Anecdotes

She was born in Grinnell, Iowa but resided in her parents' native Zimbabwe from ages five to eighteen, when she returned to the United States to attend college.

Speaks four languages fluently: English, French, Shona, and basic Xhosa.

Danai means "loving each other" in Shona.

Received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota (2001).

Co-founded Almasi Arts Inc., an organization dedicated to supporting arts education in Zimbabwe (2011). She currently serves as the Executive Artistic Director.

Founded Love Our Girls, a non-profit organization which aims to highlight the issues and challenges that specifically affect women all through the world (2016).

She was awarded the 2016 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television in The Walking Dead (2010), the 2018 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in Black Panther (2018), and the 2019 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series in The Walking Dead (2010).

Received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

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 (2013), and Nyong'o won an Academy Award 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.

She was nominated for the 2016 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Play for "Eclipsed", which she wrote, on Broadway in New York City.

Attended and graduated from Dominican Convert High School, a private Catholic school in Harare, Zimbabwe.

She was awarded the 2013 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Playwriting for "The Convert", in a co-production with McCarter Theatre Center and Goodman Theatre at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

The ensemble of her play, "Familiar", in a Steppenwolf Theatre Company production at the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre in Chicago, Illinois were nominated for the 2019 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Ensemble (Play).

She was nominated for the 2007 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for "In the Continuum", at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

Has two older sisters, Shingai and Choni Gurira, and one older brother, Tare Gurira.

Currently resides in Los Angeles, California and spends regular time in New York City.

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.

Her play, "Eclipsed", in a Pegasus Theatre Chicago production at the Chicago Dramatists in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for the 2019 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Play Production.

The ensemble of her play, "Eclipsed", in a Pegasus Theatre Chicago production at the Chicago Dramatists in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for the 2019 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award for Ensemble.

Danai Gurira received a nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series for the episode she wrote titled "What We" for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live at the 2024 Black Reel Television Awards.