In the new film Eternity, Elizabeth Olsen plays a woman who has to decide which of the great loves of her life she wants to spend the afterlife with. Her real life co-star, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, already knows how she’d like to spend eternity—and her answer nothing to do with romance.
"The Ritz-Carlton luxury cruise liner," Randolph responds when asked about her own afterlife fantasy on the new episode of "Nice Talk".
"And I've never been on a cruise in my life, but I say that in a sense of, like, I want to be on the water along the Mediterranean, and just having the best food, and all the spa amenities, because I think I work hard."
No argument there. Eternity marks the third of Randolph’s three films out this year. (She also appears in the thriller Shadow Force and the action-comedy Bride Hard). In Eternity, she and John Early play a pair of afterlife coordinators who help Olsen’s character make her everlasting decision.
Randolph enjoyed how the film gave her an opportunity to show a different side of herself.
"I always like to be intentional in switching it up," the 39-year-old explains. "You have to diversify your skills. If you got them, show them."
So far, Randolph's diverse résumé includes an Oscar win for the dramedy The Holdovers, a Tony nomination for Ghost the musical, and projects ranging from the biopic Rustin to the TV comedy Only Murders in the Building.
"I think, too, as a Black artist ... they pigeonhole everybody, but they really—I think, because it's somewhat unknown to them—put us in boxes where we're familiar," Randolph continues. "I'm very rebellious in that. And so this was something that I was like, 'Oh, no one's gonna expect me to do this movie.'"
Randolph was also intrigued by the chance to work with co-stars around her same age. "I usually play older—way older than I am, for whatever reason—and I usually am [working] with legends," she says. "So just to have that kind of younger energy, I was excited about that. And again, to show this different type of humor, a bit more mainstream, a bit more quirky."
You can catch Randolph as afterlife coordinator Anna when Eternity hits theaters Nov. 26. And for more from the actor—including her love-hate relationship with Los Angeles and the career advice Sandra Bullock gave her—check out this week’s installment of Nice Talk. The episode is available everywhere you listen to podcasts.