Lauren Cohan has been playing the character Maggie on AMC's The Walking Dead since the show's second season, and her contract is up at the end of season eight. Since Maggie is pregnant and becoming the leader of the Hilltop community, it looks like she's going to survive the season – but there's still no deal in place for Cohan to return for season nine. As was reported a couple weeks ago, negotiations between Cohan and AMC were not working out, and the actress was even fielding pilot offers from other networks in case a deal could not be reached.
According to some sources, AMC has made "aggressive offers" to get Cohan to sign a new contract. Other sources say the actress's team has been frustrated by AMC's "lowball offers". After months of back-and-forth, negotiations broke down.
So Cohan has taken another job, signing on to star alongside Scott Foley in the hourlong action-dramedy pilot Whiskey Cavalier for ABC, Warner Bros. TV, Bill Lawrence, Jeff Ingold, and Dave Hemingson.
Written by Hemingson, the Whiskey Cavalier pilot
follows the adventures of FBI agent Will Chase (codename: Whiskey Cavalier) — played by Foley — who, following an emotional break-up, is assigned to work with quick, cunning and completely fearless CIA operative Francesca “Frankie” Trowbridge (codename: Fiery Tribune) — played by Cohan. Together, they lead an interagency team of spies who periodically save the world (and each other) while navigating the rocky roads of friendship, romance and office politics.
I'm a fan of spy shows and movies, so that definitely sounds like something I would watch, especially with Cohan as one of the leads.
If Whiskey Cavalier is ordered to series, Cohan's contract does allow for her to return to The Walking Dead on a recurring basis, and the production schedules of the two shows would not interfere with each other. So the actress did leave the door open for AMC if they decide to continue negotiations.