“It Was About My Relationship With Myself”: Lauren Cohan Reflects on Stepping Back From ‘The Walking Dead’ Due to Payment Discrepancies

After a handful of smaller roles in shows like Supernatural and Chuck, Lauren Cohan struck gold when she landed the career-defining gig as Maggie Greene (later Maggie Rhee) on AMC’s The Walking Dead. No one knows just how successful or unsuccessful a project will be when they first sign on, but — as we know now — the small-screen adaptation of the graphic novel series first penned by Robert Kirkman grew into a massive hit. So, when Cohan parted ways with the production after the first few episodes of the ninth season, fans were in shock. Eventually, it came out that her departure was related to payment discrepancies — a feeling that women in Hollywood (and so many other industries) know all too well.

While appearing on an installment of Collider’s Ladies Night with Perri Nemiroff, Cohan got candid about what drove her to branch out from the safety of The Walking Dead and try some new projects despite being unsure of what the future held. What may catch some off guard is that the actress refers to this period of her life as “such a great time,” as she fully embraced the unknown and stayed true to herself. Standing in her power and recognizing her worth as not just an actress but as a member of the show’s impressive ensemble, Cohan said:

“It’s weird because there’s sometimes ways I let things slide or I’ll laugh along with something, even now, and I’m like, ‘Why’d you do that? That wasn’t cool.’ It’s not even that I don’t wanna rock the boat, it’s just I don’t want to fucking give it the time of day. I think a lot of the time it’s picking your battles in moments that are not consequential. But for some reason, I was not afraid and not uncomfortable in that at all, because I knew what I had given to the show, and I was at a point where I was like, ‘This is absurd.’ And I left. My contract was up, and I think everybody just said, ‘Oh, no, it’s fine. She’ll come back, or she’ll stay or whatever.’ And I thought, ‘No. I’m going to go and see what happens.’”

Beyond the payment conversation, there was something deeper pushing Cohan to take a step back from The Walking Dead and pursue other options. “It was also, for me, I’d had success before The Walking Dead, but this had definitely put me on the map, and in a show that was something my peers watched,” she explained, “I felt really, really proud to do this show. And yet, you don’t know if you matter outside of your show.” Recognizing that oftentimes a big risk is followed by a big reward, Cohan remembers thinking, “‘I hope I matter outside of this show, and I’m only going to know if I go and see.’”

What could have been a disaster turned into not just a learning experience but an echo of what she already knew about herself.

“When I left the show, because we were at an impasse, I got 13 offers to lead my own show. And I don’t say that to gloat, I just say that because it gave me faith. There will always be undulations in popularity or reasons that you do and don’t get jobs, and I experience that all the time. But it was a great moment because I went and I met so many amazing creators and producers and writers that I was so excited to go do stuff with, and I felt so invigorated. It was twofold, too, because I knew I’d done the show for a long time, and I knew it was healthy for me to go do something else.”

Lauren Cohan’s Return To ‘The Walking Dead’

After leaving The Walking Dead, Cohan landed a leading role on the short-lived ABC series Whiskey Cavalier, in which she starred opposite Scott Foley (Scream 3) and Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary). But, eventually, she returned to the fold after contract agreements picked back up and the folks behind The Walking Dead chose to work with her. Looking back on her decision to go back, Cohan added:

“Then, when I went back, it was because it was healthy for me to go back at that moment. When I went to do Whiskey Cavalier, which was such an incredible experience and so sad that the show didn’t get to go for longer, I had talked to Angela Kang, who was our showrunner on The Walking Dead in those years, and she was like, ‘Okay, how do we make this work? If you shoot that show, you come back part time and do this thing…’”

In addition to showing Cohan support in reprising her role as Maggie, Kang also championed the performer in other ways.

“Then Angela was also really encouraging and supportive of me directing. She was one of the first people that was really supportive of that. It was a really good shift. I think that I sort of sometimes just quietly go through things, and then there’s a moment, and I’m like, ‘Well, what am I going to do? Am I going to meet the moment?’ And I don’t do that unless it’s time, and it was time. So, that was a good experience on that show. That was not about the show at all. It was about my relationship with myself.”

This season, audiences can catch Cohan both in front of and behind the camera on The Walking Dead: Dead City as she makes her directorial debut in the sixth episode. Get caught up now on AMC+. Cohan's full episode of Ladies Night will arrive on Monday, June 9. Stay tuned at Collider for more!