Behind Viola Davis' 'Whimsical' Yet 'Devious' “Hunger Games” Look Inspired by Willy Wonka (Exclusive)

The actress plays Dr. Gaul in 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes'

Viola Davis is joining the Hunger Games universe in style.

In the upcoming origin story The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the Oscar winner stars as Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the eccentric, quirky and ruthless Gamemaker who concocts experiments to make the annual Hunger Games more of a violent spectacle for Panem.

Director Francis Lawrence tells PEOPLE one reference point he gave Davis, 58, for her character was Gene Wilder's titular candy-maker from 1971's Willy Wonka and 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," he says of Wonka. "I have to admit, I was a bit nervous to tell her that reference. But she got it immediately, luckily."

Lawrence — who calls Davis "one of the best actors of all time" — explains 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 adds. "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."

Costume designer Trish Summerville says inspiration for Davis's 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," says Summerville.

Related: Rachel Zegler Sings 'Hanging Tree' in Extended Sneak Peek at Hunger Games Origin Story: Watch (Exclusive)

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Songbirds & Snakes is set more than 60 years before Katniss Everdeen first entered the arena. The film depicts a different post-war era, down to the attire. As the designer puts it, this is a "much more conservative, regimented kind of society" compared to the "over-the-top, exaggerated body modification and intense color" of the time period from the previous movies.

Summerville and her team made "thousands" of costumes for the film, which also stars Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman and Hunter Schafer and countless extras.

Not only did the job require individual designs for the main characters, but also hundreds of matching looks for the Academy uniforms and Peacekeeper fatigues.

"It was a massive undertaking," she says.

For example: "We made buttons for the school uniforms that are the Capitol emblem, so that's 8,000 to 10,000 buttons you're making and casting."

What's more? Summerville explains, "If you're going to have 200 or 500 students, you have to make two to three times that many costumes because you don't know people's sizes; if you have 500 background [actors], you need about 2,000 pairs of shoes to make that work for people."

The designer wanted the costumes for Davis, however, to "be much different than" what other characters wore, using "a lot of color" to make her "always stand out."

Hair designer Nikki Gooley looked to the 1940s for inspiration and eventually found a "beautiful silver-gray afro" that "blended with the eccentricity of the character and her colorfulness."

"Her character's very big and strong, so it made sense to have a big wiry kind of hair. And it also suited Viola as well, I think," says Gooley.

Related: Rachel Zegler's New 'Hunger Games' Character 'Wears Her Sexuality on Her Sleeve,' Says Director

Davis also wore special makeup to inform Dr. Gaul's weathered past, sustaining scarring and other disfigurements from her dangerous lab experiments.

Makeup designer Sherri Berman Laurence says Davis requested one eye have a different color (landing on a "hazy" dark brown one, the other a "piercing blue"), possibly from an experiment gone wrong. The makeup and prosthetics teams also took steps to age her and add facial scars.

"Between the hair, the costume, that eye, it really just took her to a scary place," says Laurence. "Then you throw in her acting — I mean, come on. You could have heard a pin drop when she would walk [on set]."

About those standout "shiny latex gloves," the costume designer says she figured Dr. Gaul keeps her hands covered because "her hands are destroyed from all the experiments she works on."

"I always wanted to have her hands covered in every scene," says Summerville. "And having this red-and-white lab coat, we'd washed it so it appears to have this veining, which goes to veins in the body and blood and the washing down of blood on her lab coat."

Summerville, who also worked on 2013's Catching Fire plus movies like Gone Girl and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, says Davis "just rolled into it immediately and transformed."

"As soon as you put the costume and the hair on her, the wig and the makeup, she automatically started having this little laugh and the things she would do with her hands," she recalls. "It's a huge satisfaction when you can help an actor transform into being another character."

Says Summerville, "She was just so lovely and gracious. You give her these tools and then she turns it into something bigger than life. She's just this cool, amazing, wonderful, warm and loving person."

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is in theaters Nov. 17.

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