Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Richmore Tera
13 September 2008
Harare — UNITED States-born Zimbabwean actress, Danai Gurira, who is currently in the country for the Zimbabwe International Film Festival, says she will never severe her ties with her motherland.
Gurira, who jetted into the country last week courtesy of the American Embassy as part of their efforts to promote the American movie -- The Visitor -- which she stars in said she derived inspiration from her Zimbabwean and African heritage and roots, which she is very proud of.
"I am an African woman, proud to be a Zimbabwean of an American birth."
The 30-year-old actress, who studied psychology in the United States and also attained a Masters Degree in acting from New York University, said Zimbabwe had the potential for growth because "there was nothing that it lacks in terms of infrastructure."
As such, said Gurira, it was "very enriching to stay connected to my motherland."
"I think we are powerful, resilient and highly intelligent people. Even the beauty of our people shines through the difficulties we are going through," said Danai.
Her artistic pursuit as a woman and actress in one of the greatest civilisations in the world was to tell an African story from a Zimbabwean perspective and change the way that the Western audience had of the country and continent.
"America is a very rigorous, competitive and very cutting edge society, especially in New York City. I learnt how to pursue excellence because I was around it.
"But above all, I was very keen to bring out my African experience in my work because I could see how that part of the world doesn't see us.
"I was in a profession that makes the world see us and I was therefore keen to put African stories in front of the Western audience so that we could speak with one equal voice."
That is not empty rhetoric from Gurira.
One of her plays, The Continuum -- that she co-authored and starred with an American scriptwriter and actress -- has been successful in the United States before, South Africa and Swaziland.
The same production also premiered at Hifa in 2006 and then avenues started opening up for her to diversify into the more competitive American film industry, leading to her outclassing many potential actors in that country to land the coveted role in The Visitor.
Shot in 2006 in the United Sates but released this year, the film shot straight into the country's top 10 list, according to the actress.
"The Visitor is my first film, and it was in the top 10, which in America is a very big achievement because it is a small film. It has allowed me a lot of opportunities.
"Starring in that movie was so wonderful because it is very competitive to get acting parts in America. So many actresses were trying to get jobs in that film so being a Zimbawean woman I was so blessed," said Gurira, who in June also appeared in another American film, 25/8, directed by one of the fathers of American horror films, Wes Craven.
She is set to make another big screen appearance in Four Backyards, a film soon to be released apart from toying with plans to "one day write my own screenplay."
Gurira said acting in American productions together with writing her own theatre scripts was an eye-opening experience to her.
"What I liked about it was that American audiences were having to study Zimbawean life put on stage. That's what I like, that our own stories have to be told.
"The West, through what I've just written on the page, is hearing our voice. These Westerns like to tell us our own stories as if we don't exist," she said.
Her concern with Africa and identity is not just skin-deep, for she has taken the issue into some of her plays, such as Eclipse, whose script she recently finished writing.
It is about the travails that Liberian women had to contend with during the 2003 civil war that tore that country apart.
"I am also writing a new play, The Convert, about Zimbabwe based on the 1896-1898 time of revolts by the Mashona and Ndebeles. It is involving a lot of research,' she said.
Turning her focus to the current Zimbabwe situation, Gurira said although a lot had changed since the last time she was home, she was very hopeful of brighter prospects.
"In my heart and prayers I am 100 percent behind my homeland. I just made a conscious decision that I would come back home and I am glad God has allowed that.
"I made a choice not to disconnect myself from home. It is very enriching to stay connected to my motherland," Gurira said.
To African and Zimbabwean women in particular, Gurira's word of advice is that they should pursue excellence.
"There are so many African stories that need to be told, so please let's get to work. You do it for unheard voices.
"Don't cut corners, take the narrow path, put your egos aside and pursue excellence. Study your craft, otherwise you do a disservice to the story being told.
"Once we seek excellence in our work that is when it becomes universally known," said Gurira, also commending ZIFF for their efforts to promote the local film industry.
Danai was born on February 14, 1978 in Iowa, Midwest, in the United States where her parents had moved for their higher education in the 1960s.
"They were both at Goromonzi High School and when they moved to the United States they eventually got married there and bore all their children there. My father was studying for his PHD," she recalls.
The year 1984 saw the Guriras returning back home where the young Danai was enrolled at Groombridge Primary School and later Convent High where the acting bug first bit her.
"I can say acting summoned me, I didn't seek it. My siblings said I was rather dramatic in imitating people I saw on television. They said I was either going mad or I was going to be an actress," she said.
Her earliest signs of serious acting was when she outsmarted her male counterparts in her grade seven class for the auditions of the lead role in the play My Uncle Grey Bonzo.
She said she felt comfortable with playing the male role despite being a girl because "I had grown up around Zimbawean men and I knew how they were like so it was very easy to imitate them through the role."
The actress went through Chipawo in fine-tuning her acting skills and she was among the founding group of art students in the first intake.
"That is where I got to know much about dramatic arts. Robert Mc Laren and Stephen Chifunyise were very good at giving us those skills," she fondly recalls the actress, who is very single.
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