Danai Gurira

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Danai Gurira
DanaiGuriraJuly2015.jpg
Danai Gurira at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con
Born Danai Jekesai Gurira
(1978-02-14) February 14, 1978 (age 46)
Grinnell, Iowa, United States
Citizenship American
Alma mater Macalester College (B.A)
New York University (M.F.A.)
Occupation Actress, playwright, model
Years active 2004–present
Website danaigurira.com

Danai Jekesai Gurira (born February 14, 1978) is a Zimbabwean American actress and playwright, best known for her role as Michonne on The Walking Dead, an AMC television horror drama series.

Early life

Gurira was born in Grinnell, Iowa, to Josephine Gurira, a university librarian, and Roger Gurira, a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville.[1][2][3] Her parents came to the United States from Southern Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, in 1964.[4] She is the youngest of four siblings; Shingai and Choni are her sisters and Tare, her brother,[2] is a chiropractor. Gurira lived in Grinnell until December 1983, when at age five she and her family moved back to Harare, Zimbabwe,[5] after the country gained independence.[6]

She attended high school at Dominican Convent High School. Afterwards, she returned to the United States to study at Macalester College,[3] in Saint Paul, Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology.[4] Gurira also earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting, from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.[7]

Career

Gurira at the 2013 The Walking Dead event.

Theater

Gurira said that she began writing plays in an effort to better utilize her strengths as an actor, and to tell stories that convey ideas about strong women with whom she identifies.[4] She co-wrote and co-starred in the off-Broadway play In the Continuum, which won her an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Helen Hayes Award for Best Lead Actress.[7] In December 2011, In the Continuum commemorated World AIDS Day 2011. The play, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe, was performed at Harare’s Theatre and featured the story of two women who were navigating the world after contracting the AIDS virus.[8]

In 2009, Gurira debuted on Broadway in August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone.[9] Gurira received the Whiting Award in 2012.[10] In January 2015, Familiar, a play written by Gurira and directed by Rebecca Taichman, opened at Yale Repertory Theatre.[11] The play is about family, cultural identity, and the experience of life as a first-generation American, and Gurira has said that it was inspired in part by family and friends of hers.[12]

In 2015, Lupita Nyong'o starred in Gurira's 2009 play, Eclipsed, at The Public Theater.[13] It was announced the play would move to Broadway from Off-Broadway.[14][15] The play is set in war-torn Liberia and focuses on three women who are living as sex slaves to a rebel commander, and is about how they deal with this difficult situation.[16] The play was inspired by a photograph of female fighters and their tale of survival.[17] It stars Saycon Sengbloh, Akosua Busia, Lupita Nyong'o, Zainab Jah and Pascale Armand and is directed by Liesl Tommy.[18]

She received the 2016 Sam Norkin Award, for Eclipsed and Familiar, presented by the Drama Desk Awards, which said, in part: "Danai Gurira demonstrates great insight, range, and depth, bringing a fresh new voice to American theater."[19] The play is currently nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.

Acting

Gurira starred in the 2007 film The Visitor, for which she won Method Fest Independent Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has appeared in the films Ghost Town, 3 Backyards, My Soul to Take, and Restless City, as well the television shows Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Life on Mars, and Law & Order. From 2010 to 2011, she appeared in the HBO drama series Treme.

In 2013, Gurira played a lead role in director Andrew Dosunmu's independent drama film Mother of George, which premiered at 2013 Sundance Film Festival.[4] Gurira received critical acclaim for her performance as a Nigerian woman struggling to live in the United States.[20][21] In June 2013, Gurira won the Jean-Claude Gahd Dam award at the 2013 Guys Choice Awards.[22]

In January 2016, it was announced Gurira had been cast as Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, in All Eyez on Me, a biopic about the rap star.[23]

The Walking Dead

In March 2012, AMC announced on a live broadcast that Gurira would join the cast of their horror-drama series The Walking Dead, the highest rated series in cable television history,[24] in its third season.[25][26][27] Gurira plays Michonne, a mistrustful, katana-wielding character who joins a close-knit group in an apocalyptic world.[26][28] Together they are forced to relentlessly fight flesh-eating zombies and certain of the few surviving humans, some of whom are even more diabolical and dangerous than the zombies themselves.[28] Gurira had to learn how to ride horses for the show, which she enjoyed because it was a physical challenge.[29]

Activism

  • 2008: Appeared at the Global Green Sustainable Design Awards to read a letter written by a New Orleans native displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
  • 2011: Co-founded Almasi, an organization dedicated to continuing arts education in Zimbabwe.[3][30][31]
  • 2015: Gurira signed an open letter begun by the ONE Campaign. The letter was addressed to Angela Merkel and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, urging them to focus on women as they serve as the head of the G7 in Germany and the AU in South Africa respectively.[32]

Personal life

Gurira is a Christian.[2] She currently lives in Los Angeles,[33] and speaks four languages: French, Shona, basic Xhosa, and English.[2] She has taught playwriting and acting in Liberia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.[2] She regularly spends time in New York City[34] and maintains an active lifestyle to keep physically fit.[35]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Visitor Zainab Method Fest Film Festival for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated – Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Cast
Nominated – Gotham Awards for Best Ensemble Cast
2008 Ghost Town Assorted ghost
2010 3 Backyards Woman in Blue Dress
2010 My Soul to Take Jeanne-Baptiste
2011 Restless City Sisi
2013 Mother of George Adenike Olumide Balogun Black Reel Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
Nominated – American Black Film Festival – Best Actress
2015 Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast Fury (voice)
2016 All Eyez on Me[36][37] Afeni Shakur Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Marei Rosa Rumbidzai Episode: "Inert Dwarf"
2009 Life on Mars (US) Angela Episode: "The Simple Secret of the Note in Us All"
2009 Law & Order Courtney Owens Episode: "Fed"
2010 American Experience Sarah Steward Episode: "Dolley Madison"
2010 Lie to Me Michelle Russo Episode: "Exposed"
2010–2011 Treme Jill 6 episodes
2012–present The Walking Dead Michonne Season 3-present (main role; 50 episodes)
Satellite Award for Best Cast – Television Series (2012)
Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2016)[38]
Pending – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television (2016)

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2005 In the Continuum Abigail, et al. Also writer
Obie Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
Helen Hayes Award
John Gassner Award
2009 Joe Turner's Come and Gone Martha Pentecost
2009 Eclipsed Writer
2011 Measure for Measure Isabella
2012 The Convert Writer[39]
Nominated – Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Writing[40]
2015 Familiar[12] Writer

Works or publications

References

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External links