‘The Walking Dead’ Star Danai Gurira Considering Directing Episodes

Michonne actress and playwright Danai Gurira could be the next star to direct an episode of The Walking Dead.

“It has crossed my thoughts. Anything is possible, but ultimately, I have to feel it all through,” Gurira said at Walker Stalker Con Atlanta this weekend.

“It’s not in the top two places, but absolutely. I have to figure out when and where. I like the idea of writing and directing something as well. So it’s on the list, but I have to work on a couple other things first.”

An accomplished playwright, Gurira most famously penned 2009’s Eclipsed, which garnered five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play.

Eclipsed won Gurira a Playwright Award at the 2016 Lilly Awards and Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance and Favorite Leading Actress in a Play for star Lupita Nyong’o, who would later join Gurira in Marvel Studios’ worldwide phenomenon Black Panther.

Gurira has penned such acclaimed plays as In the Continuum, Familiar, and The Convert, the latter of which launches a new run with Wright in the lead role December 7 at London’s Young Vic theatre.

If Gurira steps behind the camera, she would become the fourth Walking Dead star-turned-director following Fear the Walking Dead star Colman Domingo, who directed episode 412 of that series, former Abraham Ford star Michael Cudlitz, who makes his directorial debut in The Walking Dead 907, and Andrew Lincoln, who stepped away from his role as Rick Grimes this season but has since returned to set to prepare for his first directorial effort on the series in Season Ten.

“It was nice being directed by someone from our group, you know? When you’re in the field with someone who has become your brother there’s a shared shorthand and you get it, you know it, what’s corny and what’s not,” Daryl Dixon star Norman Reedus told Skybound of reuniting with former co-star Cudlitz, who serves as director on the upcoming “Stradivarius.”

Michonne will take on an even bigger role as de facto Alexandria leader once Lincoln’s Rick is out of the picture.

Gurira already has a packed plate: the star played a major role as Wakandan general Okoye in Black Panther, a role she reprised in Avengers: Infinity War and its upcoming sequel, the untitled Avengers 4. It was reported over the summer the actress was being eyed for two more high-profile projects: Godzilla vs. Kong and Star Trek 4.

The Walking Dead premieres new episodes Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.