Viola Davis; Tom Blyth.Photo:Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Viola Davisisn’t above delighting in villainy!
“Just seeing how many times you can make someone squirm — likeTom Blyth, oh man it was a joy because he was very receptive to it, so I was just so happy about poking him,” said Davis, 58. “Even in the scene when I had to inject him and give him stitches, I think, loved it."
Speaking with PEOPLE at the premiere, the actress said the most fun partabout playing a villainis “that I get to show people a different part of myself.”
“I think that people see me as nurturing and kind, and I’m all those things — I’m shy, I’m introverted — to just get out of my comfort zone; to just be sort of uncomfortably just fun and evil,” she explained. “The scope of it was a joy for me.”
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Murray Close/Lionsgate
DirectorFrancis Lawrencetold PEOPLE last month that one reference point he gave Davis for her character wasGene Wilder’s titular candymaker from 1971’sWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
“There was this wild, kind of quirky creativity and joy in creativity that character had but with this kind of sinister underpinning,” the filmmaker, 52, said of Wonka. “I have to admit, I was a bit nervous to tell her that reference. Butshe got it immediately, luckily.”
Lawrence — who called Davis “one of the best actors of all time” — explained that Dr. Gaul “may appear to be sort of the villain in this, but she actually really believes in these things and thinks it’s the right thing to do.”
“It was really fun to see that come together,” he added. “Obviously the character from the book informs it … then you get into hair, makeup, wardrobe, all of that. And Viola puts it all together and came up with this version of Dr. Gaul.”
Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Costume designer Trish Summerville said the inspiration for Davis' look was something of a “Willy Wonka mad scientist, Dr. Frankenstein kind of vibe” — basically a “whimsical feel” with a “dark side to her that’s devious.”
“She has to have this jovial side where she draws you in, but then she is really terrifying at the same time,” explained Summerville.
“It was everything, because when you see yourself like that, you have to step into what you see on the outside. That’s the most important thing,” Davis told PEOPLE of her character’s look at Monday’s premiere. “So, after four hours in hair and makeup, I’m looking at myself and when I smiled, my skin [was] crinkling, I loved it. I remembered when I was a kid and I wanted to be an actor playing dress-up. That’s what it felt like.”
Also among the cast alongside Davis and Blyth areRachel Zegler,Hunter Schafer,Peter Dinklage,Jason SchwartzmanandJosh Andrés Rivera.
source: people.com
