This is certainly an interesting turn of events.
About a week and a half ago, we learned that Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie on AMC’s The Walking Dead, was fielding offers from other television shows, as her contract is due to expire at the end of season 8 and the network wasn’t willing to give her the pay raise she wanted. Shortly after that, however, it was reported that the two parties were about to strike a deal and everything was going to work out.
Well, it looks like we shouldn’t start celebrating just yet, as The Hollywood Reporter is here to burst our bubble by revealing that Cohan is “actively looking for her next role” and does not have a deal in place with AMC yet for season 9 of The Walking Dead. That doesn’t mean she won’t make one, of course, but from what we understand, she’s not happy with what the network is offering her.
What’s also interesting is that THR says Cohan isn’t “trying to use the pilot casting process to force AMC’s hand,” which is what many thought. In other words, people suspected she was just bluffing and trying to get a bigger salary. But it seems that she’s dead serious about walking away from the show and is, again, “actively looking” for her next job.
This is certainly worrying to hear, as Maggie’s a firm fan favorite and Cohan certainly brings a lot to the series. And while it does sound like there’s a very good chance that she may not be back next year, keep in mind that AMC knows how important the actress is to The Walking Dead. After the backlash they’ve seen due to Carl’s exit, we’d be surprised if they actually let her go. Then again, who knows?
With production on season 9 set to get underway this spring, we’ll hopefully hear more on the situation soon. In the meantime, though, we can all look forward to the return of the hit zombie drama on February 25th, when it’ll shuffle back onto the small screen with its midseason premiere, which will see Carl Grimes head for the exit door.