Who is Danai Gurira? Find Net Worth, Quote, Awards, Fact, Wiki

Danai Gurira Wiki Biography

Danai Jekesai Gurira was born on 14 February 1978, in Grinnell, Iowa USA, of Zimbabwean descent. Danai is a playwright and actress, best known for being part of the television series “The Walking Dead” playing the character Michonne. She was also creator of the play “Eclipsed” which stars Lupita Nyong’o. All of her efforts have helped put her net worth to where it is today.

How rich is Danai Gurira? As of mid-2016, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $500,000, mostly earned through a successful career in acting. Aside from television, Danai is well known for her work in theatre and has made her share of independent films. She’s also done voice work, and as she continues her career, her wealth will likely increase.

Danai Gurira Net Worth $500,000

Before Danai was born, her parents moved to the United States away from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). After the country’s independence, the family would move back to Zimbabwe and Danai attended the Dominican Convent High School. She returned to the United States to study at Macalester College, and graduated with a degree in Psychology. Afterwards, she attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts to earn a Master of Fine Arts in Acting.

She started her career by focusing as a playwright to further strengthen her acting skills. She co-starred in and co-wrote the play “In the Continuum” which led to several awards including a Helen Hayes Award and Outer Critics Circle Award – the play focused on the story of two women who were travelling the world after they had contracted the AIDS virus. Danai then made her Broadway debut in a play entitled “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” and this won her another award. In 2015, she wrote the play “Familiar” which is a story about family, life, and cultural identity. Around six years earlier, she also wrote the play “Eclipsed”, but which didn’t gain significant popularity until 2015. The play starred Lupita Nyong’O, and it was about three women who lived as sex slaves to a rebel commander. These two plays in 2015 would win numerous awards, including a Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Play.

Aside from theatre, Gurira made her acting skills well known through independent films. She won an award for her performance in “The Visitor”, and then appeared in other films such as “My Soul to Take”, “3 Backyards” and “Restless City”. She also found opportunities to make guest appearances in television shows such as “Law & Order”, “Life on Mars”, and “Treme”. In 2013, she starred in the independent film “Mother of George”, which gained critical acclaim, and she was then cast to work on the biopic “All Eyez on Me”.

Her most popular role to date would be in the AMC show “The Walking Dead”. She was announced to be in the cast for the show in 2012, and appeared in the third season as the katana-wielding Michonne.

For her personal life, it is known that Danai can speak four languages, namely Shona, French, Xhosa, and English. She has also spent time teaching in countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Liberia. Aside from these, she maintains an active lifestyle and has learned to ride horses because of “The Walking Dead”. There is no public information on any relationships the star might be involved in.



Full Name Danai Gurira
Net Worth $500 Thousand
Date Of Birth February 14, 1978
Place Of Birth Grinnell, Iowa, United States
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.7 m)
Weight 119 lbs
Profession Actress
Education Tisch School of the Arts, Macalester College
Nationality American
Parents Roger Gurira, Josephine Gurira
Siblings Shingai Gurira, Tare Gurira, Choni Gurira
Nicknames Danai Jekesai Gurira
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DanaiGuriraOfficial
Twitter https://twitter.com/danaigurira
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/danaigurira/
IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1775091
Awards Drama Desk Special Award, Saturn Award, Satellite Award for Best Television Ensemble, Obie Award for Special Citations, Outer Critics Circle Award for John Gassner Playwriting Award, Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production, The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding…
Nominations Tony Award for Best Play, NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Performance, Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play, Outer Critics Ci…
Movies Black Panther, All Eyez on Me, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, Mother of George, Restless City, My Soul to Take, 3 Backyards, Ghost Town, The Visitor
TV Shows The Walking Dead
Quote
1 I was a jock when I was a kid, so I’ve always wanted to physically live through a character – one of those really tough chicks.
2 [on preparing to play a sword-wielding zombie slayer in ‘the Walking Dead’]I do have some dings on my apartment wall from tricks I was attempting at home. I don’t advise that.
Fact
1 She was born in Iowa but lived in her parents’ native Zimbabwe from age 5 until age 18, when she returned to the U.S. to attend college.
2 She has two older sisters, Shingai and Choni, and an older brother, Tare.
3 She was awarded the 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Writing for “The Convert,” in a co-production with McCarter Theatre Center and Goodman Theatre at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
4 She was awarded the 2013 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Playwright for “The Convert” co-production with McCarter Theatre Center and Goodman Theatre at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
5 When Gurira’s play “Eclipsed” was produced at the Yale Repertory Theater in 2009, the lead role of “the Girl” was performed by actress Adepero Oduye and understudied by then-Yale Drama School student Lupita Nyong’o. A few years later, Oduye and Nyong’o both acted in the film 12 Years a Slave, and Nyong’o won an Oscar for that performance. When the same play was produced at New York’s Public Theater six years later, Nyong’o this time played the lead role.
6 She was nominated for a 2007 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for “In the Continuum”, at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Actress

Title Year Status Character
Black Panther 2018 filming Okoye
All Eyez on Me 2017 completed Afeni Shakur
The Walking Dead 2012-2017 TV Series Michonne
Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast 2014 Video Fury (voice)
Mother of George 2013 Adenike Balogun
Treme 2010-2011 TV Series Jill
Restless City 2011 Sisi
My Soul to Take 2010 Jeanne-Baptiste
Lie to Me 2010 TV Series Michelle Russo
American Experience 2010 TV Series documentary Sarah Steward
3 Backyards 2010 Woman in Blue Dress
Law & Order 2009 TV Series Courtney Owens
Life on Mars 2009 TV Series Angela
Ghost Town 2008/I Assorted Ghost
The Visitor 2007/I Zainab
Law & Order: Criminal Intent 2004 TV Series Marei Rosa Rumbidzai

Thanks

Title Year Status Character
The Walking Dead: The Journey So Far 2016 TV Movie documentary special thanks
Kuhani 2013 Short special thanks

Self

Title Year Status Character
Talking Dead 2012-2017 TV Series Herself / Herself – ‘Michonne’ / Herself – Guest / …
Good Morning America 2015-2016 TV Series Herself / Herself – Guest
The Chew 2016 TV Series Herself – Guest
The Walking Dead: The Journey So Far 2016 TV Movie documentary Herself / Michonne
Live with Kelly and Michael 2014-2016 TV Series Herself – Guest / Herself – The Walking Dead
Live from the Red Carpet: The 2016 Tony Awards 2016 TV Movie Herself
Black Girls Rock! 2016 TV Special Herself
Conan 2014-2016 TV Series Herself – Guest / Herself
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert 2016 TV Series Herself
PBS NewsHour 2016 TV Series Herself
The Meredith Vieira Show 2015 TV Series Herself
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon 2015 TV Series Herself
The View 2013-2015 TV Series Herself / Herself – Guest
American Music Awards 2014 2014 TV Special Herself – Presenter
BELLOmag Presents: A Conversation with Danai Gurira 2014 TV Movie Herself – Guest
StuTV 2014 TV Series Herself
Entertainment Tonight 2014 TV Series Herself – The Walking Dead
Jimmy Kimmel Live! 2014 TV Series Herself – Guest
24 Hours of Reality: The Cost of Carbon 2013 TV Special Herself
Katie 2013 TV Series Herself
The Walking Dead: A Decade of Dead 2013 TV Short documentary Herself
Tavis Smiley 2013 TV Series Herself – Guest
Larry King Now 2013 TV Series Herself – Guest
The 17th Annual Satellite Awards 2012 TV Movie Herself – Winner: Best Ensemble, Television
Last Call with Carson Daly 2012 TV Series Herself – Guest
Moving Pictures Live! 2010 TV Series Herself

Archive Footage

Title Year Status Character
Extra 2016 TV Series Herself
Ok! TV 2015 TV Series Herself

Won Awards

Year Award Ceremony Nomination Movie
2016 Saturn Award Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA Best Supporting Actress on Television The Walking Dead (2010)
2014 Black Reel Black Reel Awards Outstanding Actress, Motion Picture Mother of George (2013)
2008 Best Supporting Actress Method Fest The Visitor (2007)

Nominated Awards

Year Award Ceremony Nomination Movie
2016 Image Award Image Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series The Walking Dead (2010)
2014 Hollywood Award Acapulco Black Film Festival Best Actress Mother of George (2013)
2014 Black Reel Black Reel Awards Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female Mother of George (2013)
2014 Chlotrudis Award Chlotrudis Awards Best Actress Mother of George (2013)
2013 WFCC Award Women Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actress Mother of George (2013)
2011 Invisible Woman Award Women Film Critics Circle Awards 3 Backyards (2010)
2008 Gotham Independent Film Award Gotham Awards Best Ensemble Performance The Visitor (2007)

2nd Place Awards

Year Award Ceremony Nomination Movie
2008 BSFC Award Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Ensemble Cast The Visitor (2007)

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