Why Maggie From The Walking Dead Looks So Familiar
Lauren Cohan is one of the most recognizable faces on AMC's hit show, "The Walking Dead," portraying Maggie Greene. And Maggie has proven to be a popular character over the years. Although she has outlived almost every member of her family, save for her son, Hershel Rhee (named after Maggie's late grandfather, Hershel, and his father's surname), Maggie has been through one of the most complicated character arcs the show has ever seen. Before the outbreak, she lived on her father's farm, where she helped out. Although she was always strong-willed, no one imagined the woman she would eventually become. As a hardened survivor who lost every member of her family, including her husband while she was pregnant with their son, Maggie eventually became an influential leader.
Maggie's continued popularity led her to star on her own show: "The Walking Dead: Dead City." This series is scheduled to air in June of 2023, and will follow Maggie and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) on their next venture after the events of "The Walking Dead."
As one of the faces that have carried on and will continue to carry "The Walking Dead" franchise, Cohan has become a recognizable face in the world of television and film.
Cohan got her start as Sister Beatrice in Casanova
2005's "Casanova" starred Heath Ledger as Casanova, the greatest lover the world has ever known. He's a womanizer with a reputation so stained, everyone knew of the way that he destroyed marriages and left women after only a single night with them. The film's irony is that he inevitably falls in love with a woman so far beyond his reach that she couldn't possibly be stupid enough to fall in love with him. Francesca Bruni, an author who uses a male pseudonym to write feminist literature, becomes the object of his undying affection, which is laughable because he's everything that she writes against.
Cohan played a small role in the film as Sister Beatrice. Casanova is with Sister Beatrice when the Inquisition finally comes to arrest him. Cohan and Ledger share several minutes' worth of scenes, including Casanova seducing Beatrice and going back to her room in the nunnery to sleep together. They're interrupted by another nun (who Casanova also kisses) knocking and telling him the Inquisition is looking for him.
Beatrice helps Casanova get his clothes back on and insists that he make haste because if they catch him, they'll likely hang him. She also demands to know that she was "the one" before he leaves. Beatrice tries to protect him by insisting she's taken a vow of silence when the Inquisition questions her.
Supernatural's Bela Talbot was a fan favorite
Although "Supernatural" ran for 15 seasons and there are over 300 episodes of the series, most fans will remember Lauren Cohan's short-but-impactful run on the show from 2007 to 2008. Cohan starred in six episodes of the popular fantasy horror as Bela Talbot, a con artist who often dealt in dangerous artifacts and performed seances for wealthy clients. Due to her business of stealing, trading, and selling both real and fake artifacts connected to demons, ghosts, and other supernatural entities, she became a real headache for hunters who crossed her path.
Inevitably, Sam and Dean (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) were two of those hunters. As fans spend time with Bela, they learn that she made a deal with a Crossroads demon to get rid of her abusive father. She made the deal as a teenager, not caring about the long-term consequences if it meant finally getting out from under her father's cruelty.
Unfortunately, when someone makes a deal with a Crossroads demon, they have to sign away their soul. The demon gives them whatever they want, which they get to enjoy for 10 years, and then the demon comes to collect. The human dies and their soul is taken to Hell. As Bela's contract is about to expire, she's desperately looking for any way to escape her fate, which had her crossing the Winchester Brothers' path more than once.
Fans loved her complicated story. She was empathetic and she cared about people, but not more than she cared about herself. Her ruthless, cutthroat attitude appealed to many, and at the end of the day, she was an abused kid trying to get out of a bad situation. It was sad to see the Hellhounds succeed in finishing the Crossroads contract.
Cohan had a brief stint on Chuck
"Chuck" is a comedy-drama series that ran for five seasons and may be getting a film spin-off. It follows the title character, Chuck (Zachary Levi), a computer expert, as he receives an email encoded with sensitive information about the government. Unfortunately for Chuck, it's not just a computer download; the data is subliminally transferred to his brain, meaning all of the information is implanted into his head, making him a vital person of interest.
Lauren Cohan had a brief five-episode appearance on "Chuck" in 2011 as Vivian Volkoff. Although Vivian only appeared in five episodes of Season 4, she was quite an interesting character. Vivian is both brilliant and strong, having achieved a black belt at a young age and graduating with an economics degree. She was also fluent in five languages. Vivian was also kept secret for many years and has a complicated and turbulent relationship with her real father, Alexei Volkoff. She becomes the secondary antagonist of the season.
Vivian's story arc gets a bit complicated, as she first ends up helping Chuck but then turns on him and his team when she believes she's become a victim of their manipulation. She even sends an assassin after Chuck at one point. Despite playing an enemy for most of the season, Chuck still tries to help her in the end by offering her a new identity that was meant for himself.
The Boy was a spooky addition to Cohan's resume
In 2016, Cohan starred in the horror film, "The Boy," as the main protagonist, Greta Evans. Greta ends up taking a job as a live-in nanny far away from her home to escape an abusive partner and earn some extra money while she tries to figure out what to do next. The only issue is, that when Cohan arrives at the lavish house, she expects to meet a young boy that she'll be taking care of while his parents are away.
Instead, she's introduced to a lifesized porcelain doll dressed up as a posh young lad. The parents introduce him as Brahms and they confess that their son passed away some time ago and the doll was meant to help them with the grieving process. They want her to look after it while they were away.
"The Boy" hyped up the film as a possessed doll movie, like "Annabelle." The plot twist at the end, however, left viewers in shock. The doll had never been possessed and Brahms wasn't dead. Instead, Brahms was a full-grown adult living in the house's walls. His parents left Greta there so he could do whatever he wanted with her.
"My first reaction was probably just at how lifelike and delicate he [the doll] was," Cohan said in an interview with Cosmo. "Because he's not like dolls in other horror films that are designed to scare you."
Cohan plays a small but important role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
In 2016, DC put out the highly divisive and poorly received "Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice." This film was supposed to be leading up to an inevitable "Justice League" film and introduce Ben Affleck's Batman, but much of the storytelling left something to be desired. With how popular both title characters are, this should have been a home run, but sadly, "Batman vs Superman" didn't hit it out of the park.
That said, DC is a huge studio, and despite their films having a reputation for being a hit or a missed opportunity, fans still flock to the theaters to see what's going to happen next with their favorite superheroes.
Cohan ended up playing a pretty big part in a small way. Although she was only in the movie for a few moments, she portrayed Martha Wayne, Bruce Wayne's mother. A huge part of Batman's story has always been the loss of his parents and growing up an orphan with only Alfred to fill the role of his missing parents. Getting to see Martha on screen and seeing firsthand what happened to her helped fans understand Bruce's trauma better.
Batman also bonded with Superman over both their moms' names being Martha, for some reason.
One of Cohan's "The Walking Dead" co-stars shared the scene with her, as Jeffrey Dean Morgan played Thomas Wayne, Bruce's father. "Batman vs Superman" was filmed before Morgan joined "TWD," though. In an interview with Comic Book. Cohen commented on the coincidence, "He came out to set and we were just laughing because the context of which we worked together last time and then the context of this just couldn't be more different," she said.
All Eyez On Me was something different for Cohan
"All Eyez On Me" is a 2017 biopic about the legendary rapper, Tupac Shakur. Lauren Cohen was cast as Leila Steinberg, a prominent figure in Tupac's life. Leila was 25 when she met a 17-year-old Tupac (Demetrius Shipp Jr.) at one of her workshops. She helped young creatives learn to utilize their talents in constructive workshops that prepared them for the next stages in their lives. Apparently, the moment Leila met Tupac, she knew that he was going to be something completely unique, and she was right.
Biopics aren't what Cohen has become known for. Playing Maggie Greene on "The Walking Dead" has taken up most of her time since Season 2 first came out in 2012. The other projects that she's managed to wiggle into have been horror films, science fiction, and even a spot in a superhero film. Biopics never seemed to be in the cards for Cohan, but she jumped at the chance to play Leila. Apparently, she has a deep love for Tupac.
"It was so much more for me than knowing him as a cultural icon and loving the music," Cohan told Rolling Stone. "When you really understand where she [Leila] was at, seeing this whole poetic talent, and having the responsibility to really bring him to the world and support him and do the same with other kids...it really makes me excited about talent and art and what it can be. I'm getting emotional just talking about it."