Nicole Vassell meets Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter and Tony-nominated actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph to talk about Netflix original film, Dolemite Is My Name and the highs and lows of Hollywood
Once every few months, there’s the release of a project that has enough star power to light up our screens and have people across the world instantly include it amongst their all-time greats.
And in autumn of 2019, there came a visual vehicle that did exactly that – and it had the added benefit of being able to enjoy it from the comfort of our own homes. Dolemite Is My Name, the story of comedian Rudy Ray Moore and his quest to make himself, and his band of talented friends famous, hit Netflix with Eddie Murphy starring as the central character.
Though some readers may be unfamiliar with Rudy Ray Moore by name, his impact on many facets of comedy, and even rap, runs deep; his raunchy wisecracks, combined with rhymes and a funky, bass-filled beat in the background, are factors that have led to him being credited as the ‘Godfather of Rap’. The film tells the story of Moore as he transforms from expired comic to a pioneer of the Blaxploitation film movement, after creating potty-mouthed character ‘Dolemite’ and deciding to make himself, and the people he knew, movie stars. However, his journey to creating space for himself and his peers to shine in the entertainment world was far from simple; with doors slammed in his face at every turn, and constant doubts in his unwavering vision coming from even the people closest to him, Moore’s story really champions self-belief, and the need to pave your own way if the mainstream society leaves you out.
With Moore as such a prominent figure in entertainment history, and a figure as influential as Murphy portraying him, this was a movie that instantly had eyes on it. As Murphy’s first film role in six years, it marked the start of a long-awaited comeback; he closed out 2019 by hosting Saturday Night Live, and has his eyes set on a return to stand-up this year.
While Murphy’s performance has earned him plenty of acclaim from critics and audiences, the success of the film is also credited to the many others who had a hand in Dolemite – in front of, and behind the camera. Tony-nominated actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph plays Lady Reed, a comic and Moore’s frequent collaborator and confidante for many decades, while the lavish wardrobe is the work of Ruth E. Carter, who, with over 40 film credits to her name, is one of Hollywood’s foremost costume designers. As the central women in the Dolemite Is My Name production, they’ve bonded and made a firm friendship, evidenced by their habit of answering questions in unison. Though the way they contribute to the film is different, they’re both equally deserving of celebration – and when we meet in a London hotel during their joint press tour, they’re beaming with pride over the positive reactions to their film.
‘People love it across borders, across colour lines, across genres,’ Ruth explains. ‘It’s a feel-good thing, about empowering yourself, believing in yourself. It’s about an independent spirit saying, “Hey, I’m gonna do what I have to do to get this movie made.” Who can’t relate to that?’
Randolph nods in agreement: ‘That’s when you’re winning – when you can unapologetically put forward your narrative through the guise of African-American culture, yet everyone can relate universally. But you’re able to tap into it with a special little shoutout like: “Here you go, my people.” That’s really cool. That’s stuff I want to be a part of, where it’s not just Black. Black Panther was that way!’ she exclaims, referencing the super-successful superhero film from 2018. ‘We were losing our minds! We were showing up at theatres, dressed up – because this is a love letter to us. Others are also enjoying it too-’
‘But it’s extra special,’ Ruth concurs.
The mention of Black Panther early on in our conversation is inevitable; as well as it sharing with Dolemite the quality of being a universally acclaimed film with a majority Black cast, its costumes were also designed by Carter – and in 2019, history was made when she won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work. Ruth E. Carter is the only Black woman to receive the award, and the win marked the first-ever Oscar win for a Marvel film.
In the time since her win in February 2019, Carter’s name has been a part of popular film discourse more than ever. However, with her long history of creating the sartorial universes in major films, across varying time periods and styles, those in Hollywood have long been aware of her influence. For Randolph, learning that the Ruth E. Carter would be dressing her was a landmark moment.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph on meeting Ruth E. Carter: ‘I was like, “I don’t give a f*ck about Eddie Murphy! You’re my star!”’
‘This woman has changed my life,’ she begins. ‘I get emotional every single time I speak about it, and I’m trying to work on it to not cry every time.’
‘She cracks me up,’ Carter laughs.
‘I knew of Ruth’s stuff prior to Black Panther and I remember being like, “This woman’s work consistently makes me feel things that I don’t feel from other people,”’ Randolph continues. ‘People have said that it’s as if Ruth’s costumes are another character – you got it. So when she came around the corner on that first day, I fell out! I just started crying! I’d already met Eddie, but I was like, “I don’t give a f*ck about Eddie Murphy! You’re my star!” That was my Oprah!’
In a rare moment of seriousness, Randolph goes on to express the realities of being a larger woman in the entertainment industry, and the struggles that can arise in the wardrobe department. ‘Even doing press and representing this movie, the designers don’t want to dress me or give me clothes,’ she says. ‘Stylists are like, “Peace out!” It’s difficult. So to be put in a movie, that you know just by virtue of this man [Murphy] being involved, everyone’s going to see, and you’re the only female in it, representing a whole iconic decade… I was like, “Oh my god, I’m gonna be in muumuus and kaftans!’ But when I saw Ruth, everything in me was like, “You’re going to be okay.” And I’ve never had that before.’
Happily, Carter was equally as excited by the prospect of dressing Randolph, as it was her opportunity to make good on a promise she made to herself years before: to dress a woman of size in a way that celebrates her figure, rather than fighting to mask it.
‘I’d seen large women on screen that were not represented well,’ Carter explains. ‘And I knew what I saw in my community was much different. I saw women empowered and feeling good about themselves, and celebrating their curves, wearing anything they wanted to and just having a great time with fashion. I was like, “I want that opportunity.” I met Da’Vine and was like, “Here it is!” It meant a lot to me to dress her. I did not want to short change it in any way.’
Upon watching the film, it’s clear that Carter meant it; the range of costumes for Randolph is vast, with a new look used for every single scene she’s featured in. It’s clear that the dedication of a talented and highly-experienced costume designer had a hand in the film, and is one of the most celebrated elements of the film.
‘I spent 35 years behind the camera not getting the recognition that a lot of my counterparts would have gotten’ – Ruth E. Carter
In the early stages of shooting Dolemite Is My Name, Carter hadn’t yet won her Academy Award. Although evidence of her fantastic work long before this is not hard to find, life after the Award has come with a new level of industry respect; on Randolph’s first day on the Dolemite film set, Carter was introduced as ‘Ruth’ – not with her full name, or with any acknowledgement of the amount of credits she could boast of. Though a barely noticeable slight to some people, Ruth E. Carter saw it as evidence of how Black women’s contributions can go uncelebrated.
‘I think that would not have happened with another designer that had the credits that I had,’ she admits. ‘They would have said my first and last name, not just calling me “Ruth”. They would have given me a little bit more of an introduction for this actress who is Tony-nominated and I think that was kind of… I spent 35 years behind the camera – happy, don’t get me wrong, doing what I love – but not getting the recognition that a lot of my counterparts would have gotten with that amount of films and that amount of nominations. That’s what Black Panther did. When I won the Oscar, it gave me something that was due to me. I’m not being over the top and arrogant about it; it was due.’
On the topic of owed recognition, Dolemite Is My Name has been a film mentioned often throughout the 2020 awards season – as, despite its win at the Critics Choice Awards for Best Comedy and Best Costume Design, and (at the time of writing) pending nominations at the NAACP Image Awards, it has been excluded from the Oscars and Baftas, with no nominations at either event.
With Carter as an Oscar-winner and Randolph’s aforementioned Tony nomination for her performance as Oda Mae Brown in the original Broadway production of Ghost, both know of the potential career boost that being able to put ‘nominee’ or ‘winner’ as a prefix to their names. However, when I ask whether that’s something they’d say that Black women in entertainment should strive to achieve, they’re quick to dispel the idea, as there’s never a guarantee that this recognition will come.
‘Don’t be waiting on that!’ Carter exclaims dryly.
‘You can’t rely your career or aspirations on accolades subjected by a certain group of people,’ agrees Randolph. You gotta do it because you want to do it. I get it, to a certain level, but sometimes a conversation in these interviews are like: “Wow, you could hold your own in the room with Eddie Murphy, I applaud you for that.”
‘I get what they’re saying, but it’s almost as if people assume I was holding back in the roles before; that I’m only giving it because I’m acting across from Eddie Murphy. Or, in the stuff that Ruth had done before, that got her to the position to do Black Panther, she held back, but now she’s working on Black Panther, she’s gonna really show out. No! Working with a big platform like Marvel, or with a huge legend like Eddie Murphy – it’s exposure on a larger scale. We’ve been consistent with our work but now we have the exposure and bigger platform, and now it’s like “let’s give you this [award]”. But you can’t do it for that.’
Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s warm, magnetic performance and Ruth E. Carter’s exquisite achievement in creating detailed, era-specific looks for a large cast means that Dolemite Is My Name should remain a real career highlight for them both. And while they don’t do it for the accolades, it doesn’t make them any less deserving of them; here’s hoping that the awarding bodies who excluded them learn from their oversights the next time around.
‘Dolemite Is My Name’ is streaming now on Netflix
