Da’Vine Joy Randolph on Angelina Jolie’s operatic biopic ‘Maria’

Da’Vine Joy Randolph has already showcased her vocal skills in Rustin, High Fidelity and the upcoming Pharrell Williams biopic, but the Oscar winner is ready to bring her operatic experience to the screen.

Randolph told IndieWire at the Tribeca/Chanel “Through Her Lens” cocktail party that Pablo Larraín’s acclaimed Maria Callas film “Maria” opened the door to opera biopics, and Randolph is more than ready to bring Leontyne Price’s history-making story to the screen.

“It’s ironic because Angelina Jolie has a biopic of Maria Callas coming up,” Randolph said. “I’m a classically trained opera singer. I want to do a biopic of an opera singer.”

Leontyne Price is considered one of the finest vocalists working today, having played the title roles in “Porgy and Bess” and “Aida.” If successful, “Maria” — and Randolph — could be what finally brings Price’s legacy to the big screen.

Randolph’s voice will also be heard in Pharrell Williams’ upcoming (non-LEGO) biopic, which marks her first role since winning an Oscar for The Holdovers. Randolph told IndieWire that the film is not a traditional musical.

“I would probably say it’s a musical film. It’s not like an opera or ‘Les Mis,’ in the sense that it’s all sung. There’s more talking than singing,” Randolph said, adding that she has three songs in the film, one of which is billed as a hit.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director Michel Gondry directed the Williams biopic, which stars “Elvis” actor Kelvin Harrison Jr. as the Grammy Award-winning actor growing up in Virginia Beach in 1977. The Universal film also stars Brian Tyree Henry, Missy Elliott, Janelle Monáe, Quinta Brunson, Anderson .Paak, Jaboukie Young-White and Halle Bailey.

The as-yet-untitled film wrapped production in April 2024 after two months; it is set to premiere in May 2025.

Randolph’s love of (and talent for) performing — especially singing on stage — puts her in the spotlight for a future and an EGOT, especially after her 2012 Tony nomination. But Randolph is wary of returning to Broadway after more than a decade.

“Broadway would be like, wow,” she said. “It’s the hardest job I’ve ever had in my life. I would have to literally pray for every aspect of it to make it on stage.”

It’s also hard to play an opera singer convincingly when someone is… NO classically trained. Randolph, of course, doesn’t have that problem, but before Jolie, he did with “Maria.” After taking voice lessons, Jolie suggested to The Hollywood Reporter that “everyone take an opera class” as a form of meditative release.

“You discover how much we lock our pain away in our bodies. Our voices get tense, our shoulders get heavy, we get stomach aches, we do all these things, and that’s a protection for us,” Jolie said. “The hardest thing was feeling again and breathing again and opening up again in the way that this movie required, which I really haven’t done in a long time.”