Danai Gurira Coy About The Walking Dead Future as Season 10 Exit Looms

Danai Gurira isn't spilling secrets about her future with the Walking Dead franchise as she nears her Season 10 exit from the flagship television series.

"You guys have spoken elaborately about that, and I have not. And we'll keep it that way," a smiley Gurira told The Hollywood Reporter when prompted to address her future as Michonne, the katana-wielding walker slayer rumored to rejoin missing lover Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in the movie side of the franchise.

Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang, now tasked with segueing a second major star from the show to the movies, is similarly tight-lipped.

In April, Kang admitted to THR Gurira's blossoming film career in Marvel Studios' Black Panther and back-to-back Avengers blockbusters meant a "reduced role" for Michonne in Season 10, but promised the series veteran still plays a "significant" part and gets a "nice, meaty story" this coming season.

And for accomplished actress-slash-playwright Gurira, who has mulled over turning director on the series like Lincoln and former co-star Michael Cudlitz, she remains heavily involved in the role she's filled since Season 3 in 2012.

"Oh, I'm a pain in the ass, I'm a total pain in the ass. I'm all up in it," Gurira said.

"I'm the one who, when I really want to know or I want to collaborate or I think about something, I have the conversation. We get on the phone, I shout it out. I'm not pushing the whole story to another place, but I'm trying to, in my head, I'm trying to help them accomplish what they're proposing."

The writing team is "so awesome," Gurira gushed. "I've had such an amazing opportunity and experience working on this show for the last seven years, and they're family to me, so I can really talk to them and really hash things out and give ideas and thoughts."

Though Gurira engages with the writers for bits and bobs, she doesn't often propose whole trajectories.

"Not necessarily ideas so much — thoughts," she stressed. "The ideas are theirs, and they have plenty of them, and they have a fantastic team of writers."

Then, agreeing with roundtable participant and longtime Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, "[The writers] start to create around how they understand you're living in her, she's living in you at this point, the collaboration becomes more and more full," Gurira said.

"And asking questions, of course, it's crucial. They're great writers in the sense that they also are keen to get to the truth of the thing. If you notice something and they're like, 'oh, let me go think about that,' they're willing to adjust. They're not just like, 'no, this is law.' They're not like that. And this has allowed for a lot of great exploration."

The Walking Dead returns with its tenth season this fall on AMC.