Viola Davis Says Removing Her Prosthetic Nose from Her “Hunger Games” Makeup Was Like an 'Anal Probe'

The actress, who plays the Dr. Volumnia Gaul in the prequel, revealed on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” that it took 45 minutes to remove all her makeup

Viola Davis went to great lengths to transform into her The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes character — and to get out of it.

While chatting with Jimmy Fallon on his late-night talk show, the Oscar-winning actor, 58, revealed what went into her becoming Dr. Volumnia Gaul in The Hunger Games prequel as well as what it took for her to return to her normal self.

“The makeup took 4 hours and then it took maybe 45 minutes to take it off,” Davis said before going on to share exactly which part of her costume was the most difficult to handle.

“The hardest part to take off was the nose. I mean it was so hard that the makeup artist literally had to brace their feet and just pull it. It was like an anal probe, I mean stretching it. You have no idea!”

The confession prompted a laugh from the audience, which was exactly the reaction Davis and her team had when undoing their work. “It was like plastic coming off. By that point, we were hysterical,” Davis said.

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

All of this is worth it for the star, who said she loves to explore roles that exceed fans' expectations.

“I always want people to see me different. I love when people see me as maternal and warm and fuzzy, but there are times when I just want to scare the s--- out of them,” she admitted.

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Last month, PEOPLE connected with makeup artist designer Sherri Berman Laurence to get an inside scoop of what went into Davis’ transformation.

To channel the "whimsical" yet "devious" Gamemaker, Davis wore special makeup to inform Dr. Gaul's weathered past, sustaining scarring and other disfigurements from her dangerous lab experiments.

Related: 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' : Everything to Know About 'The Hunger Games' Prequel

Laurence said 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," Laurence said. "Then you throw in her acting — I mean, come on. You could have heard a pin drop when she would walk [on set]."

Davis’ costume was also taken to the next level with her hair, which was conceptualized by hair designer Nikki Gooley, who 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," Gooley told PEOPLE.

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