Lauren Cohan
{{short description|American actress (born 1982)}}
{{distinguish|Lauren Cohn|Lauren Cohen}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox actor
| name = Lauren Cohan
| image = Lauren Cohan by Gage Skidmore 5.jpg
| caption = Cohan at the 2023 Wonder Con
| birth_name = Lauren Storholm
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|1|7}}
| birth_place = Cherry Hill, New Jersey, U.S.
| citizenship = {{hlist|United States|United Kingdom}}
| alma_mater = King Alfred's College (BA)
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1996–present
| signature = Firma Lauren Cohan.png
| signature_size =
| signature_alt =
}}
Lauren Cohan (born January 7, 1982){{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2019/01/07/UPI-Almanac-for-Monday-Jan-7-2019/6991546835238/?ur3=1 |title=UPI Almanac for Monday, Jan, 7, 2019 |publisher=United Press International |date=January 7, 2019 |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190921143309/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2019/01/07/UPI-Almanac-for-Monday-Jan-7-2019/6991546835238/?ur3=1 |url-status=live |quote=actor Lauren Cohan in 1989 (age 32)}} is an American actress known for her role as Maggie Rhee in the AMC post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead (2011–2018; 2020–2022), a role she reprises in The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023–present). Her other notable TV roles include Bela Talbot in the dark fantasy drama Supernatural (2007–2008), Rose in the supernatural teen drama The Vampire Diaries (2010–2012), Vivian McArthur Volkoff in the action comedy Chuck (2011), Francesca "Frankie" Trowbridge in the action comedy-drama Whiskey Cavalier (2019), and War Woman in the adult animated superhero show Invincible (2021-present). Her film appearances include the comedy Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj (2006), the psychological thriller horror The Boy (2016), the biographical drama All Eyez on Me (2017), and the action thriller Mile 22 (2018).
Early life
Cohan was born Lauren Storholm in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to an American father and a British immigrant mother from Scotland.{{cite web | title=Walking Dead Actress Lauren Cohan Scottish Accent | website=YouTube | date=2024-03-06 | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uloiEHQdgCI | ref={{sfnref | YouTube | 2024}} | quote= Ferguson "you were raised by a Scottish, a Glaswegian mother" Cohan "yes"|access-date=2024-05-11}}{{cite news |url=http://www.news.com.au/national/jersey-girl-with-a-killer-instinct/story-e6frfkp9-1226823512488 |title=Lauren Cohan has turned killing zombies into a fine art in The Walking Dead, writes David Hiltbrand |work=News.com.au |date=February 11, 2014 |access-date=March 7, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151214074346/http://www.news.com.au/national/jersey-girl-with-a-killer-instinct/story-e6frfkp9-1226823512488 |archive-date=December 14, 2015 |quote=...of Scottish, Irish and Norwegian stock. ... When she was 13, her family moved to the UK. ... The transition to life in Surrey outside London.... When her mother remarried, she took both the last name (Cohan) and the faith (Jewish) of her stepfather.}} She was raised in New Jersey and spent a year in Georgia.{{cite interview |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf5FPJQ5TjE | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211113/bf5FPJQ5TjE| archive-date=2021-11-13 | url-status=live|last=Cohan |first=Lauren |interviewer=Pete Holmes |title=The Walking Dead{{'}}s Lauren Cohan Tries Out Accents With Pete |publisher=YouTube |date=March 27, 2014 |access-date=September 29, 2014 |quote=I hail from New Jersey. I was born in New Jersey.}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20111020_Ellen_Gray__JERSEY_GIRL_AT_HEART_.html |title=Jersey Girl at heart? 'Dead' star Cohan left Cherry Hill for Britain |first=Ellen |last=Gray |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=October 20, 2011 |access-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-date=September 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921145758/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20111020_Ellen_Gray__JERSEY_GIRL_AT_HEART_.html |url-status=live |quote=For someone who spent the first 13 years of her life in Cherry Hill, N.J.,...}}Some sources cite Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including:
*{{cite news |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/david_hiltbrand/20131124_Lauren_Cohan_of__Walking_Dead__sticks_it_to_zombies.html?c=r |date=November 24, 2013 |first=David |last=Hiltbrand |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |title=Lauren Cohan of 'Walking Dead' sticks it to zombies |access-date=September 29, 2014 |quote=Born in Philadelphia but raised in Cherry Hill}}
*{{cite news |url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/lauren-cohan/bio/309597/ |title=Lauren Cohan Biography |work=TV Guide |access-date=September 21, 2019}}{{cite journal |url=https://www.gq.com/women/201410/lauren-cohan-walking-dead-photos#slide=1 |title=Meet The Walking Dead's (Sorta-) Southern Belle, Lauren Cohan |journal=GQ |date=October 2014 |first=Mark |last=Byrne |access-date=April 13, 2015 |quote=...a rootless childhood, jumping from New Jersey to Georgia (a year, but it stuck), back to New Jersey, then to the UK.}} When she was thirteen, her family moved to her mother's native United Kingdom,{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_HEqhpac-w | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406125919/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_HEqhpac-w&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2014-04-06 | url-status=dead|last=Cohan |first=Lauren |interviewer=Sam Roberts |title=Sam Roberts & Lauren Cohan - Walking Dead, Governor, Last Episodes, & more |date=March 30, 2014 |access-date=September 29, 2014|time=05:01 |quote=I was a kid growing up in the States and then I moved to England. ... My mum's British, and so that was what brought us back over there. ... She had moved to the States when she was sort of 17... [W]hen myself and my siblings were born, she was, like, 'C'mon, let's do it.' My dad's job had an opportunity out there, so we took it.}} settling in Surrey, England.
Upon her mother's remarriage, Lauren's surname was legally changed to that of her stepfather, Cohan. She converted to Judaism at the age of five.{{cite journal |last=Miller |first=Gerri |url=http://www.ajlmagazine.com/archivesblog/2007/09/fall-tv-preview-lauren-cohan.html |title=Fall TV Preview: Lauren Cohan|journal=American Jewish Life |date=September 4, 2007 |publisher=Genco Media |access-date=April 13, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115065752/http://www.ajlmagazine.com/archivesblog/2007/09/fall-tv-preview-lauren-cohan.html |archive-date=January 15, 2008}}
She has younger half-siblings through her mother and father's remarriages.{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CGUhm28hNGT/ | title=Instagram }}{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/B7AiUg_HEgk/ | title=Daniel Cohan on Instagram: "I'm an uncle! Isn't she precious?! @aliagrace_cf @tommyfinns and Isla I love you so much!!! ❤️" }} Cohan graduated from King Alfred's College, Winchester (now the University of Winchester){{cite web |url=http://www.winchester.ac.uk/alumni/services/venta/Documents/Venta%2025%20WEB.pdf |title=Lauren Cohan — Cult US horror-thriller actress |work=Venta| number=25 |date=Winter 2011| page=8 |publisher=University of Winchester |access-date=March 7, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160716211415/http://www.winchester.ac.uk/alumni/services/venta/Documents/Venta%2025%20WEB.pdf |archive-date=July 16, 2016| df=mdy-all}} with a bachelor of arts in drama and English literature before touring with a theatre company she co-founded at the university.
Career
=Film=
In 2006 and 2007, after her film debut in Casanova (2005) as Sister Beatrice, Cohan starred in the sequel to Van Wilder (2002), Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj, as Charlotte Higginson. Her next role was in the 2008 film Float. In February 2010, she was cast in Death Race 2{{cite web |last=Walkuski |first=Eric |url=https://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/sean-bean-confirmed-for-death-race-2-lauren-cohan-joins-too |title=Sean Bean confirmed for Death Race 2; Lauren Cohan joins too |website=JoBlo.com |date=March 1, 2010 |access-date=March 2, 2018}} and was the lead in the 2016 supernatural-horror The Boy.{{cite news |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Walking-Dead-Star-Just-Scored-Her-First-Major-Film-Deal-69415.html |title=This Walking Dead Star Just Scored Her First Major Film Deal |date=January 27, 2015 |work=CINEMABLEND |access-date=February 26, 2018}} Also in 2016, she appeared as Martha Wayne, Batman's deceased mother, in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and played Leila Steinberg in the 2017 biographical drama All Eyez on Me. In 2025 she appeared in the independent end of the world movie When I'm Ready, her first on-camera film appearance since starring opposite Mark Wahlberg in 2018's Mile 22.
=Television=
In 2007, Cohan garnered her first major supporting role, which was also described as a season lead, when she was cast for season three of Supernatural as Bela Talbot, a thief who procures valuable supernatural objects and sells them to rich and powerful people in the supernatural world. The character appeared in six episodes of the series. Her final appearance was in the penultimate episode of season three titled "Time Is on My Side".{{cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/55445/sdcc14-lauren-cohan-talks-bringing-bela-back-to-supernatural/ |title=#SDCC14: Lauren Cohan Talks Bringing Bela Back to Supernatural - Dread Central |website=Dread Central |date=July 26, 2014 |language=en-US |access-date=February 26, 2018}}
Cohan played the recurring character Rose, a 560-year-old vampire, in The Vampire Diaries. In 2011, she joined the television series Chuck in a recurring role playing Vivian McArthur Volkoff, a "charming, sophisticated socialite" from the United Kingdom, and the daughter of primary villain, Alexei Volkoff. She also guest starred on shows such as Archer, Cold Case, CSI: NY, Life, and Modern Family.
Cohan starred in a pilot for The CW called Heavenly (2011) in which she played the lead character, Lily, an attorney who teams up with an angel; however, it was not picked up as a series.{{cite news |url=http://www.looper.com/110393/walking-deads-lauren-cohan-star-abc-pilot-whiskey-cavalier/ |title=The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan to star in ABC pilot Whiskey Cavalier |work=Looper.com |access-date=February 26, 2018 |language=en-US}}
In April 2011, Cohan was cast in her most notable role as Maggie Greene (later Maggie Rhee){{cite web |url=https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-walking-dead-heres-what-happens-to-maggie-in-the-comics.html/ |title='The Walking Dead': Here's What Happens to Maggie in the Comics |first1=Katherine |last1=Webb |work=Showbiz Cheat Sheet |date=June 16, 2018}} on The Walking Dead,{{cite web |url=https://comicbook.com/thewalkingdead/2018/01/08/the-walking-dead-maggie-best-moments/ |title='The Walking Dead': Celebrating Lauren Cohan's Birthday With Some Of Maggie's Best Scenes |website=Comicbook.com|date=January 8, 2018 }} an AMC post-apocalyptic horror television series based on the comic book series of the same name. She first appeared in season two as a recurring character, but she became a series regular at the start of season three.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-season-3-lauren-cohan-maggie-310090 |title='The Walking Dead': Lauren Cohan Upped to Series Regular |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=April 10, 2012}} The drama was the highest-rated series in cable television history in 2015.{{cite web |url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/03/30/the-walking-dead-season-5-finale-is-highest-rated-finale-in-series-history-garnering-15-8-million-viewers/381342/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401133000/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/03/30/the-walking-dead-season-5-finale-is-highest-rated-finale-in-series-history-garnering-15-8-million-viewers/381342/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 1, 2015 |title='The Walking Dead' Season 5 Finale is Highest Rated Finale in Series History, Garnering 15.8 Million Viewers |last=Bibel |first=Sara |publisher=TV by the Numbers |date=March 30, 2015 |access-date=March 30, 2015}} At the conclusion of the eighth season of The Walking Dead, Cohan completed her contract obligations as a series regular. It was later reported Cohan had not reached an agreement to sign on for season nine as a main cast member due to a pay dispute, as she demanded an increased salary closer to the salaries of her male co-stars Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus. AMC refused and Cohan began making herself available for TV pilots.{{cite web |url=https://screencrush.com/lauren-cohan-walking-dead-salary-cast/ |title='Walking Dead' Cast Urges AMC to Settle Lauren Cohan Pay Dispute |website=ScreenCrush|date=March 12, 2018 }} Cohan eventually reached an agreement to appear in five episodes in the first half of season nine of The Walking Dead{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/the-walking-dead-lauren-cohan-return-season-9-1202376379/ |title='The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan To Return For Season 9 Arc – Update |first1=Nellie |last1=Andreeva |first2=Denise |last2=Petski |work=Deadline Hollywood |date=April 25, 2018}} and departed the series in 2018.{{cite web |url=https://comicbook.com/thewalkingdead/2019/02/09/why-the-walking-dead-maggie-lauren-cohan-left-for-whiskey-cavalier/ |title=Former 'The Walking Dead' Star Lauren Cohan Explains Why She Left |website=Comicbook.com|date=February 10, 2019 }}
In early 2018, in the midst of her contract negotiations with AMC regarding The Walking Dead, Cohan was cast as CIA operative Francesca "Frankie" Trowbridge in the ABC action comedy-drama Whiskey Cavalier.{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-dead-star-lauren-cohan-season-9-contract-books-lead-abc-pilot-1086628 |title='Walking Dead' Star Lauren Cohan, Without Season 9 Contract, Books Lead in ABC Pilot |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=February 26, 2018 |language=en}} Whiskey Cavalier was picked up to series in May 2018 and premiered on February 24, 2019.{{cite web |url=https://abc.go.com/shows/whiskey-cavalier |title=Watch Whiskey Cavalier TV Show |publisher=American Broadcasting Company |access-date=March 12, 2019}} ABC did not renew the series for a second season.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2019/05/whiskey-cavalier-canceled-abc-scott-foley-lauren-cohan-shopped-elsewhere-1202605863/ |title='Whiskey Cavalier' Canceled By ABC After One Season, Will Be Shopped Elsewhere By Warner Bros. TV |website=Deadline Hollywood |first=Nellie |last=Andreeva |date=May 12, 2019 |access-date=May 13, 2019}} In October 2019, it was reported that Cohan would return to The Walking Dead as a series regular in the series' eleventh and final season.{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/comic-con/2019/10/05/the-walking-dead-renewed-season-11-lauren-cohan-returning/ |title='The Walking Dead' renewed for season 11 with Lauren Cohan returning as series regular |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}} Following the conclusion of the series, Cohan starred alongside Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the spinoff series The Walking Dead: Dead City, with both also serving as executive producers.{{Cite web |last=Lowry |first=Brian |date=2023-06-19 |title='The Walking Dead: Dead City' breathes life into its most satisfying spinoff yet |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/18/entertainment/the-walking-dead-dead-city-review/index.html |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=CNN |language=en}} In July 2023, the series was renewed for a second season.{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Lesley |date=2023-07-21 |title='Walking Dead' Spinoffs 'Dead City,' 'Daryl Dixon' Renewed at AMC |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/walking-dead-spinoffs-dead-city-daryl-dixon-renewed-amc-1235540906/ |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}
Personal life
Filmography
=Film=
=Television=
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes |
|---|
| 2007
| Forrester Creations Employee | Episode: "Episode #1.4986" |
| 2007–2008
| Main role (Season 3); 6 episodes |
| 2008
| Joanna Clay | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2009
| Life | Jackie Rolder | Episode: "Initiative 38" |
| 2010
| Receptionist | Episode: "Unplugged" |
| 2010
| Rachel Malone '86 | Episode: "One Fall" |
| 2010
| CSI: NY | Meredith Muir | Episode: "Flag on the Play" |
| 2010–2012
| Rose | Recurring (Seasons 2–3); 6 episodes |
| 2011
| Heavenly | Lily | Pilot |
| 2011
| Chuck | Vivian McArthur Volkoff | Recurring (Season 4); 5 episodes |
| 2011–2018; 2020–2022
| Main (seasons 3–9; 11), recurring (season 2), guest star (season 10); 145 episodes |
| 2012
| Lulu Pratt | Episode: "British Hospital" |
| 2013
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Avery Jordan | Episode: "Legitimate Rape" |
| 2014
| Archer | Juliana Calderon (voice) | Recurring (Season 5); 4 episodes |
| 2014
| Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories | Stephanie | Episode: "The Bathroom Boys" |
| 2016
| Herself | Episode: "Sonequa Martin-Green vs. Lauren Cohan" |
| 2016
| Ashley | Guest (Season 4); 2 episodes |
| 2017
| Maggie Greene (voice) | Episode: "The Robot Chicken Walking Dead Special: Look Who's Walking" |
| 2019
| Francesca "Frankie" Trowbridge |
| 2021; 2023
| Holly / War Woman (voice) |
| 2021
| The Walking Dead: Origins | Herself | Episode: "Maggie's Story" |
| 2023–present
| Main role; also executive producer{{Cite magazine |last=Ross |first=Dalton |date=March 7, 2022 |title=Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan to star in new Walking Dead spin-off |url=https://ew.com/tv/walking-dead-lauren-cohan-jeffrey-dean-morgan-isle-of-the-dead-spin-off/ |access-date=July 29, 2024 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en}} |
| 2024
| Inge |
=Video games=
Awards and nominations
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Lauren Cohan}}
- {{IMDb name|1659348|Lauren Cohan}}
{{Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohan, Lauren}}
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from New Jersey
Category:Alumni of the University of Winchester
Category:American film actresses
Category:American people of Irish descent
Category:American people of Norwegian descent
Category:American people of Scottish descent
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Jewish American actresses
Category:Actors from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Category:Actresses from Greater Los Angeles