Da’Vine Joy Randolph wins best supporting actress Oscar: ‘Thank you for seeing me’

The actress won the coveted Academy Award after taking home a Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award and more this awards season.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph just took home the gold! The actress won her first Oscar at the 96th Annual Academy Awards, earning the coveted award for her acclaimed turn as Mary Lamb in “The Holdovers.”

In the Alexander Payne drama, Randolph plays Mary Lamb, a cook and grieving mother at a New England boarding school who forms an unlikely friendship with one of the professors (played by Paul Giamatti) and a student (Dominic Sessa) during the school’s holiday break. Previous best supporting actress winners Lupita Nyong’o, Regina King and more presented the statuette to Randolph, who has swept awards season for her performance, winning the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice and SAG awards ahead of Oscars night. 

“God is so good,” Randolph said through tears at the top of her speech. “I didn’t think I was supposed to be doing this as a career,” she continued, recalling a moment when her mother encouraged her to start her career in the theater. She went on to thank her mother and all of the people who have “stepped in” her path and “ushered” and guided her.

“For so long I have always wanted to be different, but now I realize I just need to be myself,” she said. “And I thank you, I thank you for seeing me.” She also thanked all the women who have been by her side, including her teachers, her team and her publicist.

“I pray to God that I get to do this more than once, I thank you for seeing me have a blessed night.”

Randolph opened up to theGrio’s Cortney Wills ahead of Oscars night, speaking about her career and the importance of staying true to yourself in the entertainment industry.

“It all comes down to choice,” she said when discussing the variety of roles she’s been able to tackle. “And you gotta have balls, or you gotta have ovaries, as we should actually say. Because it’s going to take strategy. It takes the willingness and the confidence to believe in yourself and your goals to stand your ground.” 

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