Ayo Edebiri, "The Holdovers" among Golden Globes winners with Massachusetts ties
BOSTON - A Dorchester native won big at the Golden Globes Sunday night, as did a movie filmed right here in Massachusetts. Ayo Edebiri was recognized for her role in "The Bear" and "The Holdovers" won acting awards for Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph.
She plays chef Sydney Adamu in the Hulu comedy-drama series.
Edebiri graduated from Boston Latin School in 2013.
"I was not really that surprised when I found out that she was hitting it big," Boston Latin Theater Teacher Joe Gels said about his former student.
He said Edebiri was always making people laugh.
"She was a leader in our improv troupe, so she taught other kids how to do improv comedy. She did it at a very high level herself," he said.
He thinks that her time in the troupe may have helped her career.
"It was a place where they were allowed to experiment and try things, make mistakes, but also learn from those mistakes and grow," Gels said.
Her success is inspiring the troupe's current members.
"I think it's just so cool to see that these people who feel so far away from us that they were once where we are and we can get to that place if we work at it," Co-Captain Erika Montiero Tavares said.
Edibiri knows that no one can do it alone. In her acceptance speech for best actress in a TV musical or comedy, Edebiri thanked "all of my agents' and managers' assistants" who respond to her emails.
"I'm so very grateful for this," Edebiri said. "I'm in a room full of so many people who I admire and whose work has lifted me up. I'm an artist, and I'm very lucky to be an artist."
"The Holdovers" was filmed in Massachusetts with local cast members
In his accepting his award for best actor in a musical or comedy, Giamatti thanked "the entire cast and crew in Boston - 'Beantown' - fantastic."
The Holdovers filmed in several local communities, including Boston, Worcester, Cambridge, Saugus, Gloucester, Milton, Somerville, Southboro, Wakefield and Waltham, according to the Massachusetts Film Office.
Roxbury native Naheem Garcia plays a maintenance worker in the movie, which was also nominated for best musical or comedy. And New Hampshire's Ian Dolley plays one of the prep school boys who has no place to go over the holiday break.
"It was super exciting because I always knew going into it, that this is going to be a really good movie," the 14-year-old told WBZ-TV. "You only ever see it in L.A. or Hollywood, big names that are doing this stuff so it's really cool for someone like me who goes to a public school in New Hampshire to be in The Holdovers."
Click here for a complete list of Golden Globes winners.
