Hitting theaters on Oct. 4 before streaming on Netflix on Oct. 25 is the upcoming biopic Dolemite Is My Name, starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow). The film recently had its World Premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.
Written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Goosebumps), Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Kodi Smit-Mcphee, Snoop Dogg, Ron Cephas Jones, Barry Shabaka Henley, Tip ‘TI’ Harris, Luenell, Tasha Smith, and Wesley Snipes co-star in the film.
Stung by a string of showbiz failures, floundering comedian Rudy Ray Moore (Academy Award nominee Eddie Murphy) has an epiphany that turns him into a word-of-mouth sensation: step onstage as someone else. Borrowing from the street mythology of 1970s Los Angeles, Moore assumes the persona of Dolemite, a pimp with a cane and an arsenal of obscene fables. However, his ambitions exceed selling bootleg records deemed too racy for mainstream radio stations to play. Moore convinces a social justice-minded dramatist (Keegan-Michael Key) to write his alter ego a film, incorporating kung fu, car chases, and Lady Reed (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), an ex-backup singer who becomes his unexpected comedic foil. Despite clashing with his pretentious director, D’Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes), and countless production hurdles at their studio in the dilapidated Dunbar Hotel, Moore’s Dolemite becomes a runaway box office smash and a defining movie of the Blaxploitation era.
Dolemite was such a hit it spawned two official sequels, as well as one unofficial sequel and an appearance in short film Murder Was the Case starring Snoop Dogg, and is credited as one of the most influential characters in the blaxploitation genre.
For Randolph, who plays Lady Reed, this is her breakout role in the film world. She’s best known for her role as Oda Mae Brown in the original Broadway production of Ghost the Musical, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She also had a recurring role as Poundcake on Fox’s Empire.
Blackfilm.com spoke exclusively with Randolph on her role as Lady Reed.
How did the role come about for you?
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: When I heard about it, it was not secretive. It was an untitled show. I didn’t know that Eddie Murphy was involved. I did know the director (Craig Brewer) and because I did Empire, I was like, “okay, that’s the connect.” But what got me was the breakdown of the character. They wrote it so beautifully and eloquently and just to see and read a curvy black woman in the 70s being depicted in such a way. I was like, “If this is what this looks like, I can only imagine what the script looks like.” So from there, I was like, “I’m game, I would love an opportunity to audition.” And so then I did a series of auditions. On one of my last callbacks, we went into hair makeup. They gave me a one of Lady Reed’s party albums, her stand up. They said, “memorize two minutes of this, and do it in character and in her voice,” because there’s a very specific speaking pattern. It was very difficult to take on. I had like maybe two days to complete that task.
But it was the very cornerstone for my character, right? So like, when you’re playing someone in the stylized period, that’s one thing. When you’re playing someone who’s a real person, a certain level of responsibility that you have to uphold and maintain throughout, right? And so of course, you get tired, sometimes you get lazy, there’s long hours, but you feel it when you’re playing someone who is real. That two minutes would be the thing that was snapped me back. Right? Though, it was a very arduous and challenging process. I respect that too because Eddie comes from such a caliber of excellence, and his catalogue of body work, that catalogue of work. So it’s kind of like, why would you expect anything less, but also the gift in that not only in that being, like, what rooted me but also it made me feel confident, and knowing as someone new to the scene, amongst these legends, and of being the only woman, we know, amongst this cast of men, that I belong there, and I did my homework to be there. So once that element happened, then I was good to go. Then it was like, “okay, we did the work. Now we play within the given circumstances and give our all.”
Did you have to go back and watch the original movie to get a sense of Lady Reed?
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: Oh absolutely. The moment that I knew that I was going in for it. Because I knew very little. I remember speaking with my father, and telling him, “I’m going in for this Domino (role). What’s the name of that brand? Sugar, the domino?” He was like, “you mean, Dolomite? Tell me you are going in for Lady Reed?” I was like, “yeah.” He was so stoked and said I needed to see this movie and that movie. I went on Amazon. I got that the Brown Sugar Collection that has all the retro, blaxploitation and actually just black movies in general. I just hoarded and went through it. That was a huge.
I studied her party albums to hear her sound, and her cadence, and then her movies to see her style of acting, because as you know, it’s like a movie within the movie within the movie. So there’s one particular scene in which I literally replicate what she did in the movie. I just kept watching it over and over and over to get every hand gestures, slide of the body, how she sat because I knew it would be something, especially for diehard fans, that that’s enjoyable. So I really worked hard at really trying to nail her essence as much as I could. At the same time, having your own artistic freedom as well and make an embodying and making it your own.
As you mention earlier, you’re the only woman amongst this host of veterans and comedians. When you walked on set, did you say to yourself, Do I need to have the same funny bones as these guys?
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: I let that go immediately. Because I’m not a stand up comedian. I know I have a good sense of humor. It was interesting, because in the audition process, some straight up comedians were coming in, some just actors were coming in. I came to realize for myself rather quickly that I said, “Okay, I got to strike, right in between, that’s the sweet spot for this character.” I let go of that because I don’t have that. I’m not a stand up comedian. I’ve been told I should do before, but I don’t have that. So I’m not going to force what I don’t have, I have more than enough to bring to the table and then also to learn and enjoy watching them do their thing; and learning their work ethics and how stand up is a whole another beast of performance, and how that informs them and helps them in their process in doing movies. So it was lovely to see all these different energies, because even though they’re stand up comedians, they all have their own different style, right, and energy. So it was really beautiful to see us all being able to come together to then form a new common language and then became our own.
Can you talk about working with Eddie Murphy and establishing chemistry?
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: I think the it began with a series of callbacks. Though he wasn’t there, it felt as though I was beginning to understand what he was looking for and his approach in this project. So I knew rather quickly, this was special to him. That this was coming from a place, his heart place, a passionate place. I knew “Oh, this isn’t going to be you the Eddie Murphy that we know” and it’s not, not at all. What’s funny is, when you become a legend, in something, that’s what people didn’t think you are. That’s what people think you are, that’s what you do. That’s your lane, no matter how magnificent that lane is. But at the same time, it’s like, if a person can make you laugh that hard, there’s a depth to them, and a power that they possess. So in regards to our chemistry, I just showed up, having done my homework, and when it came to us doing scenes, it was just very quickly. We just settled into it. Once I first saw him, and I was like, “okay, that’s Eddie Murphy.” Cool, that’s done. It’s actually a different experience that I’ve had when I’m working with other actors, that it really I think the chemistry that you see on there is just the comfortability and the trust that you see between two actors, because I very much so felt this man’s got me. He’s not going to hang me out to dry.
He knows exactly what he’s doing. We’re going to go on this ride together. If anything, I just wanted to uphold my end of the deal. Then there will be moments where when we had scenes together, he would ask his assistant to put my chair next to his, and sometimes we wouldn’t even talk and he would just sit there and play the guitar. I would like quietly hum to myself, but it was a connection. On and off the screen. I think when someone of that magnitude can just make someone new to the scene, feel comfortable, and feel purposeful, that’s a huge, huge risk. I don’t even know. It’s just it makes a major difference.
What part of Lady Reed can you connect with?
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: We feel our strongest when we are confident. We feel our strongest when we are doing what we love. We are nurturers. We love and want to encourage and uplift black men because it is hard for everyone, but it is hard for black men. Something that I really enjoyed was that we added a lot of those scenes of heart as we went along. When he is confiding in me of his vulnerability of his failure, and that’s just something that a black woman can do that you can’t really explain. It’s almost like it’s built in our DNA, to be able to support and be a council, and a nurturer and a therapist, all those things, and balls that we juggle just so effortlessly. I would like to think that I’m a woman who feels confident in her own skin and doesn’t apologize; who has a good time, while doing it, and who’s compassionate and nurturing.
I think it’s, once you can juggle all of that, and then still be able to take care of yourself, that that’s the key. That’s when you’re winning. If anything, I think I discovered more of myself when doing it. I can now say that I’m those things. There were times where I was like, “Wow, she is just, she’s on, she’s on.” Then through doing it and putting myself in that skin that I was like, “Oh, I actually do have those things. Or I should bring more of that of myself to the table,” and to not dim my light or trying to make someone else feel better, or, not take my moment, but instead to just be like, “It’s okay. It’s okay to be who you are. It’s okay to be great at what you do,” and you don’t have to apologize for it.
What was like wearing the costumes that Ruth Carter created for the film?
Da’Vine Joy Randolph: My agent said you have your fitting with Ruth at 4pm Core. I don’t know who Ruth is. They didn’t say the last name. Nothing, It’s just Ruth. “You have a meeting with Ruth at 4pm for your first fitting. Okay, I get there waiting. This lady walks across the hallway, and turns the corner. I just start crying. Because I knew not only was I going to be taken care of, that black women, and a black curvy woman was going to be celebrated. I’ve personally never seen that before, where every piece was custom made. And not only did I feel special, I felt a responsibility to represent as the only woman to represent. Talking about that confidence. When you’re wearing those clothes, you have to be ready to go. The costumes informs the character. I think that’s something that has always been very uniquely brilliant at, and that further tells the story.
When you put those clothes on, it transforms you in a way, especially for someone that was younger, as well as the hair and makeup. Absolutely. But the costumes really just snatch you into that error. Because you you stand different. You walk different, you got platforms on and your body moves in a different way. She’s so brilliant. I can’t even say effortlessly, it is effortless, but it’s a lot of work. She puts in a lot of work and OT to make sure not only that you feel good, but that she makes sure everyone out there is the most important person.
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