Without a doubt, The Walking Dead’s Michonne is one of most bad ass characters on television right now. Danai Gurira made her entrance as the katana-weilding, zombie-pet-walking Michonne at the end of season two and is fiercely featured in the current season three. At Sci Fi Expo, presented by Dallas Comic-Con in Dallas earlier this month, Gurira talked about what she draws upon to bring the intensity of her character to screen:
“As a playwright, I had researched a lot about Liberian women in war. [Michonne] was reminding me of women in those war zones who became really formidable rebel leaders in the armies. I had met those women and there’s a way that they’re all kind of riddled with PTSD but they’ve sort of transformed into something really formidable. They’ve sort of put aside things that have no place in a world like this. Like ‘girly’ emotions. And I say that not really meaning that, but you know what I mean. They are really looking to be their own empowerment in a world like that. There’s something in the spirit of those women that was very clear to me even in how I approached [Michonne] from the audition on.
That was a Michonne. She reminded me of a woman in a Liberian war zone where everyone is a little scared of those chicks. It’s the hell-hath-no-fury type of chick where she is really not trying to be girly. She’s just remaining very empowered in the world that she’s now in and transforming accordingly. That energized how I looked at her.”
“A lot of who someone becomes in times that dire has to do with how they’ve interpreted or responded to their trauma. It’s about the sort of trauma that she went through. Everyone’s gone through some trauma. We get to see Andrea’s trauma with the loss of her sister. The cool thing about the show is that you see people at different stages. That first band of survivors- you see them step into it. But Michonne comes in and you haven’t seen what made her become this Michonne. Her trauma has definitely caused her to speak less because really it’s the idea of the vulnerability that comes with exposing oneself through communication which is a regret and something that is a traumatic point for her.”
A fan asked Danai what the creepiest scene was for her to film and she says that she can’t talk about it yet. We’re sure to see something even more creepy than the fight scene in the Governor’s Head room! Michonne is not one to be messed with and neither is Gurira – she has not one, not two, but three katanas in her trunk right now. We’re sure to learn more about Michonne’s backstory in the coming episodes.
The Walking Dead, starring Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Michael Rooker, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Melissa McBride, Chandler Riggs, Danai Gurira, Scott Wilson, Emily Kinney, and David Morrissey, airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.
