Ep543 - Danai Gurira, Actress ‘Black Panther’ Franchise & ‘The Walking Dead’ Franchise

Creative Principles

“I wasn’t looking to be in a business,” jokes Danai Gurira. “I really felt like I wanted to tell stories about things I haven’t seen.” The Zimbabwean-American saw a way to use the craft of writing to inspire others, even though she initially thought she was going to be an academic. “The focus is always around African women,” she says. “I was born in the midwest but we moved back shortly after Zimbabwe gained independence. I guess I came to a place of outrage.” She received education from American and British influences. “The African was very rarely heard or seen, or put in an obscure light. It was a one-dimensional, damaging image.” “I wanted to tell stories that countered that. I’ve said this a billion times, but it’s a burden on my heart and also an outrage that leads me to want to explore a story and give it a dimension, as best as I can.” In one such story, a play called Eclipsed, Gurira writes about five Liberian women and their tale of survival near the end of the Second Liberian Civil War. It was nominated for a Tony Award and was the first play with an all-black and female creative cast and team to premiere on Broadway. “Then there are times when I’m just fascinated by something and have to pursue the story. But the burden is that I feel these stories need to be heard and I don’t understand why they’re not.” As she was working to shatter these ideas about Africans, other creatives were pursuing the same idea. “Black Panther was a real gift in the way that it was doing what I wanted to do all along and trying to do myself as a playwright.” As an actress, Gurira is best known for playing Michonne on The Walking Dead and Okoye in the Black Panther franchise. “They were bringing forth characters that we had never seen before.” This meant hiring a cultural advisor for Black Panther and working to be as authentic as possible. “The stakes were very high for us to hold nothing back. Thankfully, there was an open forum for that.” Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on hundreds of interviews here at Creative Principles. If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!