The cast of the Hunger Games prequel adaptation The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is damn near perfection, but its biggest star, by far, is Oscar-winning actress and legend Viola Davis.
Davis shares the screen with Billy the Kid‘s Tom Blyth in the role of a young Coriolanus Snow, West Side Story‘s Rachel Zegler as District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird, and Game of Thrones‘ Peter Dinklage as the Dean of the Academy Casca Highbottom. Davis’ character, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, is an absolute scene-stealer in the book, and will surely be too in the film, with the talented actress bringing her to life.
Who is Dr. Volumnia Gaul?
In Suzanne Collins’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Dr. Gaul is the perverted and bloodthirsty Head Gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games. Described as a stooped old woman with grey hair, and eyes of two different colors, Dr. Gaul was directly involved with bringing the games to life and overseeing each mentor’s ideas for them.
Dr. Gaul is a precursor for the Capitol’s experimental weapons division. She kickstarts the mutational experiments that are mentioned in the original trilogy, such as creatures that cross humans with animals and certain enhanced species to make them more dangerous.
As a proud citizen and a powerful figure in the Capitol, Gaul is deeply prejudiced and hateful against the Districts and its inhabitants and constantly plots ways to punish them for the war. Without spoiling too much of the book and film, for those who don’t know the story yet, Dr. Gaul was indirectly involved in the creation of the Hunger Games – the idea was conceived by one of her University students for an assignment that she tasked her class with.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes comes out Nov. 17, 2023.