PARTING SHOT
HER CHARACTER ON THE WALKING DEAD HAD ARGUABLY THE MOST unforgettable debut on a TV series: The dreadlocked, katana-wielding plague survivor Michonne appears at the end of the second season finale, accompanied by two chained walkers, their arms and jaws removed. In the subsequent seasons (the eighth’s midseason premiere is February 25), Danai Gurira—actress and playwright—has taken a comic book favorite and made her the most multidimensional character on the show, at once savage and tender.
She’s doing it again for the highly anticipated superhero film Black Panther. Her character, Okoye, the leader of an all-female military group, also originated in the pages of a comic book, but the part might have been written for the actress. Or maybe it’s that Gurira made her in her own image. “Okoye is really nothing like the character on the page,” says Gurira, who worked with director Ryan Coogler to reinvent the African warrior for the screen. “I love that her great passion is for her country [Wakanda] rather than a man.”