Viola Davis Talked About The Makeup Removal Process For "The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes" And It Sounds Excruciating

Viola Davis stars in the new Hunger Games prequel film, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and let's just say it took a lot to get her in and out of character.

closeup of Viola smiling at an event and wearing a sequined outfit
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Viola plays Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games and an instructor at The University. She's also the mastermind behind the experimental weapons division at The Capitol.

dr. gaul on the movie poster holding a snake
Lionsgate

During a recent interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Viola opened up about the process of becoming Dr. Gaul and the surprisingly hard part about it.

viola sitting for an interview
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"The makeup in Hunger Games took four hours," Viola said. "And then it took maybe 45 minutes to take it off."

Dr. Gaul standing with another person in a large auditorium
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"The hardest part to take off was the nose. It was so hard that the makeup artists literally had to brace their feet and just pull it. It was like an anal probe!"

viola reenacting the removal of the nose
NBC

The EGOT performer said as they attempted to pull the prosthetic nose off pieces of plastic would come out, and by that point, the cast and crew were hysterically laughing.

her laughing with jimmy fallon
NBC

Viola admitted that she loves going deep into character like that, because she enjoys when viewers see her differently, instead of just playing the same types of roles.

closeup of her character wearing colorful outfit with grey curly hair
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"I love when people love me," Viola added. "I love when people see me as maternal, warm, and fuzzy. But there are times where I just want to scare the shit out of them."

closeup of her at an event
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Whether she's playing a warrior general, or Michael Jordan's mom, or something in between, we can't get enough of Viola! To learn more about her, be sure to check out the rest of her Tonight Show interview below:

And if you want to see more of Viola as Dr. Gaul, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes hits theaters today!