The Holdovers Interview: Da’Vine Joy Randolph On Representing Grief-Stricken Mothers

Directed by Alexander Payne, The Holdovers follows a small group of people stuck on the campus of a boarding school over Christmas of 1970. This group consists mainly of Angus (Dominic Sessa), a student with abandonment issues, Professor Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), a curmudgeonly teacher who takes his job extremely seriously, and Mary Lamb, played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building), the school’s chef whose son was killed overseas in Vietnam.

While the relationship between Paul and Angus is arguably the main focus of the film, it’s very much an ensemble piece, and Randolph’s character represents the bereaved state of America at the time, suffering through a war that would ultimately take the lives of over 58,000 Americans, most of them young men in their twenties or even younger. On top of that, Mary Lamb is Black, and the shadow of the violence against the Civil Rights Movement looms large in the background and provides historically significant subtext for The Holdovers.

Screen Rant interviewed Da’Vine Joy Randolph about her work on The Holdovers. She spoke about playing a character that represents such a large group of people who suffered tragic loss during the Vietnam War and carrying their essence within her to articulate their paid-for modern audiences. She also shared her fondness for 1970s fashion and how she used her fashion sense to help shape her character.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph Talks The Holdovers

Screen Rant: Your work in this movie is incredible.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph: Thank you so much.

Screen Rant: Your character carries such a tremendous pain that was so common in the Vietnam era, and still occurs much more than it should now. Can you talk about personifying that, kind of, national wound that, for so many people, still hasn’t healed.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph: Yeah, that’s a really good point that you mention there, and thank you for saying that. I felt a responsibility because, in many senses, the movie doesn’t outwardly talk about it, but I felt as though I needed to represent that in a way. Within these pearly gates, there’s something real going on. Historically, 68, 69, 70, is quite possibly one of the bleakest times in American history, with the death of MLK and JFK, and then the Vietnam War, and it’s a very hard time. On top of it, being a person of color, and a woman at that, there’s many strikes against you, so to speak.

For me, I just allowed her to take residency within me, and allowed her to feel… It’s weird! Even now, when I just said that… I did a musical on Broadway, Ghost: The Musical, based on the movie. And it is, almost in a way, I just thought of this, it’s almost like that. Acting can be that way sometimes. What you’re allowing is the essence, the spirit of someone to take over you and use this vessel to then let their voice be known and come out and come through. I just love this woman so much. I think she represents so many familiar women in all our lives, or a couple of them mixed together. I just wanted to give her the respect and due justice that she rightfully deserved.

Screen Rant: Getting to see her soul, her pain, her essence, does so much more than reading about it in a history book, which is the way younger generations get those stories.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph: Yes, absolutely.

Screen Rant: To lighten it up a little bit, 1970s fashion. The heels, those wide heels, and the plaid kind of dresses, did you welcome getting to change back into your regular clothes at night, or were you like, “Hey, this is kinda nice!”

Da’Vine Joy Randolph: Oh, I love fashion, and I love period things. After Dolemite and working with Ruth Carter in regards to the clothes, I’m all in. Ten toes in! For me, it was great. We really got to be super specific on it, which was really great, and helped me in developing her and the character. So I loved it.

Screen Rant: The movie is fantastic. There’s so much going on in it, but you are a beating heart at the center of that movie. Gleefully pick up all those awards that you’re going to win!

Da’Vine Joy Randolph: Thank you so, so much!

About The Holdovers

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).