The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is the highly anticipated spin-off series from the hit franchise The Walking Dead, which ran for eleven series before it ended in 2022.

Danai Gurira starred in the original series as a main cast member from season three through to season ten, before appearing as a guest star in the eleventh and final season. She played the role of Michonne Hawthorne – a role which she has reprised for the spin-off series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

Ahead of the show’s debut, Danai Gurira revealed all about her return to the franchise as Michonne Hawthorne.

Yes, it was always planned that Andrew Lincoln and I would do this. We both left the mothership with plans to come back, and that was clear in how our characters left too. So, then it became a question of figuring out how Rick and Michonne would return, and in that sense, AMC was clear in telling us, “You guys are creating this; not us. We are just facilitating it.” And that was very appealing to me because I was ready to co-create this series with Scott M. Gimple. Scott had already been building up aspects of the story and the framework of what this journey would be, showing the breadcrumbs, and then we got together and created these six episodes when the timing was right. It was great to get to work on it.

Yes, it is Rick and Michonne’s epic love story. That was our framework as we created it.

I really enjoyed it, but it was very intense. There were times when I was acting in one episode while I was writing another. Ultimately, it was very gratifying.

When it started a decade and a half ago there was a great deal of pain and turmoil and loss around what had happened to the world; but now, many years later, people have of course figured out things – good and bad – beyond the walkers. We definitely see that in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

Yes, that’s what we wanted. You can catch up with what’s happened in the past with a flashback and then step right in. We want the old and the new to join us on this journey.

I felt that special chemistry from the beginning. Actually, Michonne knew who Rick was even before she met him. And that’s why when she did, it was like, “I know you are the good guy, even though you are acting crazy...” There was an immediate connection and just this energy Andy and I had. We became such good friends, like family, creating that relationship together. So when we got back on set there was already all of that inside us, and so much history, which made it effortless to jump again into these roles together. And it felt great for the characters too.

Oh yes, I was a jock when I was a kid and loved playing sports and being competitive. So, I like to push myself physically on set, and so does Andy. We are both kind of adrenaline junkies that way.

Well, when I got the job, I started to work hard with a trainer, and I have continued to do so during all these years that I have played Michonne. I also studied a lot of katana masters, did sparring and basically tried to figure out how my character would use it, because she’s the kind of person that likes to figure her own things out. And I’m the kind of person that gives my all to everything I do.

As a very powerful person and a leader. Michonne is a warrior and a full woman. She had to heal from her wounds, and then she started to emerge with a humanity that is based on something so rich and strong that I know Rick responded to and started to look at as an anchor point for his own choices long before they got together. She is the cool to his heat and obviously not someone to mess with. Don’t try that…

Absolutely! That is something that definitely has to do with the power of epic love. They are not people who give up.

Yes, Lesley was a cut above everyone else that auditioned for that role. And I love that she came in and used her South African accent. I’m Zimbabwean, and I feel that specific accent has not been seen much in television, especially in America, so I thought it would be really cool to widen and imbue this world with her narrative.

I was playing Richard III in New York in the Shakespeare in the Park production, and he was in it. That’s how I met him and decided that he should be Nat. I couldn’t tell him at the time because he had to go through the audition process, but luckily everyone agreed. And then he was even more fantastic in the role than I had imagined. It was a real gift to work with Matthew, and I am excited for everyone to see his work in action.

I think it has to do with the relationships, the humanity, and how people are changed as a result of the dire circumstance they are in. The way this world was set up was so powerful and had a great premise from the beginning, as it was grounded on something that felt real. That first pilot was one of the best I had ever seen: so gut-wrenching, beautiful, and horrifying at the same time. You just got very attached to the story and the characters.

It feels very gratifying because I think we accomplished what we set out to do. And now it feels good to sign it off to the world.