In today’s world of quick fixes and instant gratification, The Walking Dead is a series that has stood the test of time over a staggering 12 years and eleven seasons. A significant factor in the success of the post-apocalyptic drama was the ensemble cast of recurring and new actors over various seasons who added many layers to the narrative.
One of the key characters who entered the show at the end of season 2 and went on to become an integral part of the story was Michonne Grimes played, by Danai Gurira. The star has proved that she has multiple talents by showcasing her writing skills in The Walking Dead spin-off series, in which she completely wrote an episode featuring her on-screen husband played by Andrew Lincoln.
Danai Gurira Put her Writing skills To Test In This Zombie Spin-Off
For Marvel fans, Danai Gurira is an instantly recognizable face for her presence in the MCU as the Dora Milaje general Okoye in films like Black Panther and the Avengers series. But the Zimbabwean-American actor made her name many years before with the AMC series The Walking Dead, in which she played the mysterious katana-wielding warrior Michonne Grimes.
Making her debut in the series at the end of season 2, Gurira became an integral part in the subsequent seasons of the show and did full justice to her character, who is a cult icon in the comic books. Years later, the Marvel alum reprised her role in the spin-off series titled The Ones Who Live.
This provided an opportunity for her to bring many nuances of her character a full circle, which included her relationship with her husband Rick Grimes played by Andrew Lincoln. In addition, the show became another feather in the cap for Gurira to bring another talent to the fore.
The celebrity not only invested wholly in her performance, but also took responsibility to develop the narrative by completely writing the 4th episode of the show. In an interview with CBR, Gurira spoke about how she handled the structure of the episode which featured only Lincoln and her, and how she welcomed the challenge to test her writing skills.
“I was excited about this episode because I’m a playwright. For me, that’s always the challenge. That’s 101 of playwriting. If you’re a playwright worth your salt, you know how to keep the ball in the air. If you don’t know how to keep a ball in the air with a two-hander, then I don’t know what you’re doing. You know? That’s the joy of writing a play. The setting has to become a character in itself.”
The actor also revealed that her prior experience in writing plays and working in theater for many years held her in good stead when it came to envisioning this episode on paper.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Was Originally Planned As A Film Trilogy
The Walking Dead spin-off miniseries titled The Ones Who Live saw the husband-wife team of Michonne and Rick Grimes played by Danai Gurira and Andrew Lincoln attempt to reunite while fighting sinister forces. Produced by the two actors and Scott M. Gimple , the series showcased many complex shades in the characters’ relationship that develop over the episodes.
Originally though, the idea was planned to take shape as a 3 film trilogy which was to put Lincoln’s Rick Grimes front and center while expanding The Walking Dead universe. But in 2022 (via TV Line), it was announced at the San Diego Comic-Con that the narrative would be developed into a miniseries to be aired on AMC.
Explaining why this change took place, Gimple stated that Gurira’s involvement as Michonne Grimes was pivotal to Lincoln’s character’s development. But this collaboration would not have happened if the film trilogy had materialized at that time owing to the star’s ongoing commitment to the original show.
“When we started [developing] the films, Danai was still on [The Walking Dead]. So she was not in that first movie, and thus it was just enormously different. Rick and Michonne still would have reunited in the second film, because I knew [Danai] would be available by then, and I knew she was unbelievably critical. But that made for a very different movie.”
In the end, the decision proved to be the best one for the story as it also got Gurira involved directly in the writing and production process, thereby adding more heft to the nuances of the characters.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live can be streamed on Apple TV.
