Danai Gurira

Danai Jekesai Gurira is an American and Zimbabwean actress, playwright, screenwriter, producer, and activist. She is best known for starring as Michonne in the AMC horror drama franchise The Walking Dead and as Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her feature films have grossed $6.98 billion, making her the seventh highest-grossing actress of all time.

Gurira was born on February 14, 1978, in Grinnell, Iowa, to Josephine Gurira, a college librarian, and Roger Gurira, a chemistry professor. Her parents moved to the United States from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 1964. The youngest of four siblings, Gurira lived in Iowa until December 1983, when her family moved back to Harare, Zimbabwe. She attended Dominican Convent High School before returning to the United States at age 19 to attend Macalester College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She later obtained a Master of Fine Arts in acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Gurira began her theater career teaching playwriting and acting in Liberia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, and started writing plays to present stories centered on strong women. She co-wrote and co-starred in the play In the Continuum, which earned her an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Helen Hayes Award. She made her Broadway acting debut in 2009 in August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Gurira subsequently wrote The Convert, which earned a Whiting Award and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, as well as the 2015 play Familiar.

Her 2009 play Eclipsed moved to Broadway in 2016, becoming the first play on Broadway with an all-female, Black cast and creative team. Inspired by her interviews with women affected by Liberia's civil wars, Eclipsed received six Tony Award nominations, including Best Play. Gurira was honored with the Sam Norkin Award, an NAACP Theatre Award, and a Helen Hayes Award for her dramatic writing. She later founded the production company Gurazoo Productions, which signed an overall television deal with ABC Studios.

Gurira made early film and television appearances in projects such as The Visitor (2007), Treme, and Mother of George (2013). In 2012, she joined The Walking Dead as Michonne, appearing in 96 episodes through its tenth season. She co-created, produced, and starred in the 2024 spin-off limited series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, writing an episode that earned a Black Reel TV Award nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. In 2017, she portrayed Afeni Shakur in the biopic All Eyez on Me, earning an NAACP Image Award nomination.

Within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Gurira portrayed General Okoye in Black Panther (2018), winning a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Saturn Award, a People's Choice Award, and an NAACP Image Award. She reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. On stage, she starred in a 2023 Shakespeare in the Park production of Richard III, earning an Audelco Award nomination. Her announced projects include producing the Off-Broadway play Shifters and film roles in Matchbox, Here Comes the Flood, and a remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.

Gurira is an advocate for women, HIV/AIDS awareness, and ending poverty. In 2011, she co-founded Almasi Arts to support arts education in Zimbabwe, serving as its Executive Artistic Director. She was named a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in 2018 and received the TIME100 Impact Award in 2023.