Danai Gurira- She Continues to Make History in Movie Industry

Danai Gurira

By Tapfuma Machakaire   19/11/2022

The “perceived” feeling of pessimism and despondency among the people of Zimbabwe is not derailing the fighting spirit of its nationals who are excelling in various professions across the globe.

The world is inadvertently regularly reminded of the potential of the small southern African nation, whose sons and daughters are constantly hitting headlines in stories of outstanding achievements.

Among those flying the Zimbabwean flag on the international arena is Danai Gurira. She becomes part of a history making movie cast that has hit the biggest November opening in US history.

Gurira is appearing as Okoye in the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sequel which opened in theatres in the United States of America on November 11. The movies has its origins from the first superhero of African descent in mainstream American comic, named Black Panther. The film centres on what it means to be Black, in both America and Africa, and grapples with issues affecting modern-day life for the Black community.

The opening event which had screaming headlines in the media, earned $180 million for its opening weekend in the US, the biggest November opening of all time for movies in the US.

The previous record-holder was the film, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, in 2013 which made $158 million over its first domestic weekend.

Globally the sequel had amassed a whooping USD330m which represents the third highest start for any Hollywood during the Covid-19 pandemic era of Marvel Cinematic Universe films (MCU films), as well as the 2nd biggest global opening of 2022.

In the Marvel Studios action packed feature film, Gurira reprises her role as Okoye from the first film. Okoye is the general of Dora Milaje and has close ties with the Royal Family of Wakanda, including T’Challa, his mother, Ramonda, and his sister, Shuri. Like the family, she mourns and processes T’Challa’s death in the sequel while later facing unexpected challenges as she fights to protect Wakanda once more.

The background to the new addition of the movie is that in August 2020, Marvel Studios was faced with an unenviable task of how to handle the sudden and tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, the star in Black Panther.

At the time of Boseman’s death from colon cancer, director Ryan Coogler had already completed a draft script for the sequel, which was cantered around the late actor’s character. That needed to be revised.

The 2018 Marvel film had been among the first blockbusters to feature a predominantly Black cast, and it was proof that racial representation in Hollywood could mean big money at the box office.

With the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sequel slated for release in mid-2022, Marvel executives needed to quickly decide what to do with the character of T’Challa, played by Boseman.

It was decided that the film opens with the death of T’Challa-then played by Boseman. His passing deeply affects his community and the supporting characters from Black Panther. His sister Shuri, guilt-ridden that she could not use science to cure him, buries herself in work. His mother, who has once again become Queen of Wakanda, tries to lead while honouring her son and ancestors.

T’Challa’s love interest, the war dog Nakia, has fled Wakanda and is living in Haiti, working as a director of a local school.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter released in the wake of the Black Panther sequel’s release, Gurira compared elements of the movie to The Walking Dead –the highest rated series in cable television history, in which she also featured. “I’m thankful both of these franchises are rooted in great storytelling and great storytellers,” she said. “So, Darabont started off with how he structured how to bring it from the page to the screen, how Ryan structured how to bring it from the page to the screen. It’s just like an actor’s dream.” She also said she can appreciate their storytelling approaches being a writer herself.

In The Walking Dead, Gurira played Michonne Grimes, a warrior and survivor of an outbreak who makes it her mission to find her husband Rick – played by Andrew Lincoln – after he was presumed dead. Gurira was a main character on the American pay television channel, AMC TV series, appearing as the katana-wielding character for eight seasons between 2012 and 2020.

Following her departure, it was rumoured Gurira would join Lincoln in a movie based on the series. However, AMC confirmed at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con that there will be a Rick and Michonne miniseries co-written by Gurira and Lincoln that would see their characters continue their love story. Filming for the miniseries is slated to begin in 2023.

Meanwhile, Gurira has also been linked to a potential Okoye spinoff show for Disney. Marvel Studios vice president and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever executive producer Nate Moore said the spinoff isn’t as far along as fans may expect as the focus was on putting out the movie and producing the upcoming Ironheart series.

Danai Jekesai Gurira, was born in Grinnell, Iowa, USA on February 14, 1978. Her parents, Roger and Josephine Gurira, moved from Southern Rhodesia to the US in 1964.

She is the youngest of four siblings. Her family lived in Grinnell until December 1983, when they moved back to Zimbabwe, just after the attainment of independence.

She did her high school education at Dominican Convent in Harare before she returned to the US where she studied 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.

She taught playwriting and acting in Liberia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. One of her earliest notable performances occurred in 2001 when she performed in a production of the Ntozake Shange play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, directed and choreographed by Dale Ricardo Shields.

She won the Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Helen Hayes Award for Best Lead Actress for her contribution in the writing and for acting In the Contiuum, a play that  puts a human face on the devastating impact of AIDS in Africa and America through the lives of two unforgettably courageous women. She won it first on Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and later Off-Broadway.

In December 2011, In the Continuum was showcased at the commemoration of World AIDS Day sponsored by the United States Embassy in Zimbabwe.

In August 2009, Gurira made her acting debut on Broadway in Wilson‘s play Joe Turner’s Come and Gone playing Martha Pentecost. The play is set in the second decade of the 20th century and chronicles the lives of a few freed former enslaved African Americans in the North and deals with the conflicts of racism and discrimination.

Gurira is based in Los Angeles, and identifies herself as a Zimbabwean-American. She is a superstar who prefers to keep her personal life private. She speaks four languages: French, Shona, basic Xhosa, and English.

Danai Gurira is a UN Goodwill Ambassador who pledged to dedicate her efforts towards putting a spotlight on gender equality and women’s rights.