The first time the world sat up and took notice of Danai Gurira was when she was nominated for a Tony Award for the Broadway play Eclipsed. Since then, the 41-year-old actress has earned a name for herself in television, playing Michonne in the horror drama series, The Walking Dead. In Black Panther, we were introduced to a fierce warrior, Okoye, who commanded a formidable army. Now, with Avengers: Endgame released, we cannot wait to see what becomes of her character. Excerpts from a chat with the American actress:
What is your understanding of your character in Black Panther?
I’ve always been passionate about telling stories from an African female perspective — showing their complexity, their strengths, their abilities and their capabilities. Okoye was a character I had never seen before. The idea that she was the head of an army, the head of security of this nation — I felt an immediate connection to that — in the sense to have been grown up on the continent, a nation that had never been colonised and the idea of protecting was something I connected to really quickly.
What is your favourite bit about Okoye?
She’s very unapologetic and she’s not trying to please anybody. She really answers to something much deeper, that’s rooted in a system that she believes she must maintain. So, there’s something really thrilling about playing a woman — one who can strategise around a situation and still, at the same time, has a ferocity, but is very at ease with her femininity.
What was the preparation like?
What I love is that we get to work with such amazing people — especially Marvel, as a whole, who are just utter experts. We all have our own trainers in our own personal ways to keep fit, and then we come in working with these amazing experts at whatever craft our different characters employ to engage in combat.
Women are kicking butt, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel breaking million dollars at the box office, what do you have to say?
Should we really be surprised? That’s the thing. I mean it’s something that, of course, was capable of happening. The argument that it was not, makes no sense. The idea that women can perform less capably and can have less superior results — it makes no sense. Equality makes sense, and that has happened, and it’s continuing to happen. We are just starting to make sense of the world now.
Black Panther premieres Today at 1 pm on Star Movies.