The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Viola Davis will be joining the cast of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaker of the 10th annual Hunger Games. Davis will join Tom Blyth, who will play the young Coriolanus Snow, and Rachel Zegler, who plays the District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird.
Lionsgate motion picture group president Nathan Kahane expressed his excitement about Davis’ casting.
“The Hunger Games films have always been elevated by their exceptional casting, and we are thrilled to be continuing that tradition with Viola Davis as Volumnia Gaul. Her formidable and powerful presence will add layers of complexity and menace to this story,” Kahane said.
Francis Lawrence, who will direct the project, is also thrilled that Davis is playing the villain.
“Dr. Gaul is as cruel as she is creative and as fearsome as she is formidable. Snow’s savvy as a political operator develops in no small part due to his experiences with her as the games’ most commanding figure,” Lawrence said.
We’re loving the idea of Viola Davis getting an awesome role yet again. Davis previously played Amanda Waller in 2016’s Suicide Squad and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad last year. Needless to say, we can’t wait to see her as Dr. Gaul in the Hunger Games prequel.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will also star former Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage, and Hunter Schafer of the HBO series Euphoria. The prequel has not yet been given an official release date. Stay tuned for more updates on this story.
