As Temple students rehearse in Tomlinson Theater each day, an image of alumna Da’Vine Joy Randolph performing in a 2007 student production of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” smiles down at them.
Last Sunday, students proudly watched the same face take home one of the most prestigious awards in the acting industry.
“Seeing the face of this person every day and then seeing her on the Oscars stage was just a surreal thing to me,” said Autumn Hogan, a sophomore musical theater major. “And knowing that the same program that is now nurturing me as an artist, helped someone find their voice and eventually win an Oscar is something, there’s nothing that can really describe that feeling. It’s just like, it’s such pride, such joy.”
Randolph, a 2008 musical theater alumna, received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “The Holdovers” at the 96th annual Academy Awards on March 10. The Temple community is ecstatic to see a former student deservedly recognized in the nation’s largest film award ceremony.
Temple’s School of Theater, Film and Media Arts hosted an Oscars viewing party in the Temple Performing Arts Center last Sunday where students and alumni gathered for an Academy Awards experience of their own, including a red carpet and chances for interviews with local media outlets. Hogan watched the show with the group and anxiously waited to hear the category’s winner announced.
When Randolph’s name was called, the crowd erupted into immediate applause.
“Everybody screamed,” Hogan said. “The nominees were all getting introduced, and then we’re watching Jamie Lee Curtis open the envelope and we didn’t even let her get through her name. We just heard ‘Da’Vine,’ everybody was screaming, there wasn’t even a second wasted.”
Randolph took the stage to deliver an acceptance speech. She began with her career change to acting, which happened while she was at Temple.
“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,’” Randolph said. “And I thank my mother for doing that.”
The excitement in TFMA’s classrooms the week leading up to the awards was electric. Professors who taught Randolph entertained their students with stories from her time at Temple, and students buzzed with anticipation, feeling inspired by the nomination of one of their peers.
Douglas Wager, a theater professor, directed Randolph’s first play at Temple, “Our Lady of 212st Street,” in 2006. Even though Randolph was not a musical theater major at the time, Wager was immediately impressed with her acting talent when she auditioned and cast her in one of the major roles.
As rehearsals progressed, it became clear Wager was working with a unique talent.
“She turned out to have really great instincts even though she did not have any considerable formal acting training,” Wager said. “She was very enthusiastic and dedicated to collaborating with me as a director. And she had great instincts, and she did a fantastic job in the part.”
Randolph’s win was impactful for many Temple students, especially in TFMA. Students were overjoyed and encouraged to hear that an alumna was receiving the recognition she deserved, and many felt represented by the success of one of their fellow Owls.
Hannah Nguyen, a sophomore musical theater major, is especially encouraged by Randolph’s win. As a woman of color, she often feels discouraged in the performing arts industry, and seeing a Black Temple alumna win the award reminds her to stay persistent in her work, she said.
“It shows me that as a woman of color also in the performance industry, that there are ways to pave paths and make successful careers and names for ourselves in an industry that sometimes doesn’t always highlight women of color and performers of color,” Nguyen said.
Colman Domingo, a journalism alumnus, was also up for an award at the ceremony for his work in “Rustin,” a film Randolph also appeared in that chronicled the life of one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most trusted advisors. Colman was the first Afro-Latino to be nominated in the Best Actor category.
Although this was Randolph’s first Oscar win, she’s no stranger to acclaimed award shows.
Randolph was nominated for a Tony for her performance in the 2012 Broadway production of “Ghost.” She also won awards for her role in the 2019 film “Dolemite Is My Name” and earned nominations for the television series “Only Murders in the Building.”
After graduating from Temple, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting at Yale University in 2011. She’s since worked on various Broadway productions, films and television shows, like “The Angriest Man in Brooklyn,” “This is Us” and “Empire.”
Hogan hopes Randolph’s win will shed light on Temple’s performing arts program. People often underestimate the school because of its status as a public university, she said.
“If we have an Oscar award winner in our ranks as a university and as a department, I feel like that should make people do a double take on what they think about Temple, especially our performance degrees because I just know Temple personally, like we’re stacked in terms of the people that we have working and graduating from this program, and I want people to start seeing us for what we are,” Hogan said.
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