Cobie Smulders Bio: In Her Own Words – Video Exclusive, News, Photos

Cobie Smulders (born April 3, 1982) is a Canadian actress. She has played roles on both television and film, with her most notable roles coming in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother and as Maria Hill in The Avengers series and other Marvel films. Other notable roles for Smulders include Veritas: The Quest, The Lego Movie and Results.

Cobie Smulders Bio

Cobie Smulders was born Jacoba Francisca Maria Smulders on April 3, 1982 in Vancouver, B.C. She was given the nickname “Cobie” after her great-aunt and ended up becoming the name she’s known by.

Smulders was interested in taking up marine biology as a high school student, but also had a keen interest in acting. She took up acting classes in high school before taking on modeling, as she felt there was more opportunity in that field. After growing a dislike for modeling, she registered at the University of Victoria for her college education. However, after taking up acting classes in the summer, she decided to focus on her acting before attending university. As it turned out, Smulders’ future didn’t lay in marine biology, but instead in acting. Smulders has expressed her desire to go back to school once time permits due to the nature of a marine biology major’s coursework.

Cobie Smulders Career

Cobie Smulders’ acting career kicked off in 2002 with guest appearances in episodes of Special Unit 2 and Jeremiah. The following year she moved on to her first regular role in the ABC series Veritas: The Quest. She played Juliet Droil on the show that involved elements of adventure and science fiction stories. The show did not last very long, however, as it only had one 13-episode season and was canceled by ABC after just four airings.

After roles in Walking Tall and The Long Weekend in film and guest appearances in Smallville and Andromeda on television, Smulders had a four-episode run of Showtime’s The L Word as Leigh. But later in 2005, Smulders got her big break by landing a part in CBS’ sitcom How I Met Your Mother. Smulders played the role of Canadian-transplant television reporter Robin Scherbatsky, who’s among the starring group of best friends with Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), Ted (Josh Radnor), Lily (Alyson Hannigan), and Marshall (Jason Segel). For the next nine years, fans got to follow the ups and downs of Robin’s life along with the rest of the show’s beloved characters. Smulders played the role of Robin throughout the series’ nine seasons, 208 episodes run from 2005-2014. The show won 18 awards, was nominated for 72 and was up for 28 Emmy Awards during its run. Smulders herself won the 2013 EWwy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy for her role as Robin.

While on How I Met Your Mother, Smulders landed a big-time film role by getting the part of Maria Hill in Marvel’s film franchises. She began the role in 2012 in The Avengers alongside Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson and other big stars and legendary superheroes in the blockbuster. Due to the nature of the Marvel universe, Smulders has played Maria Hill in a variety of different features. She appeared in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and two episodes of ABC and Marvel’s television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Smulders’ superhero roles also include providing the voice of Wonder Woman in the breakout hit The Lego Movie in 2014. The film, with a cast filled with comedy stars like Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman and Alison Brie, was the first time Wonder Woman was ever portrayed in a movie.

Additionally, Smulders had roles in The Slammin’ Salmon, Grassroots, Safe Haven, and Delivery Man during her time on How I Met Your Mother. Shortly after the show’s run, she joined Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler in the 2014 romantic parody They Came Together. Smulders also had a role in the 2010 pilot of HBO’s How to Make It in America.

Along with the Marvel films, Smulders continued her post-How I Met Your Mother career with a co-starring role in Results alongside Guy Pearce. The film features the pair as over-the-top fitness trainers who have an odd relationship with one another. Smulders and Pearce talked to uInterview about the film exclusively prior to its release.

“At the beginning of the film, we find Trevor and Kat,” Smulders told us. “We kind of don’t really know what their relationship is. We know they work together and as we get into the film we realize that something has happened, there’s been some hookup, and they’re dealing with sort of the fall out of that, trying to be together as co-workers – boss and employee really. So, then we meet Kevin Corrigan’s character and he comes in and just gets kind of, a little bit muddled for a while. And then I think people are going to have to see them film, see how it ends. See who ends up with who.”

Smulders also told uInterview about the challenges of playing her character, Kat. “It always amazes me like when you’re playing a character that you’re like, ‘Woah, I don’t know anyone who would react this way.’ Or you’re trying to find an example in real life so you don’t feel like this is a little bit out of control, and then you see it happen. Like I’ve seen it happen where people really just lose it like that and it’s a real thing. I think that when you’re doing characters that seem like they’re a little bit exaggerated you have to find something that’s based in some sort of reality or there is something that’s firing that, but you just have to find it if you’re not that type of person like me. I’m like, ‘Why is she this upset?’ And you have to kind of figure all that out.”

Later in 2015, Smulders starred in the drama Unexpected. The plot revolved around Smulders, a high school teacher in inner-city Chicago who becomes pregnant and bonds with a student that’s going through an unexpected pregnancy of her own.

Smulders starred in the comedy series Friends from College from 2017 until 2019, which also featured Fred Savage and Keegan-Michael Key. Since 2022, she has been appearing on the spin-off series How I Met Your Father starring Hillary Duff and John Corbett.

Smulders also had a brief stint in theater by playing a part in a two-week production of Love, Loss, and What I Wore in June 2010.

Cobie Smulders Personal Life And Health Problems

Cobie Smulders is married to actor Taran Killam. The two were engaged in 2009 and married in September of 2012. They have two children – Shaelyn, who was born in May 2009, and a son whose name has not been revealed to the public, who was born in January 2015.

Smulders was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2007. She had surgeries on both her ovaries to remove tumors. After the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and surrounding tissue, Smulders underwent additional surgeries to remove cancerous tissue in her body. Although she was left with just one-third of an ovary after her bout with cancer, Smulders was still able to have two healthy children with Killam.

Smulders’ interest in marine biology has carried over to philanthropy and charity in her acting career. In 2014 she filmed a PSA with international ocean conversation organization Oceana.

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