How Beyoncé and Bette Davis Inspired Da’Vine Joy Randolph as She Worked on The Holdovers (Exclusive)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph is revealing some of the surprising influences behind her award-winning performance in The Holdovers.

“I think of Beyoncé,” says the actress, 37, when asked what inspired her portrayal of boarding school administrator Mary Lamb in the Alexander Payne-directed film.

In particular, she tells PEOPLE, the Destiny’s Child hit “Independent Women Part I” comes to mind. “She drinks, she curses and then there's a sweet woman inside, too,” Randolph says.

Referencing another Beyoncé tune, she quips, “Who runs the world? Mary!”

For playing Mary, head cook of the fictional Barton Academy holding over for the 1970 winter break, the Pennsylvania native has earned a supporting actress Golden Globe nomination, National Board of Review win and more.

The Holdovers costars Paul Giamatti, who tells PEOPLE he connected instantly with his fellow Yale School of Drama graduate. “She and I are very similar in some ways,” the 56-year-old actor says. 

Without hesitation, he adds, “She's a better actor than me.”

Randolph says devising and inhabiting the “always put-together” Mary involved immersing herself in the movie’s 1970 aesthetic. “Snatching me into the period helped me really lock in with her,” she explains. “I love the details.”

She also loves the “heyday” of mid-century movies starring the likes of Bette Davis — another influence on her performance, the Only Murders in the Building star says. 

“Mary smokes and drinks whiskey,” Randolph points out. “I think Bette Davis is one of the best… I would watch lots of her movies and a lot of it is the nonchalantness of it all.” There’s “something sexy” or even “more masculine,” she adds, about a woman unafraid to drink or swear. 

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“I wanted people to think of their auntie, their grandmother, their mother,” Randolph says of her character. “She is a sweet, tender, loving woman who has unfortunately had a very rough life and has had to weather many a storm.”

Payne, she recalls, “reached out and said that he had envisioned me for this role” after the director had read David Hemingson’s screenplay. “They had auditioned 30 other more well-known actresses, and he was like, ‘Nope, still want to go with her,’” says Randolph. 

“Based off of what I read and seeing that it was a fully realized character with her own wants and needs and a true arc,” she adds, “I got to be honest, as a woman of color, I don't get that too often and I don't take that for granted.”

Randolph credits Payne, Hemingson and Giamatti with enabling her to showcase her talent in such a nuanced role. After breakouts opposite Eddie Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name and Sandra Bullock in The Lost City, Mary is “the new bar,” she explains. “By my name being associated with that, I get to fight a little less hard now.”

“I want to set a bar for myself for other creatives to know: you gotta come correct when you come to Da'Vine, and create really nice and full characters.”

The Holdovers is in theaters and streaming on Peacock.