Lionsgate has added yet another big name to the cast of its upcoming Hunger Games prequel, titled Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winner Viola Davis has joined the cast as Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head game maker of the 10th annual Hunger Games.
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.
Francis Lawrence
Davis – who will next be seen in The Woman King – joins a cast led by Tom Blyth, who will play a young Coriolanus Snow, and Rachel Zegler, who plays tribute Lucy Gray Baird from the impoverished District 12. Other announced stars include Josh Andrés Rivera, Peter Dinklage, and Hunter Schafer, Jerome Lance, Ashley Liao, Knox Gibson, Mackenzie Lansing, Aamer Husain, Nick Benson, Laurel Marsden, Lilly Cooper, Luna Steeples, Hiroki Berrecloth and Jason Schwartzman.
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.
Nathan Kahane
Hunger Games franchise producer Nina Jacobson adds what it’s like of adding Viola Davis to the cast of the ambitious prequel.
From the beginning, Viola has been our dream for Dr. Gaul because of the finely layered intelligence and emotion she brings to every role. A brilliant and eccentric strategist, Gaul is instrumental in shaping a young Coriolanus Snow into the man he will become. We are incredibly fortunate to have an actor with Viola’s extraordinary range and presence to play this pivotal role.
Nina Jacobson
Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hits theaters on November 17, 2023.
