
Danai was born in Grinnell, Iowa to parents who are natives of Zimbabwe and moved back when Danai was only 5. Gurira studied social psychology at Macalaster College, and received an MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 2007, she was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for "In the Continuum" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.






