-Viola Davis, welcome back to the show.
-Thank you. Every time someone stands up,
I'm like, "Do you really know who I am?"
-Yes! Absolutely! [ Cheers and applause ]
We love you! Come on. -I'll accept it.
-Last time you were on our show --
I feel like we're good luck together,
'cause last time you were on the show,
you were promoting "The Woman King."
-Yes. -And you were like, "Jimmy,
I worked so hard on this thing."
Backstage. And you're like, "I'm just nervous.
I'm excited about this. I think it's a great movie.
I want people to go out there and see it."
And not only did people go out and see it,
it was the number-1 movie
and then one of the best films of 2022.
[ Cheers and applause ] Viola Davis crushed it!
You were awesome! -Thank you, thank you.
-You were awesome! -I was the O.G. warrior.
-You were fantastic. That was great.
And then, since I've seen you, you won a Grammy Award,
and -- I know, but --
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
Come on.
For a recording of the audiobook of your
number-1 best-selling book, "Finding Me."
-Yes. -Come on.
This is -- It's all happening. It's all happening.
But then it put you in EGOT status.
-Yes.
-Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony -- EGOT.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I think I can retire now.
-Never! Don't you ever retire. Are you kidding me? We need you.
-Why not? Why can't I retire? -Never.
-I can do whatever I want. -No!
-I'm an EGOT. -I know.
[ Laughs ] Exactly.
Did it -- How does it feel? Are you excited?
Do you even look at it and process it yet?
-No, I don't look at it. -You don't.
-I don't -- -I would.
-You know what? That's a lie.
I just told a bold-faced lie on national television.
-You look at all of them?
-No, as soon as I got that Grammy in the mail,
I put that Grammy, that Tony, that Oscar, that Emmy,
and I took a fabulous picture.
-That's exactly -- Yes!
Something. You got to enjoy it because you earned it
and you got it.
-That's right. -That is so cool.
Maybe next time you come on, maybe I can --
We could see if you can bring it with you.
But that's a lot of awards. -No, I'm not going to do that.
-I know. Yeah, I know. I understand, I understand.
I want to talk to you about the new "Hunger Games" movie.
-Yes. -This comes out --
We can talk about movies. -Okay.
-Actors can talk about movies. -Finally!
-Yes! It feels great.
Look at you, by the way.
Look at Viola Davis. -Yeah, uh-huh.
-Look at this. Can we... [ Cheers and applause ]
"Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."
This is the origin story. -This is the origin story.
I feel like every character I do now
is an homage to my childhood,
which means that I don't want anyone messing with me.
I want to kick people's ass.
-What are you talking -- What are you talking about?
That's --
-I mean, it's like a villain in this,
a warrior in "Woman King."
You know, everything is about, "I'm gonna kick somebody's ass!"
-This is different sides of you that we like to --
Do you like playing the villain?
-Oh, I love playing the villain
because everybody sees me.
Everybody wants to hug me. Everybody wants to kiss me.
There are grown men who want to kiss me
in the parking lot of Target.
You know, they want to -- they want to hold me.
And literally, they come up to me and I'm thinking,
"Okay, they're going to ask me for an autograph or whatever."
Sometimes, they have tears in their eyes,
and they're like, "Can I hug you?"
-Yeah.
-You know, almost like they have to reconcile
a bad childhood or something.
And I always hug them. -You do?
But now -- But those days are over.
Those days are over now.
-No, I'm still gonna hug them,
because, you know, really, really, at the end of the day,
I like when people stand up for me.
-Yeah, I know you do. Yeah, I know you love it.
But I like that you play different roles
and you could play whatever you want to do.
And this looks like fun to me. -And we shot it in Berlin.
And let me tell you something -- It -- I'll tell you --
my experience in Berlin can be summed up in one thing.
When I came back to Los Angeles, my triglycerides were high.
-Okay.
-That was my experience in Berlin.
-Just ate. -I ate, I drank.
I got in that Jacuzzi every day.
And let me tell you something, I love a Jacuzzi.
I love a Jacuzzi.
And when I got in that Jacuzzi --
my $10 bathing suit -- I got in that Jacuzzi every night.
I was invited to the opera by random strangers in the Jacuzzi.
-Wait, wait, wait, wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
-I was invited to dinner from random strangers in the Jacuzzi.
I got a whole skin line --
skincare line from someone who sat in the Jacuzzi.
They recognized me and said, "Oh, you know what?
I have a whole skincare line that I want to give you."
-Wait, no. Viola Davis, I have to ask you this question.
I'm sorry. Rewind. We missed a big thing here.
You went to, like, a public Jacuzzi?
-That's all you got from that story?
-Yes. You won every award you can.
-What other Jacuzzi am I going to go to?
-I thought maybe you had a private Jacuzzi.
I wouldn't -- You went to, like, a --
-Well, you need to call the producers
of "Hunger Games" about that.
I did not have the suite with the private Jacuzzi.
-So, it's a hotel, and you're at the hotel Jacuzzi.
-Listen, I looked at the back of a hairy man's red ass.
-What is going on? What is going on at this hotel?
-Yes. -But you went back.
-I went back. Listen, I got a skincare line.
I got invited to the opera. I got invited to dinner.
I was -- And, literally, I would tell my friends
Jamika and Sergio -- I was like,
"You want to come to Jacuzzi with me?
I got invited to the opera. We have a skincare line.
You don't want to look at the back of that man's ass."
-No, no, no.
But you always have the memories.
-Yes.
-But that's insane that you would do that.
Did people freak out and go like,
"I'm in a Jacuzzi with Viola Davis"?
-No, I don't -- Here's the thing.
I'm just going to say it. I got to show my I.D. a lot.
There's not a lot of people who recognize me.
Well, there was some times they recognize me.
Sometimes, they think I'm Oprah. They think I'm Alfre Woodard.
You know, they think I'm Taraji P. Henson,
which really baffles me.
-Wow! -You know?
-That's insane. I just love that you do that.
-Yes, absolutely. You work out in the gym.
Walked in the park in Germany late at night
with all my friends.
And as soon as it got really dark,
I'm thinking, "Oh, my God.
It is dark. It's in the park.
Somebody's going to get us." -Yeah.
-I walked in that park with a straight up tree limb.
-As a weapon? -As a weapon.
-What is going on at this hotel? -I live my best life.
-You never had to use the tree limb, though, did you?
Yeah, maybe? Okay. Alright, alright.
-I would never say if I used a tree limb.
-Is this because of all these
action movies that you're doing now?
You're getting this new Viola Davis?
-Yeah, I think so.
And, you know, the the makeup in "Hunger Games" took four hours.
-I know. That's what I was saying.
Could we zoom in? -Four hours.
And then it took maybe 45 minutes to take it off.
And the hardest part to take off was the nose.
I mean, it was so hard that the makeup artists
literally had to brace their feet and just pull it.
It was like an anal probe.
It was like -- I mean, stretching it.
-What?! -You have no idea.
I said -- It was like -- I mean, plastic that was coming out.
By that point, we were hysterical.
-But do you like getting into character that deep
and going like, "Oh, I can go as crazy as I want.
I can go to a next level."
-Absolutely, because I always want people to see me different.
-Yeah.
-You know -- Now, I love when people love me.
I love when people see me as maternal and warm and fuzzy.
But there are times when I just want to scare the
[bleep] out of them.
-Oh, my God.
Okay, there's this Viola, and there's this Viola.
-Yeah. -Okay, good.
-I like her. -Yeah, yeah, we do.
We like her, too. [ Cheers and applause ]
We love you. I want to show a clip.
Here's Viola Davis in "The Hunger Games:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."
Take a look at this origin...
-[ Laughs ]
How tantalizing to see all your shining young faces
on this auspicious day.
I am Dr. Volumnia Gaul, your humble head gamemaker,
in charge of the War Department and all its affiliated concerns.
I've broken free of my laboratory today to examine you,
the leaders of the next generation.
I won't be around forever, after all.
[ Laughs ]
-Yeah! [ Cheers and applause ]
Congratulations on all the success.
Congratulations on "The Hunger Games:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,"
in theaters and IMAX this Friday.
Viola Davis, everybody! [ Cheers and applause ]