Ep 133. Danai Gurira
The talented and worldly Danai Gurira has been bridging the gap between disparate worlds ever since her family moved from Grinnell, IA to Africa when she was a toddler. In school, the self-described Zimerican (Zimbabwean-American) was the \u201cAfrican kid with a twangy American accent\u201d who got along with everybody regardless of race and class.\n\nThat ability to cross borders both artistic and geographic has defined Danai\u2019s career. On the blockbuster side, Danai inhabits the character of Okoye in the highly anticipated Marvel film Black Panther and the character of Michonne, the butt-kicking zombie killer in AMC\u2019s hit series The Walking Dead. On the literary side, she\u2019s a playwright with Broadway success who mingles with the high-brow theatre crowd.\n\nBut don\u2019t get caught up in Western delineations between actor and writer because at her core, Danai is a storyteller\u2014a woman who uses her unique perspective and artistic talent to reveal the shared humanity between seemingly different worlds of Africa and America. Danai points out that talent must be nurtured and distractions must be set aside because \u201cthe whole goal of storytelling is to became a worthy enough vessel for the story to come through you.\u201d\n\nDanai joins Sam Jones to discuss the nuanced world of Ryan Coogler\u2019s Black Panther, auditioning for The Walking Dead, overcoming grad school breakdowns, and discovering her artistic mandate.