What was the primary factor that got acclaimed actress Viola Davis excited about playing DC Comics' Amanda Waller for the big-screen "Suicide Squad" film? Easy: "That she's Amanda Waller!" says the actress. "That she's badass."

On the red carpet at the annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles, the Tony-winning stage star and Oscar-nominated actress, who currently stars in ABC's hit drama "How to Get Away With Murder," told CBR News she can relate to the uncompromising antihero.

"She's unapologetic," said Davis with more than a hint of admiration. "Everything that I'm reading and studying about her: unapologetic, no humor, just brutal. That's me!"

And then there's an extra thrill that comes with walking in the Wall's shoes. "Listen, she gets to use a gun," laughed Davis. "It's my fantasy. Now, I would never do that in life, but when I get a gun on a set, it does something to me."

Originally created by writer John Ostrander in 1986, Waller will be charged with heading up Task Force X -- a government program that employs incarcerated super-villains on secret and potentially deadly missions -- in director David Ayer's adaptation of "Suicide Squad."

Davis was rumored for the role back in December and confirmed it in an interview with CTV in late February. Davis is set to join co-stars Will Smith (Deadshot), Jared Leto (Joker), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Jai Courtney (Boomerang) when production begins later this year.

"Suicide Squad" arrives in theaters on August 5, 2016.