Da'Vine Joy Randolph of Shadow Force

Davine Joy Randolph. You may have caught one of her inspiring speeches during the award circuit for her film The Holdovers, which is just, oh my god, it's such a gorgeous movie, the movie that she won the Oscar for. But to sit across from this woman and to look into her eyes and to listen to her speak, it's probably one of the most soul shaking experiences I have had on my show. And now I am just so excited to share this conversation with you. I don't want to delay

this a second more. We just have to get to it, Okay, So let's see if today we can get Davine to say something that she has never said before. Dave I Joy Randolph, how are you, my friend? I'm good I'm so happy to be hanging out with you today. Are you feeling good?

I mean? So when it happened, still feels very very surreal. No, I don't think about it, and I think, if anything, what I am hyper focused on is using whatever that will and can garner me to create other opportunities only

for myself, but for other people. That I would say I've been very focused on less of the title, but more of how can I use that to gain access to the right doors and with the right people, to not only help myself, but to help others, because I know that I'll have more longevity in my career by helping other people. Right, Like, if it was just me, I can only get but so far. If I just kept tunnel vision to just me, I can only get

so far. But if I made it more about other people and a community and building a community, I think we can can not only accomplish more, but it would behoove me as well.

in my circle joke with me of like, you're such a planner, you always have a strategy of something, and I think it's because of the fact that you know, I just it's never just right in front of you. There always needs to I love a zoom and zoom out right short term, long term, and so I just think even with that award, I was always keenly focused then on Okay, now what can we do with this

long term? Because now people are listening, right, And so when you have a platform, I think you better have a very clear intention and it can change and evolve, but a clear intention on what you want to do to pave the road for others and to really make a difference.

That no thing is a small thing. And I think, especially since my career thus far has been of a supporting actress, you learn that of like okay number one, you quite literally are here to support the other actor, but to you are contributing and moving this forward, the story forward. How can you make the most impact with what you're given? And I think that's something that I've just been a huge part of my life since the very beginning, but also even more so as an actor,

I've been able to lean into that even more. I think now in this day and age, there's so many potentials for opportunities. It's not like you know, when our parents were younger, where was much more you know, cutthroat of you do this, you go to that school and bring bang boom. You know one plus one equals too. It's way good bad, are indifferent. There's way more opportunities. You have to keep your eyes open and be ready.

And so I think it's about diversifying yourself as much as possible so that you know you never know what will stick. But I think it's always good and crucial to constantly be in tune with yourself and your wants and needs. And I always do this like a like a scan, like a check in with myself of like who am I now, what are my wants and needs? How can I help others? What do I need to improve? It's a constant thing for me so that hopefully I'm constantly evolving and as you said, leveling up. Yeah.

I think often, at least my generation was taught like be different, br unique, have that niche have that thing. And the more and more I do this, and having the opportunity to travel the world and interview with people and meet all these different people from all different walks of life, what I realize is that there's a lot of people that don't know just how important and special

they are just as is. And I find that people are constantly searching outside of themselves for inspiration and motivation, which is great, but I think people a lot of times people miss that it's within, and so I try to just like I said that, like psychological scan as much and it changes right you. And it's not to say you're not gonna have bad days or not feeling

one hundred percent. But I find with those check ins, it allows you to be truthful to where you really are, and it allows you to have more empathy for where you're at and how you can grow from there, because sometimes we can be striving for that thing over there, not even acknowledging where we're at here right, and so in missing that connection, we're just getting more and more frustrating, not realizing, well, you're not evaluating where you're at now

and what can be done here and now. I think there's a mis nomenclature of like you got to like dreaming is a privilege, or you have to wait for that thing, And I just kind of of the philosophy nowadays of it's always the thing, you can always be doing something. I'm always telling my team, but we can do something, we can do something right now. What can we create for ourselves now? What opportunity can we do now?

How can we have an impact now? Yes, we have that long term goal of whatever that thing is at the time, but what can you do for yourself in the present?

consistency and persistency to execute it. And sometimes you're doing that alone, and that I feel like it is the true test. How can you stick with something, bet on yourself, root for yourself even if no one else is, And then when they do sign on, how can you still do that with an open heart and not be like, well, you guys weren't here. What it doesn't matter. They're there now right, It's aligned now right. And so that takes humility and patience. And so that's why all these things

can happen. And I don't sit there thinking like I don't even think I would be able to accomplish things if I just sat thinking of like, oh my god, I'm gonna asking winter and to be fair, I also need to work on acknowledging things that I accomplish if I'm being completely transparent with you. But at the same time, I don't allow myself to get caught up into that, and instead, I don't know. I look at it as like a joyful reminder of you accomplish that, so great,

So what are we going to do? Let's continue to bet on ourselves because I think if you do. I think the world honestly would be a better place if we bet it on earth. Right, there's so much insecurity and fear and understandable. It's hard, it's really hard. But sometimes the best support system is within and then through doing so, you radiate and attract the right people to

come into your circle to further. Yeah, but that takes discernment, right, That's why I'm like, it's the inside work first, because if it's not, you will always attract things good, better and different. And there are moments right where we're like how when you look at your circle and your like or you know, the moves that you're making, like what is going on? Why am I? And a lot of times it's just because you're not taking the time to look in or checking in or identifying your wants and

needs and you're just going along with the flow. Sometimes comfortability is like one of the most dangerous things, right, even when it feel good, that things that feel good aren't always good for you. And that's a tough lesson because some people are like, but I just I just made it. I just started feeling comfortable, and it's like, okay, cool, keep some of that, but it's on to the next with the other stuff.

in the world that I need right now. And I love that and I appreciate you sharing your insights because I think we can't grow and learn and be better people unless we take these yeah lessons, these little nuggets of wisdom as I like to call it, and then go make it our own.

for advice, you can give them the advice. Some of your nearest and DearS, you're like, Okay, nope, they're not ready for it yet, heard it, yeah, or they either don't want to hear it, or they heard it and it just washed over them. But I do genuinely believe that the consciousness does take it in. Yes, right, and we'n't even experienced ourselves, almost like deja vu. It comes back and we're like, like, where did that sounded familiar?

Where did that come from? And it's like, well, you had that soul exchange where a gem was a lesson was told to you. You just weren't ready for it then. And I think that will help us require more patience and empathy with one another of like we all want the best for ourselves, we all want to be good people and make the most of it. But sometimes there's blocks and things in the way, or sometimes you gotta deal with something else in order to get to that.

So yeah, I think it's important that we listen to our feelings and intuitions. I read something the other day that I thought was really really great. They were saying that triggers, when one is triggered, it is one of the greatest gifts you can ever get and one of the best indicators that your body is giving you to let you know, like we need to look into this.

It may not be bad like whoa, but it's that voice or that thing that's a gift of like I just want to bring this to your attention, like just look at this, right. And I think sometimes we get so caught up and overwhelmed and anxiety over triggers, but their gifts right when our nervous system, when our body is like ah, that's something, and it's ultimately trying to protect you and alert you. And so I say all

this as a like give you. We need to give ourselves more grace, just more grace because life is lifing all the time. But I really think it's just a series of tests and it's just seeing how we're navigating it to just go through, right. You can't force it. You just got to go through it.

And he felt as though this character and the character other role who I'm partnering with with method Man perspectively and Auntie could bring that to life. And I just think what's so cool about this movie is that while

it is an action movie. What's really unique is that it is targeting, to me from my perspective, not only a female conscious by having the gender roles kind of flipped, by having this woman being arguably the better assassin, as well as like a single dad kind of right raising his son, but also seeing a black family at the center of an action movie. I don't think we've ever

had that. So it has all these great elements of like you know, femforward, a black family, a loving family, international aspect to it in this sense of community and you know, going by any means necessary for fighting for what's yours. So the themes of it was just so great that I was like, yeah, yeah, sign me up.

a really nice challenge. And it's also it's a lot of synchronicity, meaning we were lucky enough to have about a month almost two months of training with a marine specialist and so like the dutiful student and me was like okay, okay, I got it. But then it's like a little bit of this right of the action element but then also acting and because it's action, you want to be super safe, but they make it look supernatural

and flow. So that was a great way to like stretch my brain because it wanted to compartmentalize, you know what I mean almost like can we do all the action stuff and then do the acting stuff. I don't do the core. That's totally what it felt like, right, so I really have a lot of respect for people who do that. And then to make it look so

effortless was really great. Also, uh tonally like delivery wise, it's a bit more straight in regards to your delivery, which at first I was like, oh my gonna sound like really monotone. But there's just there's like little things stylistically that I honestly just had to like watch everyone and take it in of like okay, okay, so that's how I do that and that. So it was really really cool to learn these new tools or ways of acting in that action format.

a shooting a gun. It's like, no, why what is the relationship? What did they do to you? What did they do to your friend? Like? What is the reason? And that is when I saw that it connected much more profoundly.

Like just watching in recent years like If a Star is Born and the recent movie he did that man is just he really is passionate and he's all in and there's so much humility, and I just in general, I would love to be around as many creatives as possible that have that kind of intention, that really care still possessed because there's a lot of smoke of mirrors and other things in this industry that I feel like

you have to work harder to be focused. Then it requires more energy, right, So I really admire people at the top of their game who I know have so many things coming at them, and yet they choose, in my opinion, the right path, which is like good work, hard or you know, hard working, good work, ethic, honest, honorable, passionate people.

and rejections over the years. Was there ever a time in your career that you can remember where you maybe really wanted a roll and you had your whole heart in it and it just didn't work out and you had to pick yourself up and keep.

you your worth. It's hard not to take it personal because you know, I used to, I guess I still am a musician, and so I used to always be jealous of the instrumentalists because I felt as though, and this could be wrong, but to me, they could quote unquote hide behind their instrument and as a vocalist, I felt so naked and quite literally like your heart is open. It felt a lot, right, Yeah, And so similarly in this industry, of course, you're literally portraying these roles. It's very,

very hard not to take this personally. It's filled with tons of rejection. You're constant being compared and contrasted. It's very competitive. There's strategy, there's so many layers to it, and I think the biggest hardship has been staying in it. Not because I've lost the passion, far from it, but

there's just constantly things that are coming at you. But I will say the reason why I can speak to you in this way is because of right, like when I say the lessons and almost feels like and I don't know, maybe because it's in my scope, but the entertainment business and at this level it's like life on speed. Right, So we're an average person may have a really bad day, like I don't know, once a month, like a really

bad day once a month. In this industry, it might be once a week, right where you're like whoa, Okay, this might be it, right, but you have to be like no, okay, regroup, have your support around you. And I've grown to take my time, reclaim my time, but also give myself a beat. And I've been trying to tell this to other loved ones too, of like, you don't have to answer everyone immediately right in the moment. If something's coming up by the thing they're asking, just say,

let me get back to you. They do it all the time, right, But we as the talent or the thing of focus, feel like, oh okay, because sometimes we don't make the right decisions for ourselves because we're trying to people.

Like there's a reason why. It's slightly off topic, but I think there is a reason why some of your favorite musical or you know whatever, any kind of creative entity, there's reasons why sometimes they spiral or will have Like it's a lot, and I don't think people will realize that. And if you don't have the necessary tools and prioritizing the care needed, there's a reason why some of the greatest artists we ever know haven't had long lives. It's

this weird, interesting exchange. And so I think it's a lesson, but it's it's to say that, you know, I think you can have it all. You just got to take care of yourself and know when to be like, this is going to be here, It's always going to be here. Let me take care of myself.

quick and we have to get the bites in. And it was born from an idea of wanting to connect with people on a more human level because we all go through the same stuff, and when we talk about it or share lessons or advice, I think we're better collectively. So with all of that being said, is there anything today you can think of that maybe you've never said before in an interview that you want to share.

And so I just wish that people will give themselves more grace, and I wish that people would be honest and take down the masks so that they can connect, because I think a lot of times we're scared to be vulnerable and share with friends and loved ones what's going on. And I think if we did, not only would we be healthier, but we will learn the lessons quicker. I really so like these past two weeks, right, so many people have called me and been like, girl, is

mercury and retrograde? Because the hell? And I was like, I think it is. I really think like everybody, And I use as an example, right that all people from all walks of life reached out to me and was like, girl, I am going through it now. I could have lied because of what they assume my life is. Right. I think a lot of times people assume with success is smooth sailing. One of the realest things Jay z Ever said was more money, more problems, more success, more problems,

more anything. The more you have, the more you have to deal with, point blank. Period. So I could have lied and been like, oh really, oh so sorry, I was going through it, and I say that to say it. We don't just because people are. And I say this because it's such a social media driven world right now, and there's so many people like all respect in the world to influencers and how they've been able to, you know what I mean, really catapult themselves and quite literally

create revenue and exposure for themselves that is amazing. I think if we all could have a bit of that, that's great. But in that I think now which is beautiful, that it inspires like anybody can make it, which I love that aspect of it, because I do believe anyone can. But I think now there's this desire to reach for fame or celebrity or whatever, and I think that's to be less of the goal of what we're going for, and I think it's more of the community and the collective.

And so I think, like, you know, just because a lot of people are aspiring for that, but please understand it comes with its whole new you know, I mean, bag of tricks. And so more so than anything, I'm just kind of like life is gonna life me the same way it's gonna life you, and we just need to connect with one another and not let these other things and signs of status and stuff get in the way.

Because I'm also very well aware even being in this position tomorrow you may never see me, you know what I mean, Like all that I've accomplished. You know how the world is, Like, I'm not gonna do You're not gonna find me, no scandal. I'm not messy like that, but do you know what I mean? Like I could be hot and then it'd be like what was her name? Right? So I gotta feel good about who I am and what I've contributed in the legacy that I'm creating, so

that I'm not relying upon that. That's why I don't wake up every morning being like, oh why I'm an oscar because okay, cool that happened. Now what else? Right? Like okay, cool, that's that. What else can you bring to the table outside of your career? How are you as a human being? What other things are interesting about you?

And I like to surround myself around a mix of people where it isn't all just industry people, or if it is industry people, like we were saying, grounded people because life is so much important, more important, And that's why I became an actor and I choose the roles that I do. I like to play women who have complexities and stuff of them and making the ordinary extraordinary, right Like, I intentionally like to go for more blue

collar like women and make them into these superheroes. I looked out having this action movie, but you know what I mean, who's actually kicking butt? But let's also give voice to the voiceless of these women who are just getting by in their day to day, right because that's really important. The fancy stuff is fine, we have the fancy moments, but life is really more of that stuff.

And so I just hope people are encouraged of like, you don't have to have what you think this life is in order to be special and understand whatever you're dealing with in Wisconsin, I'm dealing with the same thing here. It's the same thing. It's just on a different scale or a different amalclamation, but it's the same. And I think though allow people to have empathy.

It is fantastic and we can't wait to see it. Thank you hanging out.