Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, 37, trained as an opera singer before her mother urged her to take up acting – as she takes home Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers after more than a decade in the industry

She’s been nominated for a Tony Award, is an alumna of the Yale School of Drama and had her big screen break starring opposite Eddie Murphy in the Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name… yet Da’Vine Joy Randolph is hardly a household name.

However, that will likely change starting today after the 37-year-old Philadelphia-born actress won Best Supporting Actress at the 96th annual Academy Awards on Sunday.

She’s been working in the industry for more than a decade, but Da’Vine is now the toast of Hollywood for her turn as grieving chef Mary Lamb in boarding school drama The Holdovers, in which co-star Paul Giamatti plays grumpy teacher Paul Hunham.

The actress – who beat Oppenheimer’s Emily Blunt and Barbie’s America Ferrera to her gong – has proven unbeatable this awards season after big wins at the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globes, BAFTA and Critics’ Choice Awards.

But performing as an actor on stage and screen was never a lifelong dream for Da’Vine, who trained as an opera singer before her mother urged her to take acting lessons.

“I didn’t think I should do this as a career. I started out as a singer,” a tearful Randolph told the crowd at the Dolby Theater.

“And my mother said to me, ‘Go across that street to that theater department.’ There’s something for you.’ And I thank my mother for that.

“I thank all the people who have come my way and guided and guided me. I’m so grateful for all you beautiful people there.’

Da’Vine was born on May 21, 1986. As a youth, she attended the prestigious Interlochen summer arts camp in Michigan for theater.

At Temple University in Philadelphia, she initially focused on classical music and opera performance before switching to a musical theater major.

She refined those skills at the Yale School of Drama, where she received her master’s degree.

A year later, Da’Vine turned heads on Broadway and received a 2012 Tony nomination for her portrayal of psychic Oda Mae Brown in “Ghost: The Musical.”

She made her big screen debut in 2013 in “Mother of George,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and starred Danai Gurira.

On television, she appeared in the cult favorite “Selfie” and guest-starred on several shows, including “The Good Wife,” “Veep,” “This Is Us” and the musical drama “Empire.”

Da’Vine’s film breakthrough came in the well-received 2019 Netflix film “Dolemite Is My Name,” starring Eddie Murphy.

Voice work in several animated films followed, along with appearances in ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday” opposite Andra Day, and “The Lost City” starring Sandra Bullock.

On television, she scored recurring roles on “High Fidelity” and “Only Murders in the Building.”

And then director and screenwriter Alexander Payne called about The Holdovers. I find that actors who are skilled in comedy can play dramatic roles without being somber about it,” Alexander told USA Today. “She can laugh a lot and also make you cry.”

Da’Vine also appeared in another Oscar-nominated film last year, “Rustin,” starring Colman Domingo, in which she played gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who sang at the March on Washington.

Upcoming projects include the action thriller “Shadow Force” starring Kerry Washington and Omar Sy, and the action comedy “Bride Hard” starring Rebel Wilson.

“I’m very grateful for people’s appreciation of my talent, but in no way have I shown my potential,” she told The New York Times ahead of the Oscars. “I’m now starting to have a growing platform to do this. Let’s do it!’

She was all along favored to win Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers, but she brought many to tears with a moving speech about her path to victory.

“I always wanted to be different for so long,” Da’Vine said. “And now I realize that I just have to be myself.”

Thanking a mentor, she said, “When I was the only black girl in class, you saw me and told me I was enough.”

And she thanked her publicist and said she knew that was unusual “but you don’t have a publicist like I have a publicist!” Da’Vine added near the end, “I pray to God I can do this more than once.”

Da’Vine’s tears first began to flow as she sat in her seat as Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o stood on stage and paid tribute to the actress. Lupita spoke about the amazing performance of Da’Vine, who wore her grandmother’s glasses in the film.

“What an honor to see the world through her eyes and yours,” Lupita said.

Along with her grandmother’s glasses, Da’Vine said she used other accessories in the film as a “love letter to black women.”

‘I knew this would be a difficult role. It would take a lot of vulnerability on my part,” she said.

“I knew that (my grandmother) was someone in my life who would allow me to return to my center. But it was a lot of other women.

‘I did a lot of research and some subliminal messages with hairstyles, details and accessories beyond the glasses, paying tribute to women – from (American sitcom) The Jeffersons, (American singer and actress) Phyllis Hyman, things like that.

“So I included all these women who were ‘impressed’ by me… and that meant a lot because it felt like a love letter to black women.”

Her The Holdovers character Mary is one of the few black faces on the New England campus, where the film is set in the 1970s.

She mourns her son, one of the school’s few black graduates who died in the Vietnam War and was stuck on campus at Christmas.

One of Da’Vine’s big moments in the film comes when Mary unexpectedly attends a family party with moody teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) and anxious student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), and catharstically releases some of her grief.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see how much context Mary had, the emotion of a completed storyline,” Da’Vine told the Los Angeles Times late last year. “That may sound trivial and silly, but it’s not always available, especially to people of color.”

‘Mary, oh Mary. You’ve changed my life. You made me feel seen in so many ways that I could never have imagined,” the actress said in her Golden Globes acceptance speech.