Da’Vine Joy Randolph wins Golden Globe for best supporting actress

Da’Vine Joy Randolph took home the Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a movie on Sunday night, marking the first of several expected wins for the Philadelphia native.

Randolph won for her role as Mary in the holiday comedy “The Holdovers.” Though the Golden Globe is her first major award for the role, she also has received numerous accolades from critics’ groups and Oscar prognosticators have pegged her as the frontrunner to win the Academy Award for best supporting actress in March.

In her acceptance speech, Randolph thanked her costars Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa, the film’s director Alexander Payne and the fictional woman she played.

“Oh Mary, you have changed my life,” she said. “You have made me feel seen in so many ways that I have never imagined, and I hope I helped you all find your inner Mary, because there’s a little bit of her in all of us.”

“The Holdovers” follows the small group of faculty and students stuck at a New England prep school during Christmas break in 1970. It includes curmudgeonly teacher Mr. Hunham (Giamatti), rebellious junior Angus (Sessa) and Mary, who heads the school’s cafeteria. She is the only “holdover” who has chosen to spend the holidays at work, as she is grieving the death of her son Curtis, who was killed in action in Vietnam. He was a former student at the school.

Randolph spent some of her early years in Mt. Airy and graduated from Temple University. Her Golden Globe victory marks her first win and nomination. She previously was nominated for a Tony for her role as Oda Mae Brown in the “Ghost” Broadway musical. While Oscar nods won’t be announced until Jan. 23, but Randolph’s name is likely to app