Sometimes, Academy Award-winning actress Sandra Bullock will offhandedly give you career advice. For fellow Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, that advice was what made her say yes to the new A24 film Eternity.
“I remember doing The Lost City with Sandra Bullock and she told me, ‘Always keep a rom-com in rotation, in your Rolodex, on your resume,’” Randolph tells Rolling Stone. “And I was like, ‘Duly noted, queen. You would know.’”
In theaters Nov. 28, Eternity follows the afterlife of Larry (Miles Teller), a man who lived a good life: He married the love of his life Joan (Elizabeth Olsen), had children, celebrated the birth of grandchildren, and finally died after an unfortunate pretzel incident at a gender reveal party. But when Larry wakes up, he’s not in the heaven he expected. Instead, he’s at what appears to be a junction, and he’s being told by Anna (Randolph), his A.C. — afterlife consultant — that he gets to pick whatever afterlife he likes best. When his wife Joan arrives shortly after him, Larry is ecstatic to spend forever with her. But there’s a big problem in the form of Joan’s first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who tragically died young in war and is also desperate for his own eternity with her. The film takes the typical rom-com love triangle and gives it the stakes of, well, more than life or death.
A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, Randolph has established herself in Hollywood as a supporting actress with a penchant for stealing scenes and becoming the heart of her projects. She also has a sharp comedic wit, as shown in her appearances in High Fidelity and Only Murders in the Building — where she plays exhausted Detective Donna Williams. In 2024, she took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Holdovers as a mourning boarding school cook named Mary Lamb. (It wasn’t just her work on the Christmas film that brought audiences to their feet but her tearful acceptance speech, which got a standing ovation.) And with Eternity, she’s taken yet another project and made it her own. The public owes Bullock a thank you because while Turner, Teller, and Olsen imbue charm, longing, and romantic magic to Eternity, turning a difficult premise into a hysterical romp, it’s Randolph who manages to keep the story spinning on its axis of hope, with poignant observations about what life holds for us even after it ends.
“As a supporting actress, my job is almost like a boxer in the ring, to observe what my opponent is doing and learn how to support them in that and uplift them and have me bring something to the table as well. It’s a really delicate balance,” Randolph says. “So you really do need to have talented people, but also have the chemistry work, otherwise, it’s a hard sell.”
Randolph spoke with Rolling Stone about the power of a story about the afterlife, her love of rom-coms, and why she and Zoë Kravitz will always hold out hope for another season of High Fidelity.
Leah Gallo/A24
What about Eternity made you decide to say yes to the project?
We had just finished filming The Holdovers, and my agents had brought this project to my attention, but it was still early days. Then they hit me back up kind of late in the process. At that point, Miles, Callum, and Elizabeth were attached, and the script was fully formed. I had a really lovely conversation with the director [David Freyne] that was honestly a huge part of it. He was so knowledgeable about this world that he was building. And he had such a collaborative spirit and a willingness to merge all of our gifts together, that just turned me on so much. I’ve been very fortunate to work with some legendary people, but I predominantly work with people that are significantly older than me. Outside of maybe High Fidelity, it’s been a really long time since I’ve played with other actors that are my generation, my age. And I had recently done heavier things. So I was like, “Oh, let’s do a light, bright rom-com.”
What’s your ideal version of eternity?
I have crafted my own and it is the Ritz Carlton or a Four Seasons luxury headliner cruise in which we tour the Mediterranean and I get to get off and get to the stops. I have the most amazing food ever. I pick up friends along the way and I have the best resort wear, top-tier food, and top-tier spa amenities. Because listen, life is hard, so baby, enjoy it best on the Mediterranean.
What was it like working with the rest of the cast?
Everyone came to the table with their A game. We shot that movie very fast — collectively I think we only filmed for 30 days. What I thought was so beautiful is that everyone has a very unique voice and style. But also all of us trained for this, so it just ran so smoothly. Lizzie is a force. The way that she can just access emotion like that is real. Like some girls are just criers, but she’s really grounded and is able to do it take after take after take which completely blew me away. And then Miles and I have that connection of both being from Philadelphia. We have the same agent, and now we’re begging her to find more stuff for us.
How do you balance the job of the supporting character with Hollywood’s instinct to make Black women side characters and the comic relief?
You’re absolutely right that happens. I just don’t subscribe to it. That’s the easiest way that I can see it. Since I got into the game, even at Yale, the reason why I wanted to go to school is because I wanted to have a skill set, so that I would not have to rely on stereotypes in order to maintain [my career]. That is something that’s been a cornerstone for me for forever. I want to play multilayered, complex characters. Even when you feel free to be yourself, yes, there’s going to be certain “isms” that’ll naturally come out because I am who I am. But that’s more natural and organic of a process versus, “Hey, can you do that thing that y’all do?” I strongly believe that you can wholeheartedly represent who and what you are based off of how you look, and at the same time, still not have to do it in a stereotypical manner, and it’ll be relatable and enjoyable for all people who watch.
Freyne said in an interview that you asked to remove a monologue that gave a lot of your character’s backstory. Walk us through that decision.
It started off, because I had first said to him, “What is her backstory? I just need to know it,” because it originally wasn’t written. I needed that information to guide me as to my motivation. Black characters have needs and purposes outside of helping the lead. That’s a very real thing. So once we talked about it, I think [Freyne] began to have an awareness of the need to put in moments of why she’s here. I’ve learned audiences are so much more advanced and even more intelligent because you guys have become professional TV watchers and movie watchers with the amount of consumption that really kicked off during the pandemic. I always want to respect the audience and respect their intelligence. So I said, “I think it’d be nice to have a moment. It doesn’t have to be completely literal and it doesn’t have to be a whole monologue.” I think we’ve built enough by the time we get to the end of the movie that we can convey a lot through my eyes and how I make that moment land. You can see the weight and maybe the pain that she went through here on Earth.
The film was so honest about which of the romantic choices would seem right on paper. Even your character was like, “Damn, I don’t know how you beat a man who’s waited eternity for you.”
I like that about our movie, because we know what we’re in. We’re acknowledging this world. And I think that’s another way to ground the audience. Because they feel like they’re in on it. Our movie also celebrates ordinary love. And this idea that the fast and exciting love is cool and great and there’s also value in the ordinary kind.
Have you seen your Oscar win impact the roles you’re being offered or accepting?
I recently saw an interview with Lupita Nyong’o, who’s my [Yale] classmate, about [how] whatever the last thing is that you did really well in, the industry loves to keep giving you that. So right after the Oscars, for quite a while, there were a lot of the same roles. The same thing happened with Dolomite Is My Name — I didn’t even know people had this many scripts for blaxploitation films with comedians. It was wild. With The Holdovers, it was a lot more of offers of nurses or somebody whose kid died, or husband died, or whatever. They could have even been great scripts, but it was still no.
Where do you think that rush comes from?
I think it’s fear. If the industry was really booming, that would be different. But it’s the idea that if this was once really successful, they hope and think that the cult following of that project, that generation that saw, will still hold them down, so to speak. But I’m always about new work and creating new ideas. I think there’s a time and a place, but not everything has to be redone or remade. Because then you’re missing out on all these emerging artists and their gifts. And when you’re doing a remake, it may not be the same writer or director, but you have to kind of follow this regimented blueprint.
Even when we did High Fidelity, I chose not to watch the movie because I am such an avid fan of Jack Black, and I did not want in any way for my performance to be tainted. I wanted it to authentically be me. But I definitely felt the pressure of, “Oh gosh, people are going to expect this thing because we’re doing a remake.” [The TV show] being so different I think helped High Fidelity be successful. But that’s rare. I often see [sequels] or remakes that happen 20 years later and think, “Do we need it?”
Would you ever want High Fidelity to come back, seeing as it was cancelled after just one season?
Absolutely. We all feel the same way. Zoë [Kravitz] and I talk about it all the time, like, “How can we figure this out?” Give it back to the people, but really give it back to us, because we just really love it. But it’s a really tricky one, because you’re trying to recapture lightning in a bottle. Sometimes you have to just let things be what it is organically and trust in the process to find the next thing.
How much of Eternity’s draw do you think comes from the fact that the audiences are desperate for more romantic comedies?
That is a huge part of it. Also, karmically, we need it. Rom-coms give hope, aspiration. They make you believe. To me, rom-coms give the same vibes, though different, as a really cute Christmas movie. You just need it. You need the feels. Because the beautiful thing about love is vulnerability. And there’s so much humor in rom-coms due to how people behave and act and carry themselves. It’s comical, because people will do anything for love. And that is highly relatable, no matter what your tax bracket is or what you look like. Everyone wants to be loved and feel loved, and have all gone through some version of said rom-com shenanigans that you’re watching.
Do you have some favorites that you love to watch or you think inspired your own performance?
I genuinely think that How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is an effing perfect script and execution. I just did an interview with Graham Norton, and Kate Hudson was there and I was losing it. I was like, “Babes, you’ve done many iconic things, sure, but that one, How to Lose a Guy, is it!” I don’t know what it is but I specifically love New York-based rom-coms. There is something about that that gets me so nostalgic and in my feels. Their ordinary New York love, and that game of bullshit, takes me out. I’m crying every time. Every single time. It’s just so beautifully done. Top-tier.
People who watch Eternity are obviously going to be invested in what happens in this love triangle between Elizabeth, Calum, and Miles. But what journey does your character, Anna, go on?
I would say the biggest thing she’s learning is to invest again, to care again. I think when you first meet her, it feels very like Groundhog Day for her. She keeps her head down, doesn’t really take notice of much, is really by-the-book, she’s punching in for her nine-to-five and then she’s out of there. And then when Larry [Teller] arrives, the blinders come off and he awakens her to the world and her mind. I would argue that she has her own sort of B story rom-com with Larry but a platonic one. You can have a deeper relationship with a best friend than you have with your partner. You can love your partner down, but at the end of the day, the vulnerability, the way that Larry is able to express what he wants and what he needs, is far more significant. And I really love the idea that she goes on this journey with him.
In the film, people arrive to eternity looking how they looked at the happiest moment in their life. What do you think is your happiest?
It’s now. And I think it’s because of where I am in womanhood. Growing up, I remember whether it was my aunt, my mother, strangers, teachers, moments that I observed their womanhood and femininity that I was like, “Oh, I want that.” I never was that girl that had my wedding book hidden underneath my bed. I didn’t associate with that at all as a child. I was always aspiring to womanhood, thinking of arriving in my womanhood, and I feel like one of the reasons why I would say I’m at my happiest is that I think I’m really owning my womanhood. I’m starting to really check some of those things off of the list for me. I’m just really proud of who I am, who I’m becoming and evolving to be. And that doesn’t mean life is perfect and everything is just amazing. There’s still hiccups. And I say that because I do think sometimes people think that only amazing things happen to special people, a.k.a. celebrities. No. Everyone’s special, and everyone has gifts and something to offer. So I really enjoy that about myself, that the woman I’m becoming is both vulnerable and feminine, but at the same time strong and uncompromising and brazen. It feels like a good balance.
