Originally appeared on E! Online
And the 2024 Oscar goes to.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who earned her first-ever Academy Award, couldn't hold back the tears after presenters Jamie Lee Curtis, Rita Moreno, Lupita Nyong'o and Regina King and Mary Steenburgen announced she won Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in "The Holdovers."
(See all of the Academy Award winners here.)
"God is so good," the 37-year-old began her acceptance speech. "I didn't think I was supposed to be doing this as a career. 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.'"
"The High Fidelity" star thanked those who have stood by her side as she navigated her career.
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"The Idol" actress thought she had to be different to make it in Hollywood.
"I realize, I just need to be myself," she expressed. "And I thank you. I thank you for seeing me. Ron Van Lieu, I thank you. When I was the only Black girl in that class, when you saw me and told me I was enough. When I told you, 'I don't see myself,' and you said, 'That's fine, we're going to forge our own path. You're going to lay a trail for yourself.'"
After thanking the rest of her team for cheering her on, she concluded, "I pray to God that I get to do this more than once. I thank you for seeing me. Have a blessed night."
Randolph's was nominated alongside first-time nominees Emily Blunt "Oppenheimer," Danielle Brooks "The Color Purple" and America Ferrera "Barbie," as well as two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster "NYAD."
