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Danai Jekesai Gurira (; born February 14, 1978) is a Zimbabwean-American actress, playwright, producer, and activist. She is best known for her starring roles as Michonne in the AMC horror drama franchise The Walking Dead and Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her films have grossed $6.98 billion, making her the seventh highest-grossing actress of all time.
As a playwright, Gurira wrote the play In the Continuum, for which she won an Obie Award, as well as The Convert, Familiar and Eclipsed, the latter of which was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play.
She has been a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador since 2018, and has founded two non-profit organizations. In 2023, she was honored with the TIME100 Impact Award. She is the founder of the production company Gurazoo Productions, which has an overall television deal with ABC Studios.
She attended high school at Dominican Convent High School. At 18, she returned to the United States to study at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. Gurira also earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
As a playwright, she has been commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and the Royal Court.
Gurira co-wrote and co-starred in In the Continuum, first at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and later Off-Broadway, which won her an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Helen Hayes Award for Best Lead Actress. In December 2011, In the Continuum commemorated World AIDS Day 2011. Sponsored by the United States Embassy in Zimbabwe, the play was performed at Harare's Theatre and featured the story of two women who were navigating the world after contracting HIV.
In 2009, Gurira made her Broadway theatre acting debut in August Wilson's play Joe Turner's Come and Gone playing Martha Pentecost.
Gurira's 2012 play The Convert premiered as a co-production between the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey. Later that year, Gurira received the Whiting Award for an emerging playwright and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Writing in 2013.
In January 2015, Familiar, a play written by Gurira and directed by Rebecca Taichman, opened at Yale Repertory Theatre. It later premiered Off-Broadway in New York at Playwrights Horizons. 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 her family and friends.
In May 2023 Gurira played Richard III in a Shakespeare in the Park production for which she received a nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play for the 2022 AUDELCO.
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." Eclipsed received six nominations for the Tony Awards, including the Tony Award for Best Play, and won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Play. Gurira also received a Helen Hayes Award, and an NAACP Theatre Award, and was nominated for a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award.
Her plays Eclipsed and Familiar (play)|Familiar received a score of 88 on Show-Score which indicate "Excellent" on the platform, For Eclipsed from 570 reviews and Familiar with 119 reviews.
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. Gurira received critical acclaim for her performance as a Nigerian woman struggling to live in the United States. In June 2013, Gurira won the Jean-Claude Gahd Dam award at the 2013 Guys Choice Awards.
Gurira played rapper Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni Shakur, in All Eyez on Me, a 2017 biopic about the rap star. For this movie she received a NAACP Image awards nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.
In 2020, she signed a deal with ABC Studios.
Before the 2020 pandemic, a limited series adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel Americanah was being produced for HBO MAX with Danai writing the pilot and serving as showrunner and Lupita Nyong'o as the lead actress. However, production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic forced Nyong'o to drop out of the series over scheduling conflicts, which ultimately led to HBO Max's decision to drop the project.
She owns a production company called Gurazoo Productions.
In February 2019, reports emerged that Gurira would be exiting the show once she had filmed her last episodes during the tenth season. Gurira's final episode, "What We Become" aired in March 2020. By the time of her departure, she was second-billed in the opening credits and had appeared in 96 episodes of the show.
In July 2022, it was announced by Scott M. Gimple, Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira at San Diego Comic-Con a spin-off mini-series centered around the couple Michonne and Rick Grimes, with Lincoln and Gurira reprising their roles from the original television series. The limited series, titled , premiered in February 2024 and consisted of six episodes. She co-created it, produced it and wrote the fourth episode, titled "What We". That episode received positive reviews from critics and got her a nomination for the 2024 Black Reel Television award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. The episode was also submitted for the 2024 Emmys and was listed on Varietys Emmy Prediction Top 15 list at number 10 in the writing category. The series was well received by both critics and audiences, "Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln's phenomenal performances feel like The Walking Dead at its best."
Gurira reprised the role of Okoye in the movies (2018), (2019) and in the sequel (2022). She was set to star in a spinoff series on Disney+, but plans for the show were ultimately scrapped.
In 2008, Gurira appeared at the Global Green Sustainable Design Awards to read a letter written by a New Orleans native displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
In 2011, Gurira co-founded Almasi Arts, an organization dedicated to continuing arts education in Zimbabwe. Gurira currently serves as the Executive Artistic Director.
In 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. The following year, Gurira founded the non-profit organization Love Our Girls, which aims to highlight the issues and challenges that specifically affect women throughout the world. In 2016, Gurira partnered with Johnson & Johnson in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
On December 2, 2018, Gurira was announced as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador by UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka at the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. As a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Gurira dedicates her support to putting a spotlight on gender equality and women's rights, as well as bringing unheard women's voices front and center.
Danai has been a Global Citizen ambassador since 2016, partnering with the organization on several campaigns and Global Citizen Festivals, including hosting the event in Ghana in 2022.
| 2007 | The Visitor | Zainab | |
| 2008 | My Soul to Take | Jeanne-Baptiste | |
| Ghost Town | Assorted ghost | ||
| 2010 | 3 Backyards | Woman in Blue Dress | |
| 2011 | Restless City | Sisi | |
| 2013 | Mother of George | Adenike Olumide Balogun | |
| 2015 | Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast | Fury (voice) | |
| 2017 | All Eyez on Me | Afeni Shakur | |
| 2018 | Black Panther | Okoye | |
| 2019 | |||
| 2022 | |||
| 2026 | Matchbox | TBA | Post production |
| 2027 | The Thomas Crown Affair | TBA | Filming |
| 2004 | Marei Rosa Rumbidzai | Episode: "" | |
| 2009 | Life on Mars | Angela | Episode: "The Simple Secret of the Note in Us All" |
| Law & Order | Courtney Owens | Episode: "Fed" | |
| 2010 | American Experience | Sarah Steward | Episode: "Dolley Madison" |
| Lie to Me | Michelle Russo | Episode: "Exposed" | |
| 2010–2011 | Treme | Jill | 6 episodes |
| 2012–2020, 2022 | The Walking Dead | Michonne | Main cast (seasons 3–10), guest (season 11); 96 episodes |
| 2017 | Robot Chicken | Michonne (voice) | Episode: "The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking" |
| 2018 | PBS' Breaking Big | Herself | Season 1, episode 3 |
| 2021 | What If...? | Okoye (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Great Performances | Richard III | Season 50, Episode 14: Richard III filmed live for Shakespeare in the Park |
| 2024 | The Walking Dead: The Return | Herself | TV special |
| 2024 | Michonne Grimes | Lead role; also executive producer, co-creator and writer |
| 2005 | In the Continuum | Abigail, et al. | Playwright (co-wrote with Nikkole Salter) | Primary Stages, Off-Broadway | |
| 2009 | Joe Turner's Come and Gone | Martha Pentecost | Broadway acting debut | Belasco Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2011 | Measure for Measure | Isabella | Shakespeare in the Park | Delacorte Theater | |
| 2012 | The Convert | Playwright | The Young Vic, London | ||
| 2015 | Familiar | Playwright | Playwright's Horizons, Off-Broadway | ||
| 2015 | Eclipsed | Playwright | The Public Theater, Off-Broadway | ||
| 2016 | John Golden Theatre, Broadway | ||||
| 2022 | Richard III | Richard III | Shakespeare in the Park | Delacorte Theater |
| 2020 | Fortnite Battle Royale | Michonne | Likeness |
| 2023 | Playable Character (DLC); Voice and Likeness | ||
| 2025 | Dead by Daylight | Likeness |
| Best Ensemble Cast | |||||
| 2019 | Black Reel Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress | |||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | ||||
| Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actress on a Television Series | The Walking Dead | |||
| 2023 | NAACP Image Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | |||
| AUDELCO | Lead Actress In a Play | Richard III | |||
| 2024 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series | |||
| 2025 | Saturn Awards | Best Actress in a Television Series | |||
| Best Television Presentation | |||||
| 5th Critics' Choice Super Awards | Best Actress In A Superhero Series, Limited Series Or Made-For-TV Movie |
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