The role also earned her a Tony nomination for best featured actress.
“I see you, and you are exactly where you should probably be.
Keep climbing the ladder,” Pacino concluded.
Feeling validated and reassured, Randolph went on to perform her second show that day.
“Cataloging that moment into my soul for eternity,” she wrote.
The musical’s run abruptly came to an end in the summer of 2012.
The best, however, was yet to come.
The role was a dream come true for Randolph.
“They made me re-audition, which was intense.
Moreover, she learned more about her craft through working alongside Murphy.
For her formidable portrayal of Lady Reed, Randolph received a standing ovation at the film’s world premiere.
As she told Who What Wear, the film opened innumerable doors for her.
This was partly due to her refusal to take on just any gig that came her way.
In 2020, she was cast as Cherise in the 2020 TV adaptation of “High Fidelity.”
But she has consistently refused to settle for less.
The following year, Steve Martin cast her in “Only Murders in the Building.”
“It’s such a wonderful working environment,” she enthused to The New York Times.
That blows me away, every single time.”
“It’s not like, ‘She shouldn’t have had that on.’
But it didn’t make me feel like I did my job.”
Subsequently, she decided to wear custom clothing to events.
Since then, Randolph has been routinely praised for her red carpet looks.
The actor’s keen sartorial eye also manifests in her work.
In contrast to the glam characters Randolph often plays, Pooh had a penchant for streetwear.
“[B]y the time I put on everything, I was there …
I was locked into the character,” she added.
In an interview withVulture, she revealed that she was creator Sam Levinson’s first choice for her role.
As such, she refused to pay any attention to the onslaught of bad press that accompanied its premiere.
“Very early on in my career, I chose to never engage in that,” she toldBustle.
“I know why I’m doing what I’m doing.
I want to make people feel good and seen and heard.”
In particular, she developed a close bond with co-star Paul Giamatti.
“We spoke the same language,” she toldVanity Fairin 2023.
“I wanted people to think of their auntie, their grandmother, their mother,” she toldPeople.
“Snatching me into the period helped me really lock in with her.”
Indeed, her mother was right.
