Danai Gurira Had a Say in Michonne’s Exit from The Walking Dead

Longtime The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira was an active collaborator in determining how to best handle Michonne's looming Season 10 exit from the show.

"I know nothing. But what I will say in my know-nothingness, the great thing about this show is they are very, very, fantastic at creating great structure for everyone's story," Gurira told the Los Angeles Times.

"I was in a room where they have all the pictures of people who have left the show, and everyone's exit has been so specific and really resonate in its own, very original way. And so there was no exception to that in my case, I'm very thankful for that. And I was allowed to be a collaborator. But they created a very, very, very sound structure of how Michonne exits, which I was very thankful for."

Gurira also had praise for showrunner Angela Kang, who was tasked with managing another major departure — that of Michonne's lover, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) — in Season 9.

"She's very collaborative, and I think that's always great leadership, is when you're very secure in your vision and you're very collaborative at the same time," Gurira said. "So you allow people to really feel like fellow ownership, and she's fantastic."

Kang earlier consulted with Lincoln about his sendoff episode, which ultimately set up Rick being spun off into the movie side of the franchise under the purview of TWD chief content officer Scott Gimple.

Though Gimple has since hinted Michonne could follow Rick to the movies, Kang focused on handling Michonne's exit from the show with the same level of respect and responsibility as Rick's.

"I think for all of us on the writing side, we take that responsibility really seriously," Kang said at San Diego Comic-Con after an emotional Gurira confirmed her exit during TWD's Hall H panel.

"This is a character that's important to us, important to the fans. In the same way when we were working on an exit for Andy, we approached it with the same level of seriousness and wanting to do right by this incredible actress as well as the story. I hope we haven't screwed it up."

Gurira's final season of The Walking Dead premieres Sunday, October 6 on AMC.