"The Walking Dead" Star Reveals Zombie Survival Strategy

Hi, I'm Danai Gurira from The Walking Dead.

She is Gurira. I think I got it right. You know, I love the fact that you're teaching me how to say your last name. You know, like, I love the fact that you're trying so hard. I know. So, her last name I just learned is Gurira. Very good. Very good.

I think the tricky thing is rolling both of those R's which is Gurira, you know, it's hard. It's not easy. I mean, you're not from, you know, a world where people roll R, so it's you're really doing very well. I'm very impressed.

So, I don't even know why I'm laughing with you honestly cuz I was kind of pissed. Because you guys do the mid-season finale and it flat out it pisses me off. I waited on my couch on Sunday and I was like, "W- where is it? Where is it?" I thought it was a bad joke. Oh, you didn't know? Not okay with that. Do you want to explain yourself?

Listen, I am new to the ship. I will pass it on to my boss who's downstairs, actually. I'll bring him up here and have him explain. But it does leave people kind of like, you know, aching for more. I mean, I was almost accosted at Home Depot. I mean, there's a very nice guy, but once he realized who I was, um, it was it was tricky. He really he was begging me to get him some episodes. I mean, really like on his knees, like, "Please, you don't understand." You know, like about to cry. I was like, "Wow!"

I want to talk about your character because like right now you're so like you're so elegant and just like beautiful and bubbly. And then your character's like, "I'm a badass. I'm going to kill kids." I don't give a

She did not kill kids. She killed a zombie. It was a baby zombie.

No, but remember how she felt before she realized it was a zombie. She thought, she really tried to take care of it and then she realized, "Okay, this is something that actually should be laid to rest." But I mean, let's not get it twisted. A child was dead. That is perfect. Do you ever get creeped out on set? Like, do the zombies play jokes on you guys with like blood dripping on your hamburger at craft services or anything?

No, they wouldn't do that. They wouldn't do that. That would be cruel. But like, yeah, I mean, I there were moments I got creeped out like the first time I I met my pets, you know, I was like, I was like, "Ah, let's do it. Let's ah." I was like, "Oh my God." It was a little like, "Wow." But I love getting creeped out. I love it. If there's if there's a moment where I can now see a zombie and I'm like, "Oh, that's nasty." You know, like, I love it.

Speaking of creeped out, we actually have a clip and just so you know, like, this is why I'm here because our host actually, I don't know if she made it back. She was at Comic-Con, like The Walking Dead escape. So, if you want to look over your shoulder, we have a clip. Okay. Oh my gosh. I got touched. I got touched. Hilarious. So, I mean, I don't I don't know. She should come on set. She should come on set. She's here. What advice cuz I'm going to be doing that next year. What advice would you give me that you learned in training in like fighting off zombies?

Well, the first thing is Michonne is not scared of them. The running, the screaming, not too smart. Firstly, you're making a lot of noise. And so you're attracting more of them. The second thing is remember at all times you are the higher life form. So, why run and flee from things that are very simple creatures that you can figure out very simple ways of overcoming. And that's kind of, you know, what Michonne does. You know, she realized, "Okay, if I take off their jaws, they can't bite me. If I take off their arms, they can't grab me." I have a working brain, they don't. So, always remember that you can think and they can't. And there's always ways to top them because, you know, they're dead. They're brain-dead.

That is true. And I mean you do have a brain. Like you're I would like to touch like you're an amazing playwright and you know, your film Mother of George was just at Sundance. How do you balance the two? Like I have no idea.

Um I love all I love all that I get to do, you know what I mean? And so I really I it was really an amazing experience going to Sundance this year. As a playwright, yeah, I mean one of my plays is is in rehearsal right now in D. C. So, I've been going back and forth checking in on that. It's a whole other it's a whole other realm and that plays 1890s in Zimbabwe. So, it's another part of our brain.

Yeah, no, there's like several different parts of your brain. Um which I love. And, you know, I can't wait to see like more parts of your brain and doing different things. It's going to be very exciting. I like first there are. Can you teach me like one move before we leave to like

What a katana move?

Yeah.

If you put your arm out like this, at least, you know, take it straight across. Like imagine you're like taking out a head, right? Okay. So, you you have to keep it really flat and move it right across. And go across. Yeah, take it out. You can't you can't. And then like if you want to slice them, well, we'd have to stand up for that. But you know, you can go from one side to the other and really slice them like that. If you just feel like having fun that day.

Perfect.