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Danai Gurira

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Danai Gurira

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Also known as Danai Jekesai Gurira

Zimbabwean-American actress

OverviewAI-generated

Danai Jekesai Gurira is an American and Zimbabwean actor and playwright. Born in Grinnell, Iowa, in 1978, she is also known by her name in her native language, Danai Gurira. She has worked in acting and writing since 2005. Her notable works include the plays *In the Continuum*, *Familiar*, *Convert*, and *Eclipsed*. She writes in English and speaks English, French, Shona, and Xhosa.

Gurira was educated at Macalester College and New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She has received the Obie Award, Satellite Awards, Whiting Awards, and Black Reel Awards. She has also been nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and Black Reel Awards. She resides in Grinnell, Harare, Los Angeles, and New York City. Her religion is Christianity.

Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
4

Top works

  • In the continuum
  • Familiar
  • Convert
  • Eclipsed

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Grinnell, Iowa, USA

Danai Jekesai Gurira (/dəˈnaɪ ɡʊˈrɪərə/; born February 14, 1978) is a Zimbabwean-American actress, playwright, and activist. She is best known for her starring roles as Michonne on the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead (2012–2020, 2022) and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024), and as Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films, including Black Panther (2018) and Black…

Known for

  • The Thomas Crown Affair2027
  • Matchbox — Helen2026
  • The Walking Dead: The Return — Self / Michonne Hawthorne2024
  • The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live — Michonne2024
  • Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Self2023
  • Shakespeare in the Park: Richard III — Richard III2023
  • 20/20 Presents Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda — Self2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Okoye2022
  • Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist — Self2021
  • What If...? — Okoye (voice)2021

via TMDB

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
female
Citizenship
Zimbabwe
Place of birth
Grinnell
Languages spoken
Xhosa
Native language
English language
Religion
Christianity
Image
Danai Gurira 2014 Comic Con (cropped).jpg
Residence
New York City
Show 7 more facts
date of birth
1978-00-00
Commons category
Danai Gurira
start of work period
2005-00-00
writing language
English language
birth name
Danai Jekesai Gurira
social media followers
806210
name in native language
Danai Gurira
Sources (8)

via Wikidata · CC0

~16 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Danai Jekesai Gurira (/dəˈnaɪ ɡʊˈrɪərə/; born February 14, 1978) is a Zimbabwean-American actress, playwright, screenwriter, 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. For the screen, she's written an episode of the spin-off The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024), centered on the characters Michonne and Rick Grimes, which received critical acclaim. For this episode, she received a Black Reel TV Award nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Danai Gurira” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (3)