Temple alumni Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Colman Domingo inspire theater department after Oscar nominations
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The nominations for the 96th Annual Academy Awards are out and there are a few local nods. From Bradley Cooper to two Temple University alumni, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Colman Domingo.
Years before these icons were starring in Hollywood films, their journey started in Philadelphia.
For many actors, the journey to Broadway or Hollywood begins on the intimate stages of college theaters like Temple, where freshman James Williams II is proud to have earned his first leading role.
"Seeing the alumnus of Temple, it told me that this school produces great people," Williams said.
Da'vine Joy Randolph was nominated for best supporting actress and Colman Domingo is up for best actor.
"For us all, when you see those faces on the screen and you hear the accolades and awards, you know where they came from you know the passion behind what they do," Director and grad student Ontaria Kim-Wilson said.
In 2007, Randolph starred in Temple's production of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and in that same year, played the witch in "Into the Woods," a performance that stunned the Head of the Musical Theater Department Peter Reynolds.
"I remember vividly thinking, 'Wow who is that?'" Reynolds said.
Nearly 17 years later, the talented actor would go on to win a Golden Globe and earn an Academy Award nomination for her role as a grieving mother in the film "The Holdovers."
"She never failed at being her and held to who she is and put herself in enough rooms for people to see her and it worked," Reynolds said.
It also worked for Domingo, who wasn't a part of Temple's theater department. He actually studied journalism. But instead of covering history, the "Rustin" actor is making history as the second openly gay actor to earn an Oscar nomination for playing a gay character.
"Owning and walking in the truth of who you are as a creative," Kim-Wilson said.