It is a highly competitive Oscar year—my Top 10 is taking forever because there were SO many good films in 2023!—but one category is looking increasingly clear, and that is Best Supporting Actress.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph has been one of the top contenders since The Holdovers made its fall festival debut last year, deservedly as she is tremendous in that film (which is now streaming on Peacock and available on demand. It should become a holiday classic in the vein of Planes, Trains & Automobiles). Her win last night, her sincere enthusiasm, it pushes her momentum, and she is now the clear favorite going into Oscar nominations.
Also, last night was when we all learned we’ve been pronouncing her name wrong. It isn’t “Dah-vine”, it’s “Day-Vine”.
Here she is giving a tutorial:
I am mad because I specifically asked a publicist when Dolemite Is My Name came out in 2019 how to pronounce her name and was told it was pronounced phonetically as “Dah-vine”. Whatever! At least now we all know.
We thought the Golden Globes announcer was getting it wrong, until Paul Giamatti included her in his acceptance speech and also said “Day-Vine”. And then I found the pronunciation video online, which was only released a couple weeks ago, so clearly, she—and her team—are anticipating her name being pronounced a lot in the upcoming months.
Also, Da’Vine wore a sculptural crimson gown by Rodarte that looked great on the red carpet but gave her some trouble after she sat down. This is my issue with Rodarte—the construction. Their garments never seem well constructed! I would love to see her in Christian Siriano at some point. His designs aren’t always the best, but his construction never fails.
