'The Walking Dead' Season 9 premiere date, cast news: Lauren Cohen confirms reprising her role as Maggie

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The next season of AMC's hit series "The Walking Dead" is confirmed to have the feisty leader of the Hilltop. The actress who portrays Maggie Greena, Lauren Cohan, made the confirmation herself that her character will be back in season 9, in spite of the speculations that Cohan would not be able to reprise the role due to her other commitments.

Earlier this week at the CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Cohan revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Maggie will still be a part of "The Walking Dead" season 9. The actress was present at the event to promote her upcoming movie "Mile 22" together with Mark Wahlberg. Talking about her future stints in television, Cohan confirmed that she will definitely return to the AMC drama this year, as there is "a lot more Maggie story to tell." 

The actors who were previously confirmed to sign on "The Walking Dead" season 9 are Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, who portray the characters of Rick Grimes and Daryl Dixon, respectively. The filming for the AMC series' ninth season will commence next week. As for Cohan, there were doubts if she would remain on the show as she was reportedly negotiating for a better deal.

Moreover, Cohan is also a part of another project from ABC, the one-hour action-dramedy pilot made by Bill Lawrence, Dave Hemingson and Warner Bros TV, "Whiskey Cavelier." She will play the female lead alongside Scott Foley, and the pilot is expected to be upgraded to a regular series, especially if the viewers' reception is positive. If this happens, Cohan is reportedly cleared to tape her scenes in "The Walking Dead" season 9 while the ABC show is on a break. Although, there will be need for negotiations between her camp and AMC.

Noting that "The Walking Dead" season 9 will start filming next week, there will be at least two months for Cohan to focus on another show after she has taped all of Maggie's scenes. There is also a chance that "Whiskey Cavalier" will end up with a midseason premiere, thus there will be more time for Cohan to work on her new show. Meanwhile, there will be no problem for negotiations if "Whiskey Cavalier" does not become a series, and AMC can still get Cohan for a full-time return in season 9.